My bedroom.....

My bedroom.....

• Monday, 27 July 2015

Morning lovelies... 

Now that the (organised) mayhem of our second #TheCityGirls event is over I finally have some time to focus on me, my home and the things that I have been putting off for months.. like giving the garden a good spruce up and doing some crafty bits around the house! 

Coincidently, last week I was contacted by Time4Sleep; at the moment they are holding a competition to find the UK's messiest bedroom. Thankfully I don't fit into this category (although back in my uni days I think I could have been a contender) so I was asked to share photos from a different approach! If you'd like to enter your bedroom/your kids bedroom into the competition then visit the competition page here to find out more. 

Time4Sleep then asked me whether I'd like to provide some tips on how to keep your boudoir tidy,organised and looking cosy!

I'll show you round the room and talk about some of the bits of storage furniture I have and also some of the things I've re-purposed as storage to keep all my junk things tidy, organised and looking pretty. 

When we moved in last year I was happy to find that the bedroom was just a white blank canvas- this meant I had more to play about with in terms of colour and styling.  

CRAFTY I've been itching to put up a picture above our bed but we just hadn't found one big enough. So yesterday when I found 2 packs of black Washi tape I thought "lets create something!" I could picture what I wanted in my head and rather than doing the sensible thing of getting the tape measure out and pencilling in some guide lines I just went for it freehand. I'm pretty happy with how its turned out though! What do you think of the Washi heart?

STORAGE Ikea Vettre bedside tables- adore the Tiffany blue colour, find the huge cupboard really handy to hide stuff away in and I also like they are are a substantial size so you aren't having to move everything off to put a cuppa on in the morning!

STORAGE Both me and the Mr share this wardrobe and we find it really handy to have the storage box on top to keep bits in that we don't wear that often. Recently I filled it with our jumpers and cosy winter things.

This is one of my pet hates... shoes in the bedroom but alas I can't have everything my way so he makes sure to keep them hidden under the wardrobe! 

STORAGE Another handy hidden space is under our bed- we've got a divan bed so it doesn't provide as much storage as a standard bed might but it helps to keep things tidier. As you can see we have all the essentials in here.. a xmas stocking and an EMPTY Nike box.. what is it with men and keeping these types of things? "You won't need a shoe box for anything... no no you don't need an old shoe box to keep your old pointless receipts in!"

RE-PURPOSE On my bedside table I use an old Birchbox box to keep my bedtime essentials in.. doesn't it look cute?! In here at the moment I have my Bodyshop Vitamin E Aqua Boost Sorbet, 2 bottles of Avon Sleep Serenity Pillow Spray, Compagnie De Provence hand cream, Optrex eye spray,my headphones, a sleep mask from Kiss The Moon and an Nspa back massager thingy. 

RE-PURPOSE The Mr also uses his men's Birchbox box to keep the bits on his bedside table out of sight and organised! We've both got Kindles so this saves space being taken up by books all over the place too.. although the odd one or two sneak in!

STORAGE Before we moved in I had it in my mind that I was going to have a dressing table in this corner. But when seeing how many clothes we both had and only being able to fit one wardrobe we thought it was best to have a chest of draws instead. I used Annie Sloan paint to beautify them and now I use the top as a station for all my beauty and jewellery bits. 

STORAGE I also have the Ikea Helmer draw unit to keep bits like my nail varnishes and eyeshadow palettes. In each draw I have dividers to keep everything organised nicely- most of the draws have the Ikea Billingen draw insert in. 

I like to keep all of my sample pots and sachets together so that when I'm out of my full size products I have a ton of other bits to try out. Maybe I should try and go a few weeks solely using the samples.. it looks like I've got enough to choose from!

I've got a draw specifically for my eyes containing all my sunglasses, contact lenses, solutions, glasses wipes and specs.

On top of the chest of draws I have a few bits..........

Ikea Skurar plant pot with artificial peonies from Country Basket

No7 Illuminated Mirror from Boots

A Benefit Cosmetics Mirror (free with a purchase!)

RE-PURPOSE I love that this little trifle dish has now become a pretty storage dish for my rings, watches and a few necklaces. 

RE-PURPOSE  The WedgeWood pot with my makeup brushes in was my late Great Grandma's. I suppose it was meant for small flowers originally but I like that I've found it a new use!

I also use a little tray from Ikea to keep all my makeup bits together.

STORAGE Above my makeup station I have this amazing piece of storage using the wall space that would otherwise be wasted...

RE-PURPOSE Four more Birchbox boxes come in handy here too on the top shelf... I keep more of my jewellery in the top 2 boxes and then hair-bobbles and grips in the other two!

STORAGE The unit was originally a display crate from a DIY store. How amazing does it look?!  

I generally keep the prettier makeup/skincare bits on here. It helps to have all these bits out on show rather than being in a draw as it means I use them more often.  

On top of the Helmer draws I have one last bit of storage. 

RE-PURPOSE- I bought this cute little beach bag from H&M kids department about 2 months ago and thought it would be perfect to keep all of the products in that I need to use/blog about. I'm pretty sure it was only £2.99!

I also store some of my Elle magazines on here along with a storage box for all the other odd bits I don't know where to put. 

I then have this tacky but useful basket in which I store my Tangle Angel Mini, hair bobbles, necklaces and my work pass.

Whilst taking photos for this post I realised how much of a mixture I have in my room- I like that I've got some brand new bits  but also some more vintage bits that give the room a bit more character. 

For me, the easiest way to keep a bedroom tidy is to maintain it daily, make the bed each morning, give it a good dust at least once a week and think of different and clever ways to store your things! Check out storage ideas on Pinterest too for inspo!

Remember to head over to Time4Sleep and check out the entries that have been submitted so far... although if mess makes you feel uncomfortable then I'd recommend it with caution.. there are some MESSY people out there! 

XOXOXOX

*I've loved doing this post for Time4sleep- in return they have provided me with some Love2 Shop vouchers