Final yr, I had a small reworking mission that acquired a bit of out of hand. It will definitely led to me reworking my complete kitchen. That’s a narrative for one more day and one other weblog put up. Nonetheless, I’m actually grateful for among the modifications that got here from this rework, particularly our new DIY charging drawer.
I added much more drawers within the backside cupboards as a result of they’re a lot extra sensible and usable. And by doing so, freed up a number of house. For the primary time, I used to be left with drawers I didn’t have a function for. I remembered one thing I’d seen years in the past on Pinterest about making a charging drawer or docking drawer.
This has now turn out to be considered one of our most-used drawers (most likely proper after the silverware and spice drawers). I like that it’s led to more healthy tech habits too.
On this put up, I’ll stroll you thru how I created a charging drawer with a drawer I already had. I’ll additionally clarify why it’s so essential to maintain our gadgets out of the bed room. Plus I’ll share how this small change has made a big effect on our household’s tech habits.
Why It’s Vital to Hold Units Out of the Bed room
First, let’s discuss why having a charging drawer within the kitchen—or one other frequent space—is a game-changer. Particularly in relation to your sleep hygiene and general well being. Many people are responsible of bringing our telephones into the bed room, whether or not it’s to examine social media, reply emails, or (let’s be sincere) scroll via countless reels. However there are some essential the explanation why this won’t be the healthiest selection.
The Affect of Blue Mild on Sleep
One of the crucial apparent causes to keep away from having gadgets close to your mattress is the impact of blue gentle on sleep. The screens of telephones, tablets, and different digital gadgets emit blue gentle. This will intervene with melatonin manufacturing, the hormone that regulates our sleep-wake cycle. Research have proven publicity to blue gentle earlier than mattress can delay sleep onset, cut back sleep high quality, and make it tougher to fall right into a deep, restorative sleep.
By conserving your gadgets out of the bed room, you may assist your physique wind down naturally, with out the interference of synthetic gentle. When you’ve ever discovered your self scrolling mindlessly in your telephone earlier than mattress after which having bother falling asleep, you’ve skilled this firsthand. The answer? Hold your telephones, tablets, and different gadgets in a devoted charging house exterior the bed room. Just like the charging drawer I’ve created.
When you aren’t prepared to try this, there are issues we will do. Examples embody placing a crimson gentle filter on the telephone, carrying blue-light blocking glasses. It’s also possible to change to one thing just like the Daylight Laptop (I like this for journaling and writing at evening).
Scale back Late-Evening Distractions
One other problem with having gadgets close to your mattress is the fixed temptation to examine them. Whether or not it’s an pressing work e-mail, a textual content from a good friend, or the newest information replace. This fixed connectivity can result in late-night distractions, leaving you feeling wired and anxious as an alternative of relaxed and prepared for relaxation.
With a charging drawer, you may create a wholesome boundary between your bed room and the skin world. By setting a agency rule that gadgets have to be charged within the kitchen or one other designated house, you’ll be much less prone to examine them in the course of the evening. This straightforward behavior can enhance your sleep high quality and allow you to be extra current with your loved ones in the course of the day.
Improved Focus and Connection
When your gadgets are tucked away in a drawer, it’s simpler to deal with the current second. For households, this implies extra high quality time spent collectively with out the distractions of texting, gaming, or scrolling. By having a delegated space for charging gadgets, we encourage everybody to be extra intentional about when and the way they use know-how.
Now, let’s discuss how I created this charging drawer and why it’s been such a game-changer in our dwelling.
How I Created My DIY Charging Drawer
Making a charging drawer in my kitchen was a comparatively easy mission, and it didn’t require a number of fancy instruments or abilities. I began with a drawer I already had in my kitchen, and with a number of small changes, turned it right into a practical and arranged house for charging gadgets. Right here’s how I did it!
Step 1: Discover the Proper Drawer
I had a drawer in my kitchen that was underused and a bit of disorganized, so I made a decision to repurpose it for this mission. Ideally, the drawer needs to be in an area that’s simply accessible to the entire household however not in a heavy-traffic space the place it may very well be a distraction. Our kitchen labored completely as a result of it’s near our household’s day by day actions, but it surely’s not the place the place we go to unwind at evening.
