How I Added a DIY Charging Drawer to My Kitchen (& Why)

[ad_1] Final 12 months, I had a small transforming challenge that received a bit out of hand. It will definitely led to me transforming my entire kitchen. That’s a narrative for one more day and one other weblog put up. Nevertheless, I’m actually grateful for among the modifications that got here from this transform, 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 whole lot of area. 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 grow to be one among 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 necessary to maintain our gadgets 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 Necessary to Hold 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 relating to 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 sincere) scroll via infinite reels. However there are some necessary the explanation why this may not 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 may intrude 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, scale back sleep high quality, and make it tougher to fall right into a deep, restorative sleep.

By retaining your gadgets out of the bed room, you possibly can assist your physique wind down naturally, with out the interference of synthetic gentle. For those who’ve ever discovered your self scrolling mindlessly in your cellphone earlier than mattress after which having hassle falling asleep, you’ve skilled this firsthand. The answer? Hold your telephones, tablets, and different gadgets in a devoted charging area exterior the bed room. Just like the charging drawer I’ve created.

For those who aren’t prepared to try this, there are issues we are able to do. Examples embrace placing a pink gentle filter on the cellphone, carrying blue-light blocking glasses. It's also possible to swap to one thing just like the Daylight Pc (I really like this for journaling and writing at evening).

Cut back Late-Night time Distractions

One other situation 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 most recent 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 possibly can 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 area, you’ll be much less prone to examine them in the course of the evening. This easy behavior can enhance your sleep high quality and assist 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 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 chosen space for charging gadgets, we encourage everybody to be extra intentional about when and the way they use expertise.

Now, let’s discuss how I created this charging drawer and why it’s been such a game-changer in our house.

How I Created My DIY Charging Drawer

Making a charging drawer in my kitchen was a comparatively easy challenge, and it didn’t require a whole lot of fancy instruments or abilities. I began with a drawer I already had in my kitchen, and with just a few small changes, turned it right into a purposeful and arranged area 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 disorganized, so I made a decision to repurpose it for this challenge. Ideally, the drawer must be in an area that’s simply accessible to the entire household however not in a high traffic space the place it could possibly be a distraction. Our kitchen labored completely as a result of it’s near our household’s each 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 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, retaining all the pieces 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 necessary 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 sure that the facility strip is positioned in a means that permits airflow to forestall overheating. To perform this, I re-wired a plug that was exterior dealing with on the aspect of a cupboard to be inside dealing with. This left the cupboard beneath largely open. It now shops rubbish luggage and huge containers for the kitchen.

It's also possible to add charging cords which can be lengthy sufficient to comfortably attain from the facility strip to your gadgets. I like to recommend retaining 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 nearly $300 every, I needed to strive 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 gadgets from slipping round. Silicone mats are heat-resistant, non-slip, and straightforward to scrub, making them excellent for this type of challenge. Additionally they add a pleasant contact of group, retaining all the pieces in place and searching tidy.

Step 4: Arrange the Cords and Units

Now comes the enjoyable half: organizing the cords and gadgets. I made positive to maintain all the pieces 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 system to relaxation comfortably whereas charging.

For our household, the charging drawer has grow to be the go-to spot for telephones, iPads, and every other 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 system 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 time for supper a extra linked 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 the most effective issues we’ve performed 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 gadgets. By retaining our telephones and tablets in a devoted area, we’ve created higher boundaries between expertise and rest. It’s additionally improved our total well-being.

For those who’re searching for a easy strategy to make your own home 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 price it!