This World Mental Health Day, we’re taking a moment to pause, breathe, and chat about something close to us, our bedrooms. We spend a third of our lives there, yet don’t always think about how our sleep space (and the colours we choose) can shape our mood, our rest, and our mental health.
We sat down with Alice, host of the Behind Closed Doors podcast, to talk about her chronic insomnia, the sleep–mood connection, and how a little colour might just help us all rest easier.
Hey Alice, thank you so much for sitting down with us today to chat about such an important topic, Mental Health. Can you tell us a little about yourself, your work, and what inspired you to start your podcast, Behind Closed Doors?
Thank you so much for sitting down with me to talk about mental health, it means a lot.
I'm Alice, the voice behind the Behind Closed Doors podcast.
I’ve spent nearly twenty years living with chronic symptoms, from persistent pain and headaches, to insomnia, postpartum anxiety, and the kind of everyday mental and physical exhaustion that so many of us silently carry.
For a long time, I kept it all behind closed doors. But eventually, there was this quiet but undeniable urge to stop carrying it alone. To speak my truth. To connect.
That’s where the podcast began, from a need to share the stories we don’t often say out loud. The messy, human, behind-the-scenes stuff.
Because when we speak openly, we stop pretending, and that’s when things start to change.
You’ve spoken openly about living with chronic insomnia. Can you explain how sleep and mental health are connected, and why poor sleep takes such an emotional toll?
When you’re not sleeping, you lose that buffer between yourself and the world. You become more sensitive, more reactive. Your resilience wears thin. Things that might usually feel manageable suddenly feel overwhelming.
It’s not just the tiredness, it’s the way lack of sleep messes with your mood, your memory, even your sense of self. You start to question your ability to cope. And over time, that chips away at your confidence, your relationships, and your mental health.
There’s a stat that people with insomnia are much more likely to experience anxiety and depression and that absolutely tracks with my own experience.
Poor sleep flattens you. Emotionally, physically, mentally. It makes the harder days feel even heavier.
At Kip&Co, we live and breathe colour — but it’s more than just style. How does colour influence our mood and mental wellbeing?
Colour can shift the way we feel in a space. It’s not just a visual thing, it’s emotional. Certain colours can lift us, calm us, energise us, or help us feel safe.
When we’re feeling flat or overwhelmed, colour can be a gentle way to reconnect with ourselves, with joy, with playfulness. Sometimes just being surrounded by colour is enough to shift the mood, even if nothing else changes.
It doesn’t fix everything, but it creates a sense of warmth and aliveness. And on the hard days, that can matter more than we realise.
When it comes to creating a calm bedroom, what colours or tones encourage better rest? And for those who can’t overhaul their whole space, what small changes — bedding, cushions, lighting — can make a real difference?
Soft, muted tones tend to support rest, think earthy neutrals, gentle blues, soft greens, warm greys. Colours that don’t demand too much from your senses. They help signal to your brain that it’s safe to slow down.
But it’s not about following strict rules. It’s about asking, what feels calming to you? Sometimes that’s a sandy beige, other times it’s a faded mustard or a muted lilac.
If you can’t redo the whole space, small touches still matter, swapping in breathable, soft bedding, layering cushions in grounding tones, softening your lighting at night.
It’s not so much about perfection or following trends,it’s about what makes you internally feel at ease.
This World Mental Health Day, what simple steps can people take to prioritise their wellbeing? What gentle reminder would you share with anyone feeling overwhelmed right now?
Start small. Wellbeing doesn’t have to mean a complete reset. It can be as simple as going for a short walk, reaching out to someone who gets you, taking a few deep breaths, or just putting your phone down for a while.
It’s less about doing everything, and more about doing something.
And if you’re in the thick of it right now, here’s what I want you to remember:
You are not alone in this.
Speak your truth, because there is always someone to catch you.
