Final 12 months, I had a small transforming challenge that received a bit out of hand. It will definitely led to me transforming my complete kitchen. That’s a narrative for one more day and one other weblog put up. Nevertheless, I’m actually grateful for a few of the adjustments 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 loads of house. For the primary time, I used to be left with drawers I didn’t have a goal 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 develop into one in all our most-used drawers (most likely proper after the silverware and spice drawers). I really 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 units out of the bed room. Plus I’ll share how this small change has made a huge impact on our household’s tech habits.
Why It’s Essential to Maintain Units Out of the Bed room
First, let’s discuss why having a charging drawer within the kitchen—or one other widespread space—is a game-changer. Particularly on the subject of your sleep hygiene and total 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 trustworthy) scroll via limitless reels. However there are some essential explanation why this won’t be the healthiest alternative.
The Affect of Blue Gentle on Sleep
Some of the apparent causes to keep away from having units close to your mattress is the impact of blue mild on sleep. The screens of telephones, tablets, and different digital units emit blue mild. This will intrude with melatonin manufacturing, the hormone that regulates our sleep-wake cycle. Research have proven publicity to blue mild 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 maintaining your units out of the bed room, you may assist your physique wind down naturally, with out the interference of synthetic mild. For those who’ve ever discovered your self scrolling mindlessly in your cellphone earlier than mattress after which having bother falling asleep, you’ve skilled this firsthand. The answer? Maintain your telephones, tablets, and different units in a devoted charging house outdoors the bed room. Just like the charging drawer I’ve created.
For those who aren’t prepared to try this, there are issues we will do. Examples embrace placing a crimson mild filter on the cellphone, sporting blue-light blocking glasses. You can even change to one thing just like the Daylight Computer (I really like this for journaling and writing at evening).
Scale back Late-Night time Distractions
One other concern with having units 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 surface world. By setting a agency rule that units should be charged within the kitchen or one other designated house, you’ll be much less more likely to examine them through the evening. This straightforward behavior can enhance your sleep high quality and aid you be extra current with your loved ones through the day.
Improved Focus and Connection
When your units are tucked away in a drawer, it’s simpler to give attention to 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 units, 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 residence.
How I Created My DIY Charging Drawer
Making a charging drawer in my kitchen was a comparatively easy challenge, and it didn’t require loads of fancy instruments or expertise. I began with a drawer I already had in my kitchen, and with a number of small changes, turned it right into a purposeful and arranged house for charging units. 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 disorganized, so I made a decision to repurpose it for this challenge. Ideally, the drawer ought 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, however it’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 front room that’s not serving a lot of a goal. If the drawer is just too small or shallow, you would possibly wish to take into account swapping it for a deeper one that may accommodate a number of units.
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 units in a single place, maintaining 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 units directly. It’s essential to pick an influence strip that has a protracted sufficient twine to succeed in your nearest outlet. You additionally need one with surge safety to make sure the protection of your units. Be certain that the facility strip is positioned in a method that permits airflow to forestall overheating. To perform this, I re-wired a plug that was once 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 baggage and enormous containers for the kitchen.
You can even add charging cords which can be lengthy sufficient to comfortably attain from the facility strip to your units. I like to recommend maintaining a wide range of cords for various units—some for iPhones, some for Androids, and others for iPads or tablets.
I did discover energy strips particularly designed for this. However at nearly $300 every, I needed to attempt a DIY possibility 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 units from slipping round. Silicone mats are heat-resistant, non-slip, and simple to scrub, making them good for this type of challenge. In addition they add a pleasant contact of group, maintaining every thing in place and searching tidy.
Step 4: Set up the Cords and Units
Now comes the enjoyable half: organizing the cords and units. 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 depart sufficient room for every gadget to relaxation comfortably whereas charging.
For our household, the charging drawer has develop into the go-to spot for telephones, iPads, and every other units that want a cost. Everybody is aware of the place to plug of their units. There’s additionally no have to seek for chargers or battle over who will get to plug in first.
Our Household’s Charging Routine and Display screen 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 units should be charged within the drawer in a single day. This ensures nobody is tempted to examine their units late at evening. And we get up with totally charged units, 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 units out of attain and out of thoughts throughout this time. This behavior has helped enhance our sleep high quality, particularly for the youngsters.
- Household-wide tech detox: We’ve additionally made it a behavior to maintain screens off throughout household meals. This has made meal time a extra related expertise. We use this time to catch up, chat about our day, and give attention to 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 finished for our household’s tech habits. It’s a easy answer that promotes more healthy sleep, reduces distractions, and encourages extra conscious use of our units. By maintaining our telephones and tablets in a devoted house, we’ve created higher boundaries between know-how and leisure. It’s additionally improved our total well-being.
For those who’re on the lookout for a easy technique to make your house extra organized and tech-friendly, I extremely advocate organising 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 units? Go away a remark and tell us!
