Our bedroom has undergone some changes. This is what it looked like before we took the mattress back to IKEA. They gave us ninety days to test it out and neither one of us wanted to admit that we hated the mattress until finally I caved and told my husband that I was miserable… and then he admitted that he was not comfortable sleeping on it either. We had hoped that we could find the perfect combination of soft and squishy for me and firm for him, but apparently that was not to be. So, we are back to the soft and squishy bed we had before until we can figure out a better option. Now, the room looks pretty much the same as the photo above, except the mattress is back on the floor like it was when we first moved in:
It’s a little more modern now, isn’t it? I also changed the linens, which is something I do all the time. I think it’s a fun and relatively inexpensive way to change a bedroom! (I’ve actually already changed them up a little even since I took the photo!) I also added a couple extra blankets recently since it’s been so cold. My husband and kids tease me because I am like the princess and the pea, except instead of mattresses, I sleep under “hundreds” of blankets. I suppose it’s all part of living in a house that is almost 200 years old. The heat does not work on the top floor and the fireplace doesn’t heat through three floors! So, I sleep with several layers on and loads of blankets!
Did you know that the Danes have a belief that the cold air is better for us… so it is actually better to sleep with layers and let the room be cold. Very interesting, right? Anyone else ever heard that or believe it, too? Between the comfy old bed, lots of layers, and darkness that comes from around 3 in the afternoon until 9 in the morning… it’s hard to get out of bed at all these days!
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That’s what a lot of Belgians believe as well. I leave the bedroom window open, even if it’s minus ten outside. But I layer a lot of blankets on my duvet and take a heated cherry pit pillow to bed. But I admit, getting out of bed in an icecold room is aweful
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both rooms look beautiful!!!
and how interesting the “sleping in a cold room believe”mmm for some reason I think too its healthier, but I would like to know why.
i love how light + airy it looks! we constantly rotate our linens too, it makes the room look brand new every now and again.
-ale
I think it’s more a matter of sleeping in fresh air… during the winter the indoor air can get so stuffy with heaters and air con, that many feel they sleep better with the window open. I think this is also the logic behind Danes leaving the babies outdoors in their prams to sleep… apparently many kids just seem to sleep better outdoors.
Absolutely! The colder the room the better we sleep! But I’m not a big fan of seeing the steam from my breath in the mornings with the room so cold (not because it’s stinky!
) But this has been an elusive quest here in SC lately, with our lows only being in the 50′s! Mid-December and we’ve got spring flowers budding all over…… crazy!!!
Merry Christmas to y’all!!! Love seeing your photos of how C’hagen looks this time of year! Beautiful!!!
Oh, and I LOVE your bedroom… both the first and the second picture. I’d love one of those blankets… is it one of those African wedding blankets?
Love the new linens and the bedside table!
It happens the same here about cold and getting warm. The fireplace doesn’t warm the entire house and the central heating in this yet modern house is too much expensive. So extra warm and cosy bed linens are always a good alternative. But, this is a Mediterranean country, it’s not so cold as it would be in Denmark.
in austria it was almost the opposite, and Poland is the same way so I guess it’s’ just an EOD (east of danube
) kind of thing as we like to call it. it’s almost a paralytic fear of drafts – when i delivered in the hospital they couldn’t believe i was sleeping with the window open!
love the white moroccan wedding blanket, gorgeous!
@Elizabeth Hi Elizabeth! Yes, it’s a Moroccan Wedding Blanket. I bought mine in Morocco, but if you are interested I know Maryam sells them! Here’s a link: http://moroccanmaryam.typepad.com
@The New Diplomats Wife It was like that for me when I gave birth in Spain. It was so hot and stuffy in the room, but they didn’t want us to open the window. I felt like I was suffocating! LOL!
The blanket is gorgeous! I can feel the cold -brrh! Was the mattress on the floor intentional or is it because the space is small.
Living in Vancouver, Canada the winter morning can be anywhere from wet and raining to cold and crisp. My Father is Danish and I was brought up in a house where the heat is turned down especially at night. My husband had to get used to keeping the windows open for “fresh air” and not turning on the heat just because it was alittle chilly. He is now a convert and admits that he does not sleep well if it is too warm. I just discovered your blog. Love the photos and musings about everyday life/raising children in Denmark. You are doing what I have dreamed of for a long time.
Well at least it looks good either way, lol! So sorry that you haven’t found the right bed yet, though!
You know, when I lived in DK as a teen I discovered my love for the comforter-only system and from that point on I made the switch, no matter where I lived: fitted sheet only, some kind of comforter and a duvet cover (+pillow!). Makes making the bed a breeze. You can even get ones that snap on different layers on different sides so both people have the warmth they want.
Btw-our last place in the US was a 200yr old house w/no heat in our bedroom (+3 exterior walls), so a heated mattress pad was our lifesaver. I’ve seen them for sale here in Germany, maybe they have them in DK? Then again, we both sleep better when the room’s cold!
That’s so interesting about the cold air! Macedonians are the exact opposite–if you don’t have every inch of you covered, especially your feet and neck, you’ll get sick. And in the summer, they’d rather have a room be stifling than open a window or turn on the A/C.
The room, like everything else we’ve seen of your home, is absolutely beautiful!
@Kelleyn They couldn’t fit the American box springs up that stairs so it had to go! LOL! Now we are waiting to figure out what do with the mattress before we buy a bed frame.
@Juliette I should look into it, though the utilities are so expensive here that I may not be able to afford to run it! I can’t seem to make the switch to the duvet only. I miss my flat sheet every time I try to get rid of it, but the kids prefer the duvet only.
@Abbey It was like that in Morocco too. When I was pregnant I thought I was going to die because no one would open a window or even use a fan… but clearly I survived!
And thank you for the kind words. I really do appreciate the encouragement!
My bedroom is usually pretty cold….my heating doesn’t keep the bedroom that warm – old fireplace, single glazing, large room – small radiator. But layering is good…..when I was in Copenhagen/Malmo recently I slept on the softest beds I’ve ever slept on – I like a firm bed and on the first night in Malmo I actually ended up sleeping on the floor….
I love all the cushions and pillows on the bed and the little bedside table in the first photo.
Hey Tina! You are making me fall in love with white… and I like thinking of you as the princess with the blankets…:)
Yes, I have seen firsthand the belief in cold air and sleep! When Cole was in preschool, he had a classmate originally from Finland. When I visited their home here, in winter, the mother had the baby sleeping outside the back door in a bassinet stroller! She plugged the baby monitor in, bundled her up in a snowsuit and let her snooze. Very interesting…
I think the reason we sleep better, when the temperature in the bedroom is low is, that the is fresh and crisp. If the underfloor heating is turned up too high the air gets dry and stale, and if you live in an older house with radiators, they start to give off a dusty smell. It’s hard to explain.
We like to keep the temp. in our bedroom around 16 c. That’s warm enough that I won’t wake up, if someone (aka my husband) steals the duvet, and still cold enough that the air keeps fresh all night.
I let my 2,5 year old nap outside, even in winter. His pram is insulated and has a waterproof covering, he’s laying on a sheepskin, wearing a wooly outdoor sleepsuit and he’s covered up in a duvet. When he was younger, he slept in a voksi, a baby sleepingbag, that has a slik duvet for summer, and a wool one for winter. But this winter he’s outgrown it. He sleeps around 2,5 hours like this. If we’re visiting and haven’t brought the pram along, he sleeps indoors, but then he usually wakes up after only an hour.