Boost Your Bedroom Tips

your bed sits amid cluttered nightstands, teetering stacks of books, overflowing laundry baskets, and countless pairs of shoes. As a room that's meant to inspire sultry pillow talk and wild abandon, it's a total joke. That's why we enlisted psychologists, decorators, and even a randy culinary whiz to help us create the perfect booty chamber: one that looks harmless enough to the unsuspecting eye but is so sexually charged you won't be able to hang out in it without feeling the urge to strip naked and growl like Eartha Kitt.

1."One of the easiest ways to change your environment is with sound," says Stephanie Buehler, Psy.D., sex therapist and director of the Buehler Institute in Irvine, California. "Customize your playlist so the genre matches the mood you're in -- and the music builds to the mood you want to reach." For example, start with the soft sound of Band of Horses, shift into the sexy groove of Calexico, and graduate to the steady, pulsing rhythms of Bjrk or Portishead. (Check out our perfect playlist.)

2. A recent study in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology found that women perform better on creative tasks when in the company of plants. Choose classically foxy flora like roses, which emit a mood-enhancing chemical called phenylethylamine, or PEA. Or, more creatively, surround yourself with lavender and lily of the valley, whose sweet fragrances, according to the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, help increase arousal in men.

3. You don't need an expert to tell you that action on the tube can inspire real-world raunch, but Patricia Covalt, Ph.D., author of What Smart Couples Know, is happy to do so anyway. She suggests racy non-porn; we like Y tu mamá también or 9 1/2 Weeks. Open to female-focused erotica? Heat up your DVD player with Chemistry, by feminist author and sex educator Tristan Taormino.

4. When selecting duvets, pillows, and throws for steamy sex scenes, Jenny Oman, a set decorator for Showtime's sizzling series The Tudors (yes, the one starring Jonathan "Too Hot to Be Human" Rhys Myers), mixes in posh materials like velvet and satin. "Light-enhancing sheens and deep, rich colors like dark crimsons and pinks feel sensual and luxurious," she says. And get this: Less is surprisingly more when it comes to thread count. Designer Anki Spets, founder of Area linens, says a 200 to 400 thread count in high-quality cotton is ideal