Sleeping apart from your partner could save your relationship.

Many people believe that sleeping apart from your partner signals the beginning of the end of your relationship. But what if that was just a myth – and sleeping apart could actually be the key to a happy marriage?

The New York Post recently interviewed couples who slept apart each night, and surprise, surprise – most reported very happy and satisfying relationships.

The couples profiled slept apart for various reasons, including snoring, different attitudes to décor and tidiness, varying sleep hours and a desire for greater freedom.

“We’re totally different when it comes to how we like our surroundings. I thrive when I have piles of books and magazines; he can’t relax in a room full of clutter. He also wakes up early; I work from home and prefer to stay up late and sleep in a bit,” said Rachel Kramer Bussel, who was one of the people interviewed in the piece.

And according to the US National Association of Home Builders, the trend is catching on - in America at least, 60 per cent of new homes now come with two master suites instead of the traditional one.

But according to Jennifer Adams, the author of Sleeping Apart, Not Falling Apart, wrote in her blog that the success of the relationship depended on the reasons why a couple opted to sleep apart.

"In my opinion, the #1 relationship killer of a reason for sleeping separately is that you are trying to escape your partner. Not because of their snoring, or bed tumbling, but because you don’t like them anymore – for whatever reason, and whatever degree of dislike that might be. If you don’t want to share a bed at night because of underlying relationship issues, you might find it difficult to work at keeping the intimacy needed to support heading to separate spaces each night – or even some nights," she wrote.

It's an interesting idea - and I'm sure anyone who has lain awake next to a snoring partner would be keen to test it out...

Do you sleep in the same bed as your partner? 

WATCH the clip below for more evidence that sleeping apart could be the key to a happy marriage...