I don't know about you, but I feel like the one thing no one told me about becoming an adult was how much time I would spend tidying my house.
I'm not talking about cleaning, that takes long enough, but I also seem to spend large portions of my day simply picking up items that have accumulated on various surfaces of my home and rehoming them into less visible locations.
My bedside tables are a case in point. I've incorporated as many bedroom storage ideas as possible into my small bedroom, but I'm pretty sure my bedside tables must be magnetic, because clutter seems to stick to them like iron filings to a magnet.
That's why I decided to start analysing what people with tidy bedside tables do to keep them clutter-free, and I soon discovered there are some tidy tricks that my bedroom is missing.
Yes, knowing how to declutter a bedside table (and doing it regularly) is important, but so is designing the bedside space to make tidiness the default option. Here are the three things I'm going to be implementing asap.
1. Opting for a bedside table with storage
It may sound obvious, but absolutely *the* easiest way to keep a bedside table tidy is to opt for one that has built-in storage.
My bedside tables have none, and that means that their surfaces soon get covered in the night-time essentials that I want to have close at hand.
It's far easier to keep a bedside table clutter free if you have a drawer – or three – to keep everyday items stored out of sight.
Luckily there are plenty of great storage bedside tables on the market. I love this oak option from Habitat that features both a drawer and an alcove to keep the surface clutter-free.
Similarly, this fluted three-drawer bedside table from Next has *plenty* of storage space where you can keep night-time essentials hidden out of sight.
I also love this reasonably priced rattan-effect option from DUSK. It comes in three colourways, and those deep drawers offer plenty of storage space.
2. Adding even *more* storage
I thought I already had a lot of small bedroom storage ideas, but the one thing people with tidy bedside tables always seem to have is... even more storage!
Any surface is going to become a magnet for clutter if said 'clutter' doesn't have a proper home, so equipping my bedroom with even more storage solutions means I'm far less likely to put things down on my bedside table in the first place.
Luckily, there are plenty of stylish, practical, and budget-friendly storage options on the high street right now.
If, like me, you don't have a bedside table with drawers or a cupboard, you can use a decorative box on top of the bedside table to keep all types of clutter hidden away.
Even tissues can look artfully styled rather than like messy bedside clutter with the right tissue box.
My bed frame is low, so I've previously struggled to find underbed storage to fit, but this Dunelm option is the perfect home for the books and magazines I would otherwise pile on my bedside tables.
3. Going wireless
Lastly, pour over the images from any bedroom interior shoot, and there's one thing you'll never see on or near the bedside tables. Cables.
And for good reason. One of the most unsightly aspects of my bedside table clutter is by far all of the charging cables that end up weaving around it to the plug socket behind.
Plus, there are the cables from my bedside lamps themselves, all of which add visual clutter to the bedside. The answer? Go wireless.
There are now *lots* of rechargable table lamps on the market, and they're not just useful for places in the home where you don't have a power socket, they're also great because they're cable-free. That means I can have bedside illumination without messy wires cluttering up the view.
Another clever trick people with tidy bedside tables use is to forego table lamps altogether and opt for bedroom wall lights instead. This keeps the bedside surface clutter-free, and if you don't fancy rewiring, there are plenty of rechargeable options available now.
I've also discovered you can get bedside tables that double as cable management systems. This John Lewis option has a clever hole in the back that means I can charge my phone and tech devices without a million cables draped over the top of my bedside cabinets: genius.
Luckily, all of these practical solutions for a tidier bedside table also deliver big on the style points, so I'm definitely not mad about introducing any of them to my bedroom.
