Get the Best From Your Bedside
Transform your bedside table into a hardworking, trustworthy companion with these clutter-busting ideas
Fed up with a bedside table that’s buried under books, charging cables and face creams? Well, it’s time to see your bedside in a whole new light and transform it into a control station where you can store, recharge and enjoy, all at the same time. Borrow from these practical hints and styling ideas and you’ll have a bedside table that is not only pleasing on the eye, but is pretty helpful too.
Choose a functional design
A pile of suitcases next to your bed might look quirky and charming, but dismantling the arrangement each night to find your face cream is going to become frustrating. You need a bedside table or cabinet that is easily accessible, particularly from the bed. A cabinet with drawers and a cupboard is going to offer plenty of storage options, so you can keep the top area free of any mess.
How to style your bedside table
A pile of suitcases next to your bed might look quirky and charming, but dismantling the arrangement each night to find your face cream is going to become frustrating. You need a bedside table or cabinet that is easily accessible, particularly from the bed. A cabinet with drawers and a cupboard is going to offer plenty of storage options, so you can keep the top area free of any mess.
How to style your bedside table
Watch out for deep drawers that will hold bottles
Face creams, vitamins, after sun; these are all usual suspects found loitering next to our beds. A good tip is to hunt out a bedside table that has deep enough drawers to stand your toiletries in. Then finally you can banish that dust-collecting multitude of bottles to a darker place.
Face creams, vitamins, after sun; these are all usual suspects found loitering next to our beds. A good tip is to hunt out a bedside table that has deep enough drawers to stand your toiletries in. Then finally you can banish that dust-collecting multitude of bottles to a darker place.
Consider a grab-and-go cubby
A tiny bedside table with a well-thought through design can out-perform some larger cabinets. For example, the open cubby hole in this cute bedside table offers an easy spot to slot a tablet and laptop neatly out of view. And how about drilling a hole through the back to create a a sleek and tidy charging station? This would keep your techy bits and their cables in one easy-to-find spot. Phew!
A tiny bedside table with a well-thought through design can out-perform some larger cabinets. For example, the open cubby hole in this cute bedside table offers an easy spot to slot a tablet and laptop neatly out of view. And how about drilling a hole through the back to create a a sleek and tidy charging station? This would keep your techy bits and their cables in one easy-to-find spot. Phew!
Similarly, the larger open space below this bedside table would neatly conceal a radio alarm clock or iPod docking station, and keep any bright lights from view during the night.
Make the most of the void below
If you can’t resist the charm of a simple table next to your bed, but agree that it’s not offering much in terms of hidden storage, look for other ways of concealing your essentials. A large basket or smart trunk placed underneath is going to hide away all sorts of clutter while still retaining your table’s pared down, rustic appeal.
What your bedside table says about your style
If you can’t resist the charm of a simple table next to your bed, but agree that it’s not offering much in terms of hidden storage, look for other ways of concealing your essentials. A large basket or smart trunk placed underneath is going to hide away all sorts of clutter while still retaining your table’s pared down, rustic appeal.
What your bedside table says about your style
There’s nothing like a large basket to make you feel that you’re on top of all your bits and bobs. It just takes a quick sweep and all your unsightly knick-knacks are safely tucked up for the night so you can relax.
Find room for a chest
This may mean sacrificing some space and only having room for a minuscule table on the other side of the bed, but the storage benefits of fitting in a chest of drawers will overshadow the negatives. With room for clothing in the bottom drawers, as well as bedside essentials at the top, a spacious chest will simplify this busy area by keeping all your stuff in check.
This may mean sacrificing some space and only having room for a minuscule table on the other side of the bed, but the storage benefits of fitting in a chest of drawers will overshadow the negatives. With room for clothing in the bottom drawers, as well as bedside essentials at the top, a spacious chest will simplify this busy area by keeping all your stuff in check.
Opt for multi-functional pieces
If you’re having issues fitting in a bedside table as well as a desk, then combine the two. Dedicate the end of the desk to the bedside table area and arrange your morning and evening necessities on a smart display tray or placemat, so this area’s purpose is clearly defined. Then pop on a lamp that will double as a reading and work light.
If you’re having issues fitting in a bedside table as well as a desk, then combine the two. Dedicate the end of the desk to the bedside table area and arrange your morning and evening necessities on a smart display tray or placemat, so this area’s purpose is clearly defined. Then pop on a lamp that will double as a reading and work light.
Re-purpose redundant furniture
Look to other pieces of furniture around your home that have outgrown their original function but may offer you a better solution next your bed. A TV unit for example: the squat sideboard might not fit your new screen, but it could work perfectly next to your low bed frame. Or perhaps that console table in the hallway is blocking the passage, but beside your bed it could offer a heap of storage. Re-think and re-jig and you might be surprised with the results.
Upcycling projects for the bedroom
Look to other pieces of furniture around your home that have outgrown their original function but may offer you a better solution next your bed. A TV unit for example: the squat sideboard might not fit your new screen, but it could work perfectly next to your low bed frame. Or perhaps that console table in the hallway is blocking the passage, but beside your bed it could offer a heap of storage. Re-think and re-jig and you might be surprised with the results.
Upcycling projects for the bedroom
Take de-cluttering to the next step
A three-tiered bedside is definitely a design for the super-organised. Give each tier a dedicated theme, such as pretty bits at the top, techy items in the middle, and a basket for reading glasses at the bottom, and you’ll have an enviable control station that will manage your essentials in a methodical fashion.
A three-tiered bedside is definitely a design for the super-organised. Give each tier a dedicated theme, such as pretty bits at the top, techy items in the middle, and a basket for reading glasses at the bottom, and you’ll have an enviable control station that will manage your essentials in a methodical fashion.
Likewise, ladder shelving can be useful for defining who’s items are who’s in shared bedrooms, by allocating steps to each side.
Fashion your own design
Maybe the only way of efficiently organising your bedside is to have one tailor-made? Then finally you’ll have a place for everything.
YOUR TURN
How have you taken back control of your bedside clutter? Share your photos and tips in the Comments below.
MORE
See more bedroom ideas
Maybe the only way of efficiently organising your bedside is to have one tailor-made? Then finally you’ll have a place for everything.
YOUR TURN
How have you taken back control of your bedside clutter? Share your photos and tips in the Comments below.
MORE
See more bedroom ideas
First things first, take a look at your bedside table and consider the vital essentials that you need by your bed, such as a lamp, book, or a phone charger. Then look at the things that have ended up here but you don’t really need. Can that pile of magazines be moved to the living room, and shouldn’t your passport be somewhere safer?
Typically, bedside tables are tiny and compact so you should only store and display the items you use every day. Look to your bedside as a springboard in the morning, and your wind-down spot at night, so that it becomes the control centre for your daily routines and everyday items.