Five steps to a revamped night table
Nightstands are often a mess of books, lotions, jewelry and oddball items like earplugs and the odd safety pin. But with just five minutes of work, and five easy steps, your nightstand can be a place of Zen where your nightly needs are within arm’s reach.
Don’t believe it? Try this: Step 1: Empty it all. Clear off the tabletop and empty the drawers. Remove even the corded items like your clock and lamp and phone charging station, because a cleared surface will give you an opportunity to rethink their arrangement. Step 2: Toss, toss, toss. File your magazines in the recycling bin, send your books to a local book swap — except for the one you’re in the middle of.
But, if you have to flip back a few pages to remind yourself about the plot, that one should also go to the book swap.
Toss those subscription mailers that fell out of the magazines, along with any junk mail.
Overstretched hairbands and ponytail holders, empty tubes of lip balm or hand cream and the dry-cleaning tags you removed from your shirt all those weeks ago need to go. Step 3: Relocate what you can. All reading material you plan to read, but further down the road than within the next week, should go back to the shelf. Keep work material away from your bed — easy to say, difficult to do. Random objects, like those little bags of button and thread that come with sweaters, should go to their proper home: your sewing kit that should then go into a closet. Step 4: Purge the non-essentials. Keep only what you truly need for pre- and post-sleep. This could include:
> A spot for your glasses
> A spot for your earplugs and eye mask, if you use them
> A spot for your phone
> Aglass or bottle of water (on a coaster)
> Reading materials > The remote for your television (if you must) Step 5: Reposition. Your clock shouldn’t be too close to your pillow, or the hours will stare you down. As well, some clocks emanate a quiet but bothersome noise, so put it as far away as possible while still being able to see and reach it.
Your bedside lamp should be easy to reach and also provide sufficient light for those reading materials.
Keep a small box of tissues nearby, in a drawer if you have one. Have a small dish available for items like rings and earrings, lip balm and all the little items that are part of your going-to-bed routine. And consider storing items like hand cream and the TV remote out of sight in a drawer.