There are pieces of furniture we choose to make a statement, and others whose importance reveals itself rather more quietly.
The bedside table belongs firmly to the latter.
It is there at the beginning and end of every day, holding the lamp switched off last thing at night, the book we intended to read another chapter of, a glass of water, spectacles, hand cream and all the other small necessities that accumulate beside a bed.
We may barely notice it.
Until, that is, we choose the wrong one.
A bedside table that is too low makes reaching for the lamp surprisingly awkward. One that is too large can overwhelm a modest bedroom, while something too small quickly disappears beneath the assortment of things we expect it to hold.
Choosing the right bedside tables is therefore about rather more than finding something that looks good beside the bed.
The best ones quietly combine proportion, practicality and character — and make the bedroom work just a little better.
Begin with the bed
When choosing bedside tables, the bed is the natural place to start.
Not the colour of the walls, the rug or even the amount of storage you need.
The bed.
It is usually the largest piece of furniture in the bedroom and establishes the scale for everything around it. A substantial upholstered or wooden bed can comfortably sit beside more generous bedside tables, while a slender iron bedstead or smaller double bed may call for something lighter.
Height matters particularly.
As a general guide, the top of a bedside table should sit roughly level with the top of the mattress, or a little above or below it. It doesn’t need to be exact, but keeping the two reasonably close makes reaching for a glass of water or switching off a lamp much easier.
Mattress heights vary considerably, particularly with deep modern mattresses and divan bases, so don’t rely on the dimensions of the bed frame alone.
Measure from the floor to the top of your mattress.
It is a very small job that can save a surprisingly irritating mistake.
How high should a bedside table be?
There is no single perfect bedside table height because there is no single standard bed height.
This is why measuring your own bed is more useful than following a fixed number.
Imagine lying down and reaching naturally to the side. You shouldn’t need to reach noticeably upwards or drop your arm towards the floor.
A table approximately level with the mattress usually feels most comfortable.
There is some room for variation, of course.
A taller bedside table can work particularly well beside a high bed or substantial headboard. A slightly lower table can look elegant beside a lower bed, especially where you want the room to feel relaxed and uncluttered.
What tends not to work is a dramatic difference between the two.
A tiny low table beside a towering mattress will feel lost. An unusually tall cabinet beside a low bed can make the sleeping area feel enclosed.
Proportion is often more important than the measurement itself.
Think about what actually lives beside your bed
Before deciding whether you need drawers, cupboards or simply a tabletop, have a look at what is currently beside your bed.
Be truthful.
There may be more there than the beautifully styled bedside tables in interiors photographs would have us believe.
Perhaps you keep several books nearby. There may be reading glasses, medication, chargers, tissues, notebooks or the inevitable collection of hairbands and small objects that seem to migrate towards bedside drawers.
If that sounds familiar, storage matters.
A bedside cabinet with drawers allows the surface to remain relatively calm while keeping everyday necessities close at hand.
If you naturally keep very little beside the bed, something simpler may be more appealing. An open bedside table, small stool or compact occasional table can make a bedroom feel lighter.
The right choice depends on your habits.
There is little benefit in choosing a beautifully minimal bedside table if, within a week, everything you actually use is piled on top of it.
Consider the size of the room
Bedrooms often have less spare floor space than we imagine.
Once the bed, wardrobe and chest of drawers are in place, those seemingly generous proportions on the floor plan can become rather more modest.
In a small bedroom, bedside tables need to earn their place.
Look for narrower designs, tables raised on legs or pieces with an open shelf rather than a solid cabinet reaching to the floor. Being able to see some of the floor beneath furniture can help a smaller room feel less crowded.
In a larger bedroom, very small bedside tables can have the opposite problem.
They may look insignificant beside a king-size bed or tall headboard. Here, wider bedside cabinets can help anchor the bed and give the room a more settled appearance.
Again, it comes back to proportion.
Furniture should feel as though it belongs to the room rather than simply fitting into the available gap.
How wide should bedside tables be?
Width is partly a question of available space and partly one of balance.
If your bed sits between two walls with only narrow gaps on either side, the room has already made much of the decision for you.
