Organized Bedrooms Archives - Blue i Style

Quick Tips for an Organized Nightstand

blueistyle — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 22:31:00 +0000

It’s been a while since I shared a Five Minute Friday organizing tip, but I’ve got a great one to take you into the weekend. Research has shown that a cluttered bedroom can interfere with your ability to relax and get restful sleep. Nightstands are a common culprit, but just a few simple tips and some quick organization can help you keep the necessities in reach without allowing your bedside table to became a catchall for clutter.

CLEAR THE CLUTTER ON TOP

Choosing a nightstand with interior storage is the best way to keep the clutter at bay. If you don’t like the heavy look of a fully enclosed nightstand, opt for a style with a combination of open and closed storage, like a drawer with an open shelf below. Storage within the bedside table allows you to keep the top clear and free for some simple decor.

If you still need extra storage, a decorative storage box is perfect for keeping small items organized but out of sight. The small box on top of my nightstand holds a few mementos that have sentimental value. Stacking a pretty vase on top of the box helped me add some needed height and scale to my nightstand styling.

Keeping the top of the nightstand clear of clutter leaves room for the day to day items you need, like a coaster for a glass of water and a good book or two.

DIVIDE & CONQUER: ORGANIZED NIGHTSTAND DRAWER

Think About What You Really Need in Your Nightstand Drawer

What do you keep in your nightstand drawer? Is it full of the necessities you want within easy reach at night, or has it become a junk drawer hiding all the things?

I do a lot of work in my bedroom in the early mornings and late at night, so my nightstand drawer serves as a kind of mini-office. The drawer used to be a tangled mess of notebooks, highlighters, pens, and charging cords. I felt stressed every time I opened the drawer, until I finally spent about five minutes getting it organized.

Clear It Out and Add Dividers

As with any organizing project, I recommend starting by emptying the drawer completely. You’ll likely find all sorts of things that don’t really belong there. Get rid of things you don’t need (donate, recycle, or trash) and then relocate the things you need but that don’t belong in the nightstand.

This post contains some affiliate links, if you purchase something I recommend, you’ll pay the same price, but I may receive a small commission.

Once you’ve cleared out the space and determined what should stay (for me, it was a few basic office supplies, chargers, my iPad, glasses, chapstick and lotion) you’re ready to shop for some nightstand drawer organizers to compartmentalize the space and keep it organized moving forward. My favorite (probably no surprise, since I’m a Brand Ambassador for The Container Store) are these clear divider trays from TCS.

When organizing with divider trays, keep like things together and make sure everything has a dedicated spot. It only took me a few minutes to fill these trays with my nightstand necessities, and now I can find what I need, and I’ll be able to keep it organized.

CONTAIN IN STYLE: USE BASKETS ON SHELVES

If your nightstand has a shelf, decide whether you need it for storage. My husband didn’t need any extra storage on his side of the bed, so the bottom shelf of his nightstand is styled with some books and decor. But on my side, I really needed a place to keep magazines as well as my laptop.

A large basket contains all my magazines, but also gives me plenty of room to tuck away my laptop when I’m finally ready to call it a night.

If you can spare five minutes this weekend, give your nightstand a quick organizing refresh. You’ll feel good, and you might even sleep better!

The post Quick Tips for an Organized Nightstand appeared first on Blue i Style.

Stylish Home Gym Ideas for Small Spaces

blueistyle — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 12:03:00 +0000

This post is sponsored by Cost Plus World Market, which you know is one of my favorite places to shop! This post also contains affiliate links.

Before having kids, we used one of the bedrooms in our house as a home gym. It wasn’t very stylish, but it was certainly spacious. Fast forward a few years, and that exercise room became a kid’s bedroom and we pared down our workout equipment and shoved it {quite literally} into the corner of the guest room. It’s taken me nearly four years to finally make this space a priority, but I can finally say that what our new mini-home gym lacks in size, it more than makes up for in style and function!

I don’t usually get too personal on the blog, but to explain why today’s project is so important to me, I need to give you a bit of a back story. Last May, Scott and I decided we wanted to get serious about losing weight, so we signed up for a program with a very strict meal plan and we’ve been really dedicated to it. Eight and a half months later, I’ve lost 60 pounds and I’ve just reached my goal weight!

I’m feeling great, enjoying shopping for a whole new wardrobe, and excited that I get to slowly reintroduce all the foods that I wasn’t allowed on the weight loss plan. But in order to eat my favorite foods and maintain my healthy new weight, I know that I need to get more exercise. I’ll never be that girl who’s training for a marathon {or even running a 5k for that matter}… but if it means I can eat a donut now and then, then I’m willing to put in the time and effort to burn those calories!

I’m not a big fan of going to the gym. I much prefer the flexibility of working out at home whenever I can fit it into my schedule, so I knew it was finally time to turn the pile of exercise equipment in the corner of the guest room into an organized and stylish home gym that I actually want to use.

I really love the decor in our guest room! It was inspired by our honeymoon in Santorini, and I find the space so calm and relaxing…

…except for this corner of the room. This corner was definitely not the relaxing island vibe we were going for!

A while back, I had the idea to just hide away the workout equipment by putting a folding screen in front of it. While the screen did mostly accomplish the hiding task, the truth is that hiding the problem was not fixing it.

Behind the screen was the same mess that I had before. And now I was even less likely to use the elliptical machine, or any of my other workout equipment, because the screen was heavy and cumbersome to move. I’d created an out of sight, out of mind situation, not just for my guests, but for me as well.

I decided it was time to retire the folding room divider, and transform this corner of the guest room into an organized, mini-home gym with a style that fit the decor of the room. I started browsing some of the shelving options at my local Cost Plus World Market, and before long I’d put together a complete plan!

