Essentials For Every Bedside Table

We love a well styled bedside table, but for our beautiful photographs we don't always style them with real life bedside essentials. We wanted to find out what your true bedside essentials are... so we asked.

Here's the seven things that kept coming up as your must-have bedside staples.

A ten minute read is one the best ways to switch from your busy day to day to relaxed and ready for bed. Reading keeps your brain active, improves intelligence and helps you sleep better... so it's no wonder that books were top of our list when it comes to what you need on your bedsides.

Some people love a ten minute read before bed, others have a pile of books ready for a relaxing Sunday morning coffee or a pile of magazines to dip in and out of when the mood strikes.

We love books that are easy to delve in and out of on our bedsides and they're perfect if you're not a big reader or always find you never finish a book. Some of our favourite 'coffee table' style books for bedtime are 'Humans of New York: Stories', 'In the Company of Women' and 'If I Could Tell You Just One Thing'.

One thing that popped up more than we thought was having a scent by your bed.

For lots of people a pillow spray is an every night essential luxury and helps them get a great night's sleep. Others used lavender oils for their pillows, room sprays, reed diffusers, scented body lotions, hand creams and one person even loved to have a pot of vapor rub on their bedside (a soothingly familiar scent to us all!).

We've written a whole blog post about which scents can help you sleep, and some scents can improve your sleep quality more than others, but the actual action of applying hand cream, spraying a mist or lighting a candle will create a routine and start getting you winding down for

It turns out we're all a little big sentimental. We like to go to sleep and wake up with things by our beds that remind us of someone, mean something or bring back good memories.

Alongside our tissues, glass of water and our pillow sprays we have photographs, jewellery, homemade trinkets and momentos.

These 'bits and bobs' make our bedrooms feel personal and add a some personality... even the most houseproud will still proudly display a wonky handmade vase on their bedside if it means something special to them.

In our books a bedside lamp should feature on every bedside, and you all seemed to agree.

There's nothing worse than getting in bed feeling settled then having to jump up to turn the main light off (or arguing with your bed buddy about who has to do it!). A bedside lamp means you can wind down with soft lighting and turn if off when you're ready.

Bedside lamps can also be a great way to transform the way your bedroom feels and the way it looks, so choose something that you love and that suits your style. Whether that's a grand table lamp a small spotlight or a low hanging ceiling light.

Whether we like it or not an alarm clock is necessary on our bedsides, otherwise we might just stay in bed all day long.

Over 70% of the people we asked have an alarm by their bedsides, but a lot of those are choosing to use their phones instead of a traditional alarm clock.

We love having a proper alarm clock on our bedsides and here's why...

1. A phone free night time. It's proven that the light from our phones and tablets affect how well we sleep at night, and by removing the 'need' for your phone in the bedroom you'll get a better night's sleep.
2. A phone free morning. Having your phone out the bedroom also means it won't be the first thing you look at in the morning. No more checking emails before you've brushed your teeth!
3. Use an alarm clock to make your bedside look better. There's so much choice when it comes how alarms can look... you don't have to have flashing red lights or a tinny bell. We love the vintage style Roberts radios with built in alarms, the mid century style Tivoli clock, a classic Newgate or a lumie that wakes you up with gradually increasing light.

So what's your favourite thing on your bedside? Is yours cluttered or calm?

We find it so interesting so we'd love to hear from you!