You don’t want to purchase a brand new drawer—simply discover one which you have already got in your kitchen, workplace, or lounge that’s not serving a lot of a function. If the drawer is simply too small or shallow, you would possibly need to contemplate swapping it for a deeper one that may accommodate a number of gadgets.
Step 2: Set up a Energy Strip Contained in the Drawer
That is the place the magic occurs! The important thing to creating a charging drawer work is including an influence strip or surge protector contained in the drawer. This lets you plug in all of your gadgets in a single place, conserving every thing organized and out of sight.
I selected an influence strip that match completely contained in the drawer, with sufficient shops to cost a number of gadgets directly. It’s essential to pick an influence strip that has an extended sufficient twine to achieve your nearest outlet. You additionally need one with surge safety to make sure the security of your gadgets. Be certain the facility strip is positioned in a approach that permits airflow to stop overheating. To perform this, I re-wired a plug that was exterior going through on the facet of a cupboard to be inside going through. This left the cupboard under largely open. It now shops rubbish luggage and huge containers for the kitchen.
It’s also possible to add charging cords which are lengthy sufficient to comfortably attain from the facility strip to your gadgets. I like to recommend conserving a wide range of cords for various gadgets—some for iPhones, some for Androids, and others for iPads or tablets.
I did discover energy strips particularly designed for this. However at virtually $300 every, I wished to strive a DIY choice and am glad I did.
Step 3: Add a Silicone Mat to Shield the Drawer
As soon as the facility strip was put in, I added a silicone mat to the underside of the drawer. This protects the floor and prevents any gadgets from slipping round. Silicone mats are heat-resistant, non-slip, and straightforward to wash, making them excellent for this sort of mission. In addition they add a pleasant contact of group, conserving every thing in place and looking out tidy.
Step 4: Manage the Cords and Units
Now comes the enjoyable half: organizing the cords and gadgets. I made positive to maintain every thing neat and accessible. This concerned coiling the cords and utilizing small clips to maintain them from tangling. I additionally made positive to go away sufficient room for every gadget to relaxation comfortably whereas charging.
For our household, the charging drawer has turn out to be the go-to spot for telephones, iPads, and another gadgets that want a cost. Everybody is aware of the place to plug of their gadgets. There’s additionally no must seek for chargers or battle over who will get to plug in first.
Our Household’s Charging Routine and Display Time Habits
Since we added the charging drawer to our kitchen, it’s actually helped us set up wholesome habits round our gadget use. Right here’s how we use it:
- Units are charged in a single day within the kitchen: We’ve made it a rule that telephones, iPads, and different gadgets have to be charged within the drawer in a single day. This ensures nobody is tempted to examine their gadgets late at evening. And we get up with absolutely charged gadgets, prepared for the day forward.
- No screens after darkish: We attempt to keep away from utilizing screens after darkish, particularly within the hour or two main as much as bedtime. With the charging drawer, it’s a lot simpler to maintain gadgets out of attain and out of thoughts throughout this time. This behavior has helped enhance our sleep high quality, particularly for the children.
- Household-wide tech detox: We’ve additionally made it a behavior to maintain screens off throughout household meals. This has made supper time a extra linked expertise. We use this time to catch up, chat about our day, and deal with one another with out distractions.
Conclusion: The Advantages of a DIY Charging Drawer
Including a DIY charging drawer to our kitchen has been probably the greatest issues we’ve accomplished for our household’s tech habits. It’s a easy answer that promotes more healthy sleep, reduces distractions, and encourages extra aware use of our gadgets. By conserving our telephones and tablets in a devoted house, we’ve created higher boundaries between know-how and rest. It’s additionally improved our general well-being.
When you’re in search of a easy strategy to make your property extra organized and tech-friendly, I extremely advocate establishing a DIY charging drawer. It doesn’t take a lot time, and the advantages are completely value it!
Completely happy charging, and right here’s to more healthy tech habits for the entire household!
What are your loved ones’s guidelines and habits round gadgets? Go away a remark and tell us!