Where there is more space, consider the scale of the bed and headboard.
A broad bed with a tall upholstered headboard can take fairly generous bedside tables without feeling crowded. Something smaller or more delicate will usually look better with narrower pieces.
There is also the practical question of what needs to fit on top.
A bedside lamp takes more room than you might expect, particularly if it has a broad shade. Add a book and glass of water and a very small surface can quickly become full.
If you already own the lamps you intend to use, measure their bases before buying the tables.
It is much easier than discovering afterwards that the lamp occupies almost the entire surface.
Bedside table or bedside cabinet?
The terms are often used interchangeably, but there is a useful distinction.
A bedside table tends to have a more open construction, perhaps with legs, a drawer or a shelf. It usually feels lighter and can be particularly effective in smaller bedrooms.
A bedside cabinet offers more enclosed storage, with drawers or a cupboard beneath the surface.
Neither is inherently better.
A table can make a room feel spacious and relaxed. A cabinet can bring order to a bedroom where storage is limited.
If your bedroom already has plenty of wardrobes and drawers, you may enjoy the lighter appearance of an open table.
If storage is precious, however, don’t waste the opportunity.
Those few bedside drawers can hold a remarkable amount.
Do bedside tables have to match?
No.
And this is where things become rather more interesting.
Matching bedside tables create balance and symmetry, which can be wonderfully restful in a bedroom. They work particularly well when the bed sits centrally against a wall and is itself symmetrical.
There is something calm about a bed flanked by two tables and two lamps.
But matching isn’t compulsory.
Older homes, in particular, often feel quite natural with different pieces on either side of the bed. One might be a small chest of drawers and the other a simple table. They can be connected through similar heights, materials or lamps without being identical.
This can also be useful when two people have different needs.
One person may want drawers; the other may prefer shelves. One side of the bed might have more available space than the other.
The important thing is that the arrangement feels balanced rather than accidentally mismatched.
Two different tables of roughly similar visual weight can work beautifully.
Don’t be afraid to mix furniture styles
A bedroom doesn’t need to come as a set.
In fact, combining different pieces often gives a room more character.
An old wooden bedside table can sit comfortably beside a contemporary upholstered bed. A simple painted cabinet might soften a room containing a substantial timber wardrobe. A newer bedside table with clean lines can bring freshness to an antique bedstead.
British homes have long contained furniture from different periods. Rooms change, pieces move around and furniture is inherited, bought and repurposed over time.
There is no need for your bedside tables to match your chest of drawers precisely.
Instead, look for a connection.
It might be the tone of the wood, the shape of the legs, the finish of a handle or simply the overall proportions.
A room can feel harmonious without everything being identical.
Choosing the right material
Bedside tables are touched and used every day, so materials matter.
Wood is an enduring choice for good reason. It brings warmth to a bedroom, works with both traditional and contemporary interiors and often becomes more characterful with age.
Painted furniture can introduce colour without overwhelming the room and is particularly useful if you already have several different wood tones.
Metal-framed designs tend to feel lighter and can work well where floor space is limited, while glass can visually disappear into a room, although it may require rather more enthusiasm for polishing.
Natural materials have a particular ease in bedrooms.
Timber, woven details, linen lampshades and ceramic accessories introduce texture without making the room feel busy.
Bedrooms benefit from things that are pleasant to encounter at close quarters.
Think about the lamp before the table is full
A bedside lamp isn’t merely decorative.
It has a job to do.
If you read in bed, make sure the lamp provides useful light at the right height rather than simply casting a pleasant glow somewhere around your shoulder.
The proportions of lamp and table should also work together.
A large lamp on a very small table can look precarious, while a tiny lamp may seem lost on a broad bedside cabinet.
Once the lamp is in place, leave some room around it.
A bedside table needs space for the ordinary business of going to bed: putting down a book, removing jewellery or setting aside a cup.
Not every inch needs decorating.
Allow room for a little personality
Because bedside tables are small, they are lovely places for personal things.
A photograph. A little ceramic dish. A book you return to often. Flowers from the garden in a small vase.
These objects don’t need to have been chosen because they belong to a bedroom.
In fact, something slightly unexpected often brings more character.