Ok, are you ready to see how the plan came together?!

I can’t tell you how happy this space makes me! I’m still in that “pinch me” phase where I can’t quite get over how much function I was able to pack into this little workout corner, and how seamlessly it now blends in with the rest of the decor in the room!

Let me give you a closer look at the details, and how I’m using each element of the space.

I’d always envisioned putting a couple of shelves on the wall behind the elliptical machine, but all the options I’d looked at before felt a little too simple or utilitarian. I knew I needed something with a bit more interest in order to give this corner a finished and sophisticated look, and these triangle shelves are all that I could have asked for and more! These geometric shelves are no longer available at World Market, but I found some similar triangle shelves for you!

I’m so smitten with the gorgeous set of blue and white porcelain bowls that I picked up {here are some similar ones you might like}. They fit perfectly in the triangles and they are just the right size for containing all the small things I need, like my earbuds and fit bit. These bowls are also a great place for me to put my earrings and wedding ring while I’m working out.

In the other triangles I have my wrist/ankle weights, some rolled up white hand towels, fitness balls, and a blue lotus and cherry blossom scented candle in a cute blue and white jar {here are similar blue and white candles}.

Below the shelves, I hung a set of marble wall hooks. I just love how the chevron pattern of the wood mimics the triangles of the shelves. The combination of the mango wood and the brass and marble knobs gives this piece has a really high-end style that helps to balance out the less stylish items hanging from it, including my weighted jump rope and resistance bands.

I love using wall space to organize, so I also hung two galvanized baskets {here are some similar wall mounted baskets}.

One basket holds my travel magazines, because imagining wearing a swimsuit on a gorgeous beach vacation might just motivate me to keep moving on the elliptical… almost as much as the promise of being able to eat donuts again. Oh, better yet… donuts on the beach! Win/Win!

The upper basket holds a set of cute world map file folders that I’m using to sort all of the various workout tips and routines I’ve torn out of magazines and printed from Pinterest. I labeled folders for arms, legs, abs, buns, cardio, etc., as well as one folder for all the instruction manuals for my various equipment.

By choosing stylish storage pieces, and striking a balance between functional and pretty pieces to fill the shelves, this wall of fitness equipment ends up feeling much more spa-like than locker room.

Below the wall storage, I added a bamboo shoe rack for my gym shoes and a few hand weights. Tucked into the corner is, perhaps, my favorite creative storage solution of the whole space… a pretty, white metal hamper that holds my weighted body bars, yoga mat, and various other workout equipment. {This hamper has been discontinued one, but this white hamper has a similar style.}

The punched pattern in my metal hamper gives it soft and feminine look, but don’t be fooled – this thing is heavy duty. It’s really heavy and sturdy {way heavier than it looks}! This makes it perfect for storing my weighted body bars, but if you use hamper that’s not quite as heavy duty, be sure to lean your body bars or weights into a corner.

My old red yoga ball wasn’t holding air very well, so I replaced it with a blue one to better match the room {because, why not?!}.

I can simply tuck the yoga ball to the side of the elliptical when it’s not in use.

While I’m on the elliptical, I can use my phone to listen to audio books and pod casts, watch tv, or just admire the island view with the gallery wall of Santorini photos on the opposite wall.

I found a cup holder phone mount that’s made for a car, but that fits perfectly in the cup holder of my elliptical machine.

Looking at the before and after photos side by side, I can’t believe I waited so long to finally transform this space! I couldn’t be happier with this how this small space home gym came together. It’s proof that you don’t need more than a corner or nook to create a fitness space – you just have to use the vertical space to its full organizing potential and come up with some creative storage hacks!

Don’t let lack of space hold you back! Whether it’s a home gym, an office, or a craft/sewing room you desire, carve out a corner for yourself!

Start by browsing these small space storage solutions and this small space furniture collection for inspiration, and then get to work to turn that little piece of real estate into an organized and stylish spot you love!

SHOP THE STYLE OF THIS SMALL SPACE WORKOUT ROOM

Some of the items I used in our space are no longer available from World Market, but I have found similar replacements for each.

The post Stylish Home Gym Ideas for Small Spaces appeared first on Blue i Style.

Dresser Drawer Organization

blueistyle — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 17:36:00 +0000

If I asked for a raise of hands from all of you with messy dresser drawers, I can just imagine hands shooting up from all corners of the internet! And mine would be raised right there with you… or at least it would have been until last week.

Isn’t funny how sometimes those messy spots that drive us crazy are so simple to fix?

If only I had taken the five minutes to organize my dresser drawers years ago, I would have save so much time searching for what we need {not to mention the hassle of trying shove the drawer closed when it’s overflowing}. So that’s what I finally did!

Well, actually, first I put away the laundry like I normally do… by dumping all of my underwear from the basket into the drawer.

Then I had second thoughts and decided it was finally time to find a way to organize this drawer. But I didn’t want to stop and run to the store to buy anything new, so I looked around the house for what I already had that I could use as a dresser organizer.

I remembered that I had some extra fabric storage bins left over from another project. I love SKUBB storage bins, because they store flat when not in use, and then you simply pop them open and zip the bottom to hold their shape. They come in several different colors, including black, white, and pink.

I used three long, thin SKUBB bins to divide my drawer into three sections. I separated my underwear by style, which makes it much easier for me to find what I want.

I had a few more SKUBB bins left, so I decided to organize my bras and shapewear as well. I recently saw a plastic bra organizer at a store, and I was tempted to buy it just because I liked the name – the BobbyTrap – but honestly the square SKUBB bin is just the right width to keep everything neatly organized for a fraction of the price.

Is it weird to be sharing these photos on my blog? It feels weird… But all in the name of organizing, right?!

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