What if small changes to our bedrooms and bedtime habits could help us sleep deeper and wake up feeling truly rested? In this episode we explore advice from a sleep expert on how to optimize your bedroom—from choosing the right mattress size and setting an ideal bedtime to clearing out items that undermine sleep. We also dig into cultural habits around shoes in the house, share our own shoe rules, and take a playful detour into Sherry’s ongoing love of salt lamps with a visit to a local salt therapy room.
You can also find this episode on your favorite podcast app like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher, or Spotify.
What’s New
- First up, we’ve collected a few of the salt lamps we use around the house, plus the small salt lamp nightlights we love keeping in the kitchen.
- Next, we visited a salt therapy room to see what the experience is really like and whether it lives up to the hype.
- During our research we came across many striking images of salt rooms; one popular chain’s aesthetic really stuck with us.
- There are salt suites that look almost like a warm, tiled sauna, while others focus more on lounges and reclined seating—you’ll notice reclining chairs are a common choice in many salt rooms.
- The local salt therapy room we visited was a relaxed, low-key space focused on the salt itself rather than elaborate decor.
- We enjoyed our time there and would go again. We paid for our session and found it to be a pleasant, restorative experience.
- If you’re curious about other relaxing treatments, our float tank experience is discussed in Episode #33, and that’s another service we’d happily repeat.
Can We Just Talk About?
- Below is a photo of our “mini mudroom” where we stash our shoes when we come into the house. It’s compact and practical, though it doesn’t leave a lot of room for guests’ shoes, which often end up kicked off in front of the cubbies.
- We also looked up surveys and articles about whether people wear shoes inside their homes. The results vary by region and personal preference—some households always remove shoes at the door, while others keep them on.
- We’d love to hear how you handle shoes at home. We created a single survey so everyone—both domestic and international listeners—can share their habits and help us compare practices across regions.
Sleep Book
- We talk about the book Sleep: The Myth of 8 Hours, the Power of Naps, and the New Plan to Recharge Your Body and Mind, which offers a thoughtful look at how modern sleep habits differ from the rigid “eight hours” idea and introduces practical strategies for recharging through naps and better routines.
- If you missed our first mention of these new sleep efforts, it was highlighted in Episode #128.
- Sherry tracks her sleep with a Fitbit Alta and I use the AutoSleep app with an Apple Watch. These devices are useful for trends and basic tracking, but the book reminds readers that consumer trackers estimate sleep cycles from heart rate, movement, and temperature. The only definitive way to measure real sleep stages is with brainwave monitoring in a clinical setting, which isn’t practical for everyday at-home use.
We’re Digging
- We’re big fans of our white faux wood blinds. They sometimes appear overexposed in photos, but they look great in person and we have them on nearly every upstairs window in our Richmond home and at the beach house. The cordless version is a favorite update that makes them look cleaner and safer.
- Sherry recently loved the novel Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. If you enjoy character-driven contemporary fiction with sharp observations and twists, that book is a great pick, along with other works by the same author.
If you want to revisit items we’ve recommended in past episodes, we maintain a master list of all the things we’ve been digging and a Book Club page that collects our reading suggestions. These are handy resources when you want to find something featured on an earlier show.
A final thank you to our episode sponsor. We appreciate the support and enjoy sharing tools and services that help us stay organized and on track.
Thanks for listening and reading—sleep well!
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