Bedside organizer
Growing up, I was a Boy Scout. If you were too, a glorious Boy Scout, you know the scout motto is “Be Prepared” as you’ve heard it all too many times. I listened to that advice, or at least I try to. This has led to me carrying around an assortment of tools that I have need for in the average day.
The issue here, would be that when I come home from work, I generally toss my belongings onto my bedside table with obvious disregard for organization (I’M TIRED).
My solution? A bedside organizer for my knick knacks and gizmos, a Home for them so I always know where they are, if not in my pockets.
After much deliberation, I settled on a plexiglass sheet resting on cardboard, on which I can draw the outlines of my tools (hence the organization).
Finished product to keep you hooked. If this don’t hook you, I don’t know what will.
I cut my plexiglass sheet to size, 12”x13.5” in my case
This is what a 12”x13.5” plexiglass sheet looks like. Opted for the frosted look because that is all I had.
I drilled pilot holes into my plexiglass so I can eventually screw this creation to my bedside.
A 9/64th inch hole in each corner. Why do they make drill bits in fractions no one has ever even thought of before.
Using #6 5/8” screws for this feller.
Apparently a #6 screw measures out to 9/64th of an inch, so that works out well for me.
Absolute overkill, but I’m marking holes on the cardboard through the holes on the plexiglass so that I can drill pilot holes through the cardboard too.
Unneeded, but I want this thing to look nice.
The bedside in question.
I took the tools I carry on me and tried to organize them well enough so they looked nice, and still had a buffer around them for me to draw outlines.
Setting it in stone. Realized my dreams of using a white paint marker for the outlines was a long-shot. The cardboard seems to soak it all up.
You know the drill (hah), drilled pilot holes in my bedside table, at the four pre-drilled corners of the plexi sheet, lest the screws have trouble trying to dig their way into the table.
I opted for the truss-headed screws over something like a flat head, because I do not have my pilot holes countersunk. Doing so would help the flat-headed screw lie flush with the plexi. I didn’t want to get too fancy.
Et voilà!
As nice as it is, my tools rotate. I’m not always carrying those exact tools. Someday I’ll find tools that better suit my needs.
BUT WAIT!
The fun part is that you can just unscrew it and draw new outlines on a new piece of cardboard to keep up with your ever-shifting tool belt.
