Valentine’s Day Bedroom Makeover

Let Valentine's Day inspire you to reimagine the space you share with your partner each night: The bedroom! How can you make it more relaxing? More romantic? Here are 10 tips and more than a dozen products to help you lovebirds rebuild your nest with style, health, comfort and romance in mind.

"Cluttered house, cluttered mind," goes the saying, but it isn't just a proverb to make you feel guilty about being disorganized. Scientists have found that physical clutter actually restricts your ability to focus. Ensure you're able to give your full attention to your valentine by getting rid of, or putting away, things that detract from the appearance of your bedroom. Hand-painted enamel tins in a cheery floral theme (Connected Goods, $45 for a set of three) are perfect for hiding jewelry on your dresser. This fiesta-colored storage bench (Meijer, $70) features the ever-popular chevron pattern and opens to reveal plenty of room for storing photo albums, shoes, or whatever else you need to tuck away from sight.

Once you clean up the clutter, it's time to replace it with carefully selected accessories that add visual appeal to the room and give it character. It's the small items you handpick yourself that will give it a special touch. This cupid's arrow sculpture was made from recycled auto parts by artist Miguel Mejia in Peru (Novica, $20) and it's perfect for display on Valentine's Day or year round.

If you have overhead lights, consider installing a dimmer switch so you turn the lights down without completely turning them off for romantic ambience. Another option? A small table lamp (Pier1, $89) can do the trick to set the mood.

A vase with a bouquet of fresh flowers adds more than just natural beauty to a room; flowers also add moisture to dry indoor air while potted plants recycle and refresh it. Try a bunch of pink peonies in these pretty blue-green vases (Target, $15 to $35) Afraid of the commitment required to take care of a living potted plant? Real succulents are easy to care for, but you can give these realistic-looking artificial ones a try (Crate & Barrel, $40).

Mami told you every morning as a child to make your bed, and while you thought it a pointless chore, know she was giving you good advice. An unmade bed contributes to a sense of chaos; a made bed with freshly cleaned linens, on the other hand, is a blissful thing to come home to at the end of a long day. Treat yourself further by investing in the best quality sheets you can afford. These Apt. 9 ripple bedding coordinates in coral (Kohl’s, $40 to $250) may be just what you're looking for.

Curtains serve many purposes, from decorative to practical. On the practical side, curtains provide privacy, keep out unwanted sunlight while sleeping and contribute to energy efficiency. On the decorative side, curtains can help tie a room together and give it a finished look. Keep the colors of your bedding in mind when choosing curtains so that they compliment each other. Shown: Gatehill red grommet curtains (Kirkland’s, $35 for two panels).

Don't neglect the walls when you redecorate. When choosing art for your bedroom, you need to take a few things into account besides just your personal tastes. The color of the walls, bedding and curtains, as well as the style and overall theme, should all play a role in selecting a painting or other type of wall art. Caliente 7 by Valerie Vescovi (Fine Art America, $52 for a canvas print) would work for a variety of palettes and is sure to inspire some bedroom salsa dancing!

Music is a time-honored way of setting the stage for romance. Give Putumayo's Latin Lounge album (Amazon, $13) a spin for a relaxing, and at times, sultry, mix of contemporary melodies and traditional rhythms with influences from Cuba, Argentina, Brazil and beyond, including a rendition of fan-favorite, Bésame Mucho.

Candles create a warm, inviting atmosphere, setting the perfect tone for alone time with your partner. Scented candles are twice as nice, and with so many different types, you're sure to find one you love. Henri Bendel candles are considered luxury candles but they're worth the extra cost, with 60 hours of burn time and intoxicating scents such as vanilla bean, fig, and lavender leaves (Henri Bendel, $30 each).

Not only do cellphones, tablets and laptops distract you from time with your partner, recent studies suggest that having them in the bedroom is actually harmful to our health. If possible, keep electronics out of the bedroom or power them off by an established time each evening. Besides, time spent connecting with your sweetheart rather than to the internet promises to be much more interesting than anything happening on Facebook.