A bedroom is a private room where people usually sleep for the night or relax during the day. About one third of our lives are spent sleeping and most of the time we are asleep, we are sleeping in a bedroom. To be considered a bedroom the room needs to have a bed. Bedrooms can range from really simple to fairly complex. Other standard furnishings a typical bedroom usually has are, a closet, nightstand, desk, and dresser. Today in richer countries that have houses with multiple bedrooms, a bathroom may be connected to the bedroom. This did not start happening until the mid to late twentieth century.

Furniture and other items in bedrooms vary greatly, depending on taste and local tradition. For instance, a master bedroom may include a bed of a specific size (double, king or queen-sized); one or more dressers (or perhaps, a wardrobe armoire); a nightstand; one or more closets; and carpeting. Built-in closets are less common in Europe than in North America; thus there is greater use of freestanding wardrobes or armoires in Europe.

An individual’s bedroom is a reflection of one’s personality, as well as social class, and is unique to each person. However there are certain items that are common in most bedrooms. Mattresses and closets are the necessities in a bedroom. Mattresses usually have a bed set to raise the mattress off the ground and it provides some decoration. There are many different types of mattresses, in the 14th century the lower class slept on mattresses that were stuffed with straw. During the 16th century mattresses stuffed with feathers started to gain popularity, with those who could afford them. The common person was doing well if he could buy a mattress after seven years of marriage. In the 18th century cotton and wool started to become more common. The first coil spring mattress wasn’t invented until 1871. The most common and most purchased mattress is the innerspring mattress. The variety of choices range from relatively soft to a rather firm mattress. An inner spring mattress can cost from $199 to $1290. A bedroom may have bunk beds if more than one person share a room. Night stands are also rather popular. They are used to put various items on, such as an alarm clock or a small lamp. Having a television in a bedroom is fairly common as well. 43% of children from ages 3 to 4 have a television in their bedrooms. Along with televisions many bedrooms also have computers, video game consoles, which are more popular among teenagers, and a desk to do work. In the late 20th century and early 21st century the bedroom became a more social environment and people started to spend a lot more time in their bedroom than in the past.