UHeart Organizing: A Nice & Neat Nightstand

For the first time in forever (sing it Anna), I am in a small organizing slump.  It has been a few weeks since I have tackled a drawer, closet or cabinet, and I am starting to twitch.  With school starting next week, I have quite a few things to get buttoned up this weekend.  And I have Courtney of A Thoughtful Place to thank for lighting a little fire in me again.  Although I just recently cleaned out my own nightstand, just watching her go through the process and seeing her before and after photos has inspired me to want to get something else done.  Plus, her bedroom is pure eye candy and now her nightstand drawers are as well.  She is here today to fill you with some inspiration and motivation, and celebrate her recent organizing success story.  Welcome Courtney!

Hi, all! I’m really excited to be here today and even more excited to finally have drawers I am proud of. I’ve been hiding a dirty little secret and it’s time to come clean. While I have a bedroom I truly love, I have been sleeping next to messy drawers. While this may seem like no big deal, to anyone who loves organized spaces you know what it can do to the blood pressure. The best part is that this makeover cost no money and only took a couple of hours. Let me tell you! It was time well spent.

Here is a peek at our master bedroom and my side of the bed. While we are all about the DIY and saving money (headboard project here) we did actually splurge on these bedside tables from Restoration Hardware. And I love them. I truly do. But holy cow, they quickly became a dumping ground and it’s been driving me bonkers. I am embarrassed to even show you but I think you need to see the before to appreciate the after.

Even my husband was like, “You’re not going to clean that up before you take a photo?” Ha, nope. This is really how it looked, my friends. What I love the most is that there is a book about tidying up tucked in there. How about that for irony? OK, let’s keep snooping.

Please tell me you can relate at least a little bit. I even have Christmas garland I picked up somewhere (on clearance I’m sure) because you never know when the mood might strike to bust out a holiday garland. It’s just ridiculous the amount of junk I have in these drawers.

I feel better already. I think. Part of me wants to crawl into a hole after sharing these but I think we all have been there. Or maybe you are in this same predicament now. So I wanted to take you through the method I used to have these drawers looking pretty in no time.

The first thing I did was shop my own house. That is exactly why this project was free. I am willing to bet that you have storage containers somewhere in the house that aren’t being used or could be a better fit for your drawers. Even little bowls from the kitchen work. I have been known to reuse empty salsa jars as well. You really don’t have to go shopping to a fancy organizing store to get this project going. Have any shoe boxes? Those covered in cute paper work wonders. I grabbed a dollar section wood tray, a couple of green tins (from IKEA and never used them) and a clear organizing tray I had in my bathroom with two things in it. I also grabbed a little white bucket and a clutch. HINT: a clutch you do not use on a regular basis can make a great place to store gift cards or receipts. And it’s pretty, too. 

I am queen of picking up pretty wrapping papers wherever I see them. This one was from HomeGoods and it was in my wrapping paper station I showed you not too long ago. I knew I wanted to add some color to these drawers and this was the perfect choice. I will say that if these drawers belonged to my children I would use something stronger like a contact paper. But because I am the only one going in and out of these, I knew the paper would hold up. More on that later. (Check out how I used wrapping paper as wallpaper here).

Once I gathered some bins I could use it was time to empty the drawers. It definitely gets messier before it gets better! Boy there was a ton of stuff in here. My method was to pull up my bench and use a laundry basket to hold all of the items I took out of the drawers. Then I made piles: keep, trash, and move to another spot in the house. I was shocked at how much really didn’t need to be in these drawers. About 1/3 was trash and another 1/3 belonged in a different room altogether.

I measured each drawer and cut the paper to fit. I used something called “Quake Hold” to attach the paper to the drawer. It’s just a putty that won’t hurt the furniture and can be removed. But it holds the paper in place and is perfect for this type of project. Just seeing the paper in the drawers made me so happy. I could stare at that all day long.

All I wanted in my top drawer was my daily journals, sticky notes for when I read or brainstorm blog ideas at night, and my stationary. I often write a quick note to a friend or a thank you note while sitting on my bed during the day so it’s nice to have them right here. I used the plain wood box for those notecards and a pen.

On a side note, if you have not heard of this book it’s fantastic. My friend Jennifer from Rambling Renovators gave it to me and it’s a really unique way to remember five years of memories. I highly recommend.

In the next drawer I put these green tins to work. I have a new camera that is in my camera bag, but have kept this one because it is light and compact and I usually take this one when I travel. I tucked the camera and the charger in this tin. The other tin hosts all of the printed photos I have but have not done anything with. And to be honest, I just like having a stack of real photos I can just thumb through. Seems like a lost art in this digital age.

I cut out my monogram from stationary I have and added it to the green tins because it’s just so much prettier to look at.

This drawer also holds more of my journals, my iPad and an empty tin. I have learned that more “junk” will creep in and now I have an empty tin I can toss it in (bobby pins, change, you name it). Then I will just need to address the tin and it won’t junk up the rest of my drawers.

Lastly, the bottom drawer has my laptop cord, iPhone cords, extra cards for my camera and my heating pad. Yes, my heating pad. I’m not getting any younger and this baby does wonders on my back. Just keeping it real.

I can’t tell you how much better I feel about this space. Thank you for letting me share my dirty little secret and not judging me! I seriously love opening these drawers now and they used to give me anxiety. I hope I have inspired you to clean our a drawer or two and just shop your home to get it done.

More organized spaces around our home:

• Garment Rack 
• Mini Mudroom 
• A Children’s Chore Box

Thank you so much, Jen, for letting me hang out here and share a little bit of our home with your readers. It’s always an honor to be here.

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"Do you believe in love at first sight? I sure do because when I first stumbled upon I Heart Organizing I immediately fell in love with Jen's mad organizational skills. I think we all long for a calm, organized, well styled life. I am the author of A Thoughtful Place blog where I dish on all things related to decorating, organizing, entertaining, and of course DIY-ing! To be quite honest, working on making my house a home is my happy place. It fulfills my need to be creative and I love sharing ideas {both big and small} with my readers. Along with my blog, I am a contributing writer to House of Fifty and have recently started my own decorating firm, Casey Grace Design, LLC, with my talented sister. I call Orange County, California home where I live with amazing husband and two children. At the end of a busy day, I love to enjoy an ice cold beer on the front porch with my hubby while we watch our children ride their bikes or run around. Life is sweet and I am thrilled to be a part of the IHeart Organizing Team."