Organize Your Nightstand

Have you ever reached over to turn your phone’s alarm off in the morning, only to knock over your glasses, a pile of books and a cup of water? If this sounds familiar, then there’s a good chance you need to spend some time organizing your bedside table. A clean and clutter-free nightstand can help you sleep better by providing a more relaxing bedroom environment, and it can help you start your day off right when you look over and see a well-organized space as soon as you open your eyes. 

Learn how to organize your nightstand so that you can avoid cleaning spills and stepping on glasses in the future.

Start with a Purge

1. Take everything off the top of your nightstand and remove all items from the drawers, too.
2. Toss or recycle anything that’s obviously trash, like used tissues, empty water bottles, and so forth. The items that remain will be your “keep” pile.
3. Go through your “keep” pile and consider which items could be placed elsewhere. For example, the book you finished two months ago can go back to the living room bookshelf, while your book light and phone charger may need to stay nearby.
4. Now that you’ve purged and decided which items need to remain in or on your nightstand, you’re ready for some bedside table organizing ideas.

Also be wary of cables. A cord organizer might be a good investment if you have cords snaking around your nightstand because of gadgets plugged in nearby. (If you hate always having to rummage around for your phone cord before bed, a charging station isn't such a bad idea either.)  

How to Organize the Top of Your Nightstand

• Buy a floor lamp or mount a sconce on the wall so that you can free up space by not needing a table lamp. If you do keep a table lamp, consider choosing one with a narrow base.
• Use a tray as a night stand organizer that contains things such as glasses, book lights or cups of water. This will decrease the likelihood of you knocking these items off when you reach for the snooze button in the morning.
• Display photos on the wall rather than on bedside tabletops.
• Hang floating shelves for knickknacks so that they don’t clutter up the limited surface area of your nightstand.

To keep things organized, it's not a bad idea to do a quick clean every morning and evening before bed. Eventually, placing things in more appropriate places besides your nightstand will become second nature. 

Organizing Nightstand Drawers

• Insert drawer dividers to that you have a dedicated space for everything.
• Dedicate the top drawer for the things you use most, such as your tablet charger, TV remote, lotion, lip balm, tissues, nasal spray and so forth.
• Save the bottom drawers for storage or use them to hold your nighttime gear, including pajamas, head scarves and sleep masks.
• Alternatively, you can use the bottom drawer to store any crafts or hobbies you work on at night, such as knitting, writing or sketching.

You will be amazed at what a drawer divider will do to make things more accessible in your nightstand. Items will no longer slip into the corner or under other items. You won't find yourself spending minutes pulling out pill bottles or sliding things back and forth in a desperate search for your lost earphone. 

How to Organize Your Nightstand Shelves

• Place a decorative basket or canvas storage container on the shelf so that you can tuck away pajamas or tissues.
• Use the shelf to display decorative items, such as a small sculpture or cool vase.
• Stack your favorite pre-bedtime books or recent issues of magazines on the bottom shelf so that they’re within easy reach.
• Use your shelf to corral electronics, like laptops or tablets.
• Put lighter items like earbuds or glasses on shelves further away and heavier items like books higher and closer within reach. 

Whatever you do, don't overcrowd your shelf with too many books or trinkets. If your shelf is smaller, consider wall-mounting a light above the shelf instead of using a table lamp. 

Maintaining an Orderly Bedside Table

• Clear items such as empty water bottles or mugs of tea each morning.
• Take a few minutes after waking up to neatly place chargers and pajamas in their respective drawers.
• Consider placing a small wastebasket next to the bed to collect things like tissues, empty tubes of lip gloss, stretched-out hair ties and so forth.
• Replace books you’ve finished reading on the bookshelf, rather than letting them stack up.
• Avoid having a nightmare of a bedside table by knowing how to organize your nightstand for sweet dreams.

What Essentials to Put Inside Your Nightstand

The big question is what belongs and what doesn't? We've already established that any items that don't receive daily don't belong on shelves or the top space. But items in drawers or cubbies can be lesser used. Still, you want to make sure that the item is something you are either reaching for at least once a week or that you only need when you're in bed. Otherwise, it probably belongs somewhere else. 

Here are some absolute essentials that probably belong in your nightstand if you are trying to declutter: 

• Eyeglasses 
• Eye Mask
• Headphones 
• Spare Charger
• Watch 
• A Single Pen and/or Highlighter 
• Book or Magazine You're Reading 

What to Keep Elsewhere 

There's many things you don't need to keep in your nightstand when you have limited space there. Check out some of the least essential items in the list below.

• Batteries
• Jewelry
• Spare Change
• Floss
• Matches
• Tea
• Sunglasses
• Scissors 
• Non-Essential Medicine

Remember, the goal is to keep important things accessible. Anything that you use on a nightly basis can (and probably should) be close at hand in your nightstand. But if you only watch your bedroom TV once a month, do you really need 3 remotes rattling around in your drawer? Of course not!