Can you live without your bedside cabinets?

Why are bedside cabinets so useful? They truly are. We would not be without our bedside cabinets for many reasons;

• We always take a glass of water to bed in the evening, as there is nothing worse than to wake up at 3 o’clock in the morning wanting a drink and having to wake yourself up properly so that you have to walk into the kitchen and fill up a glass – by which time you are very much WIDE awake. This only means one thing; you can’t get back to sleep again. In order to alleviate this from happening and also stopping your glass of water from getting dusty (as you leave it on the floor) we would simply recommend the use of bedside cabinets. Your glass of water can be in reach of your sleepy crane of an arm so that you can quickly resume your dream…where ever you were…
• It tidies away bits and bobs. There always seems to be a growing collection of something beside the bed whether it is; books, magazines, jewellery, cuddly toys or radios. These things only pick up dust if they are left to lie there for weeks on end. The quick answer to this is to store them neatly under the tabletop in a drawer. Simple.
• A bedside cabinet gives you the opportunity to place some bedside lamps or reading lights. This is yet another reason why you should invest in some bedside cabinets.
• A bedside cabinet is a great place to store pills and potions. By placing your medicines in the drawer next to your bed will help you remember that you must take them. Bed is the last place at night that you go so it makes sense to use it as a ‘remembering unit’.

Choosing the right type of bedside cabinets

There really are countless reasons why a bedside cabinet is so useful, but when you come to choose one we at LiveIn/LiveOut would recommend getting the right one. If you are bothered about the overall look of you home and you are trying to achieve a balanced and consistent style, you must be sure to choose carefully. Ill-matched cabinets will not look part of a set and will result in your luxurious space looking cluttered and not exuding the relaxed effect you wanted to achieve.

There are times when it can be quite important to try and match your woods and style to your bed frame. This will help the overall design of your room to mix in and look more in-keeping with a country pine theme for instance. Pine bedside cabinets come in different styles and finishes, so if you are after a more country feel you may want to consider turned knob detailing or if it is a more contemporary feel you are after then a more solid, rustic pair of pine bedside cabinets may be the answer.

There are alternatives to matching a style exactly, and if you are feeling quite confident on your design taste, then you can opt for something that will compliment your bed frame. If you have a 1920’s designed bed for instance it would be difficult to get bedside cabinets that are matching, so in this case a pair of mirrored freestanding side units will work – but really this is up to you.

Try DIY!

Do not underestimate your abilities. This is the greatest way of showing off some of that hidden creativity! If you are looking to inject a bit of personality and individuality into your home then the best way to do that is to get your hands on a pair of old bedside cabinets and give them a bit of TLC. You can simply just rub them down with a piece of sandpaper and give them a lick of white paint to give you a shabby chic white bedside cabinet to compliment your floral wallpaper. This really is the cheapest way of getting some quality, solid furniture into your home without spending a great deal on the new units in shops. Keep your eyes open at your local salerooms or charity based tip shops for some bargains that you can bring to life with a little bit of elbow grease.

If you are feeling a bit more cavalier, then try pasting some wallpaper onto the unit drawer frontage. You can choose an existing pattern or go for something that will stand out on its own. Simply cover the wallpaper detailing with a few coats of PVA and you will have a pair of cabinets that will be the envy of all your friends.

The beauty of DIY is that you can customize your cabinets exactly how you would want them, and you don’t need to worry about matching existing styles or colours. It is also about having a bit of fun and using your own creativity and style. Shopping for the finished product won’t seem so pleasurable once you have crafted something that you are proud of and will be in your home for years to come.