‘It’s actively sabotaging your sleep’ – property expert reveals the hidden impact of the type of home you live in

by Furnishly | Aug 10, 2025 | Design Inspiration

We’ve had a lot of heatwaves this year, with another on the way, and one of the things they may have revealed to you is how well your home handles the heat. In particular, how well your bedroom copes with extremes of temperature.

What you might not have realised – and I certainly didn’t until a series of house moves meant I spent time living in a new build flat, a 1950’s semi, an apartment in a high-ceilinged Georgian property that was impossible to keep warm in winter but cool and comfortable in summer, and a modern semi-detached house that was cosy in cold weather but quickly overheated in summer – is that the type of house you live in can have a big impact on your sleep.

I asked two property experts to explain which type of house is more likely to impact your sleep and why, and what can be done about it.

‘The UK’s housing stock is notoriously poor at dealing with heatwaves,’ explains Arron Ashcroft, heating expert and founder of home energy solutions provider Grant Store.

‘Insulation isn’t just a winter concern; proper insulation prevents outside heat from penetrating the home, meaning rooms can stay cooler for longer without the need for constant appliance use.’

‘Recent data reveals that over 9.6 million UK households are plagued by poor insulation and inadequate ventilation,’ agrees Adam Clark, property expert at My Local Toolbox, ‘while 11% of households report temperatures so extreme that sleep is compromised.’

And, ‘poor temperature regulation in your home isn’t just uncomfortable,’ warns Adam, ‘it’s actively sabotaging your sleep and long-term health.’

‘The ideal bedroom temperature for a restful sleep is between 16-18°C’, Adam reveals. ‘When your bedroom is too cold, your body expends extra energy to maintain warmth, leading to shallow, interrupted sleep. Conversely, when the room is too hot, your body struggles to cool down, resulting in restless nights marked by tossing, turning, and night sweats.’

‘Both extremes disrupt your circadian rhythm, leaving you tired and less alert the next day,’ says Adam, ‘and certain types of properties are particularly prone to temperature instability.’

Types of home most likely to impact your sleep

• Victorian & Edwardian terraces: ‘Often equipped with single-glazed windows and minimal insulation, these older homes can be bitterly cold in winter and overly hot in summer,’ says Adam.
• New build flats with large windows: ‘Floor-to-ceiling windows, while stylish, can trap heat during summer months, creating a greenhouse effect,’ Adam warns. Plus, I’ve found some flats only have windows on one side of the building. This can make it extremely difficult to get airflow through your home, as opening windows on both sides of a property is what helps ventilation and air circulation – the key not just to temperature regulation, but also to avoiding damp.
• New builds: I would also add to that new builds in general. All the new build homes myself, my family, and my friends have lived in have been far hotter in summer than older properties. This is likely down to modern building materials and stud walls, which provide less insulation from the heat.
• Converted lofts & attic rooms: ‘These spaces frequently experience extreme temperature swings due to inadequate insulation and poor ventilation,’ shares Adam. No surprise to those of us who have struggled to sleep in a south-facing loft bedroom during the last heatwaves.
• Cottages & rural homes: ‘Though built with thicker walls, limited airflow in these properties can make them hard to heat in winter and cool in summer,’ says Adam.

There are ways you can make a bedroom cooler temporarily, whether that’s installing blackout blinds or investing in one of the best fans or the best portable air conditioners.

But, as Arron points out, these temporary fixes aren’t a long-term solution, and in the case of cooling appliances, they can actually exacerbate the problem, leading to increased energy usage, which has a knock-on effect on climate change.

Three common temporary solutions

So what’s the real solution? ‘Government-backed initiatives to improve insulation, shading, and ventilation need greater awareness and support,’ says Arron. ‘As summers get hotter, it’s essential to shift from reactive hacks to proactive investment in our homes.’

‘The real long-term answer lies in better home insulation and ventilation systems. The difference between discomfort and danger is narrowing – especially for those with health conditions.’

It’s certainly something to weigh up if you’re planning a house move in the near future.

Should you have a sofa bed or an actual bed in a spare room? Help us settle the debate

by Furnishly | Jul 31, 2025 | Design Inspiration

When I first moved in with my partner, we were adamant that we needed two bedrooms, so we had a spare room for a home office/extra wardrobe space/guests. The size and multi-purpose nature of the room meant it was a no-brainer to opt for a sofa bed over an actual bed.

However, three years later, I’ve moved into a flat with a more spacious spare room, and a lot more guests to put up. So it got me wondering if the time has come to upgrade my guest bedroom ideas with an actual bed?

Spare rooms are rarely just for guests anymore. They’ve become multi-purpose spaces as homes have gotten smaller and working from home has become the norm. So, although I have the space to fit a bed, the room is still used for so many other things that a full-sized bed would get in the way.

On the other hand, if you regularly host out-of-towners like I do, it would be nice to be able to offer up a proper, comfortable bed. My Made.com Haru sofa bed gets mixed reports on its comfort levels, with the average review from my guests being, ‘well, it’s not a bed.’

While I could invest in a more expensive sofa bed to fix the comfort and space issue in one swoop, the best sofa bed could end up costing me more than a basic bed frame and budget mattress.

Ideal Home’s Managing Editor, Thea Babington-Stitt, had a similar debate with herself when she was deciding on what to put in her spare room. ‘While I would love to have a real bed in my spare room, space is at a serious premium in my flat.’

‘My spare room has to act as my office, play as a home gym when needed and have space for my clothes horse, so a bed would’ve simply taken up too much space. My sofa bed folds out to a double but fits like a dream and doesn’t visually dominate the space either,’ she adds.

However, if you have the space and bed already, there are huge perks to having a spare bed ready to go. ‘We had a spare bed that we still really loved but didn’t fit in our bedroom due to the headboard being too high for our ceiling height,’ says Jenny McFarlane, Ideal Home’s Senior Digital Editor.

‘We really didn’t want to get rid of it as it’s a lovely Loaf bed. It’s actually been super handy for when friends and family come to stay as it’s super comfy, and especially during those musical bed nights with the kids.’

I know that my flurry of guests this summer will be petering out in the next few months, and I’ll want the floor space back, so I’ve opted to stick with a sofa bed in my spare room.

Have you opted for a bed or a sofa bed in your spare room? Let us know in the comments below.