What’s on your bedside table?

If your house is anything like mine, then family members will always find something to put onto a clean surface! Most frustrating, but a fact of life, and this is where interior styling is not just about making things look pretty, in many cases a simple vignette actually provides a home for all those pesky bits and pieces.  Think a beautiful bowl on a hall table for keys, a tray to hold and to keep tidy all those books, candles and magazines or a gorgeous dish for post and messages.  One area that I find can easily get overrun with junk is the bedside table.  Away from the eyes of guests, you could be tempted to neglect this area.  You can have a beautiful bedroom scheme and then have all sorts of incidental items piled at eye height when you are lying in bed – not the most relaxing of environments!

However if you carefully think about the styling of your bedside table, it is much easier to keep it neat and tidy – here are a few of my favourite ideas that I have come across to help you to be inspired!

This lovely vignette has it all covered – a photograph that means a lot to you, an inspirational quote to start your day, a lovely notebook to write down ideas when you remember them in the middle of the night, a lamp, reading material and light.  There is also a box and little dish for trinkets.

It sounds a lot but in fact when beautifully styled, it all fits perfectly and leaves no room to dump rubbish!  Pull the vignette together with a mirror or artwork and you have the complete look.

There are some great innovative lighting ideas now so that you don't necessarily have to clutter your bedside table with a traditional table lamp.  You can have a hanging pendant over your bedside table or a wall light to read by.  This leaves plenty of space for a beautiful plant that gives the height to the vignette.

Again, the ubiquitous box for trinkets plus a favourite cup and your book that doubles as a coaster.

This bedside table is simplicity itself.  I love a generous sized table – in fact I really like them to be different either side of the bed as this can make a great decorating statement.

Placing a decent sized bowl of flowers on your bedside table makes the room so pretty, you really couldn't dump anything here.  A streamlined hidden drawer works perfectly to hold books etc. and a beautiful artwork grouped as part of the vignette prevents the table from appearing too bare. Note the all important trinket bowl – it appears to be a necessity!

Again, an oversized bedside table with a stool is a perfect use of space.  The drawers hide the bits and pieces and then you are left with a beautiful large space for a lamp, artwork and flowers – very civilised!

Don't be afraid of colour! I think this bedside table looks beautiful – I love it! The layers of blue work perfectly here, broken up with a fresh white artwork, propped against the wall and a lovely bright bunch of flowers.  The flowers prevent the look from being too contrived with their lovely burst of colour and in fact tie in perfectly with the handles on the unit and being predominantly orange act as a lovely complementary accent to the blue.

A tray is a great styling aid to keep a vignette together, even if like this one it does not have sides – it simply helps to define the parameters for your styling.  A clock and some flowers or perhaps a candle make great bookends and the overall look is really pleasing and quirky!

Statement pieces work really well to tie in your colour scheme.  This gorgeous lamp is a focal point for this vignette and for the bedroom overall.  With such a beautiful styling item, you really just need to keep everything else simple.  This demonstrates how elegant a bedside table can be.

Or you can keep it simple and just have a book and a plant, which is a great idea as plants reduce carbon dioxide levels in the air.

Related: Why indoor plants are good for your health

I hope you have been inspired to tidy your bedside table and to really think about what you need in this space.

Remember that as you are treating this as a vignette, it looks great to introduce an artwork to the grouping, either on the wall behind or propped up against the table.  Artwork is very personal and this helps to bring the scheme together and make it yours.  Perhaps even just an inspirational quote to start the day.  Don't feel that artwork has to be at eye level, but rather treat it as a styling aid for your vignette.

I hope you have fun and as always don't forget to look on my Pinterest boards for heaps more inspiration and I would love to hear from you in the comments section below.

Related: Feminine Bedroom 101

Related: 5 tips to create a calm bedroom environment

Related: How to style a holiday house spare bedroom