An old candlestick can sit beside a modern lamp. A small framed picture might lean against the wall. A favourite piece of pottery can hold jewellery or other odds and ends.
Keep it restrained enough that the table remains useful.
The bedside table should still have somewhere to put your tea.
Make use of awkward spaces
Not every bedroom allows for a conventional bedside table.
A chimney breast may leave an unusually narrow alcove. A radiator might occupy exactly the place where a cabinet ought to go. In an attic bedroom, sloping ceilings can make furniture placement something of a puzzle.
These limitations can lead to more interesting solutions.
A narrow console-style table, small stool, wall-mounted shelf or compact chest can all work beside a bed.
A chair can even become an occasional bedside table in a guest room, particularly if it is only required to hold a book and glass of water.
The important thing is not what the piece is called.
It is whether it does the job.
Don’t overlook the guest bedroom
Guest bedrooms have slightly different requirements.
The person sleeping there doesn’t need permanent storage for the collection of things that gathers beside your own bed, but they do need somewhere obvious and convenient to put their belongings.
A lamp, water glass, phone and perhaps a book should fit comfortably.
If possible, include a drawer or leave a little empty surface rather than filling the table entirely with decorative objects.
The most welcoming guest rooms quietly anticipate what somebody might need without making a fuss about it.
A working lamp, somewhere to charge a phone and a clear place to put a cup are small details.
But they are the details people notice.
Consider furniture that can have another life
A good bedside table needn’t remain beside a bed forever.
This is worth remembering when choosing one.
A small chest might later work beside a sofa. An open table could move into the hallway beneath a mirror. A compact cabinet might become useful storage in a bathroom or home office.
Furniture that can adapt tends to stay with us longer.
This is one of the pleasures of well-made pieces. Their usefulness isn’t tied to a single room.
Today’s bedside table might eventually become tomorrow’s occasional table, plant stand or hallway cupboard.
Choose something you like enough to imagine elsewhere.
Choose character over perfection
Bedrooms are intimate spaces.
They don’t need the formality we sometimes bring to more public rooms in the house.
That makes them a particularly good place for furniture with a little character.
An old bedside table with a mark on its top can be far more appealing than something pristine. A wooden cabinet with visible grain and knots brings warmth. A painted piece with slightly softened edges may make a room feel established rather than newly assembled.
This doesn’t mean everything needs to look aged or rustic.
Simply allow materials to be themselves.
Good timber doesn’t need to be perfectly uniform. Handmade details don’t need to be exact. Furniture that is used will eventually acquire marks.
A bedroom should feel comfortable enough to live in.
The finishing touch: leave some space
Perhaps the easiest mistake with bedside tables is to style them until there is no bedside table left.
Lamp. Books. Candle. Vase. Photograph. Clock. Decorative bowl.
And suddenly there is nowhere for the glass of water.
Begin with what you actually need.
Usually that means a lamp and perhaps one or two personal things. Add a book when you are reading it. Bring in flowers when there are flowers to bring in.
Let the arrangement change.
A bedroom feels more natural when it reflects everyday life rather than remaining permanently staged.
So, how do you choose the right bedside tables?
Start with the practical things.
Measure the height of your mattress. Measure the space beside the bed. Think about how much storage you genuinely need and make sure there is enough surface for a lamp and the things you use each evening.
Then consider character.
Would the room benefit from the warmth of wood, the softness of a painted finish or something lighter and more open? Do you want matching bedside tables for a calm, symmetrical look, or would two individual pieces suit the room — and the people using it — rather better?
There isn’t one correct answer.
The right bedside table is simply the one that feels comfortably in proportion, holds what you need and looks as though it belongs.
And when you switch off the lamp at the end of the day, put down your book and reach for that glass of water without having to think about any of it, you’ll know you chose well.
Take a look at our bedside tables 🙃
Further Reading: Affordable Decorating Ideas That Will Transform Your Home, Sustainable Chic: A Beginner’s Guide to Circular Design, The Psychology of Colour in the Home, How to Choose and Measure for a Dining Table
Daily Inspiration: Follow Us on Instagram, BlueSky, Threads , Pinterest, Twitter, TikTok