How to Choose a Bedside Table

A bedside table is the hardest-working small piece of furniture in your home: it holds your lamp, your phone on charge, your glass of water and the book you keep meaning to finish. Get the height and width right and it disappears into the routine of your day; get them wrong and you are reaching down awkwardly every morning or knocking the lamp every night. This guide walks you through the three measurements that matter most — height, width and storage — plus styling, materials and how to make it work in a tight room, so you can buy once and buy well.

1. Get the height right first

Height is the single most important measurement and the one people most often overlook. The golden rule is simple: aim for the top of your bedside table to sit level with the top of your mattress, or within about 5cm of it either way. When the surface is at mattress height, you can reach your water or silence an alarm without lifting your head off the pillow — exactly what you want at 3am.

The catch is that mattress heights vary enormously. A low platform bed might put the mattress top at just 45cm from the floor, while a divan with a deep pocket-sprung mattress and a topper can easily reach 70cm. That is a 25cm swing, so never assume a standard table will fit. Measure from the floor to the very top of your made-up mattress before you shop, then choose a table within roughly 5cm of that figure.

Most off-the-shelf bedside tables land between 50cm and 65cm tall, which suits the majority of UK beds. If you have a particularly tall divan, look for a taller cabinet or a small chest; if you have a low frame, a one-drawer table is the better answer.

2. Width, depth and the space beside your bed

Once height is settled, turn to footprint. A good bedside table is wide enough to hold a lamp and a few essentials without crowding, but narrow enough to leave a clear walkway. As a rule of thumb, leave at least 60cm of clear floor between the side of your bed and any wall or wardrobe so you can walk past comfortably and make the bed. If two people share the room, 70cm on each side is more relaxed.

For the table itself, 35–45cm wide and 30–40cm deep suits most rooms and most beds. Go narrower — around 30cm — if floor space is tight, and wider — up to 50–60cm — if you have a king-size bed or want the table to double as storage. Match its visual weight to your bed: a substantial upholstered or wooden bed can carry a chunkier cabinet, while a slim metal frame looks best with a lighter, leggier table.

Check the depth against your headboard too. If your headboard projects outward or your bed sits in a recess, a deep table can stop the bed pushing fully against the wall. Measuring the gap you have to work with — and using our will it fit guide — saves the disappointment of a return.

3. How much storage do you actually need?

Bedside storage falls into three broad formats, and the right one depends on how much you keep within arm’s reach and how tidy you like the surface to look.

• Open shelf or simple table: a top surface with an open shelf below. Light, airy and ideal for small rooms or minimalists who only need somewhere for a lamp and a book. Less good at hiding clutter.
• One drawer plus a shelf: the most popular format. The drawer hides chargers, glasses, hand cream and medication; the shelf takes books or a basket. A genuine all-rounder for most bedrooms.
• Two or three drawers (a bedside chest): closer to a small chest of drawers, this gives proper storage for those short on wardrobe space. Choose this if your bedside is also where socks, chargers and odds and ends live.

Think about what you reach for in the dark. If that is just a glass of water and a phone, a slim open table is plenty. If you take nightly medication, wear glasses or like to stow cables out of sight, a closed drawer keeps the surface calm and dust-free.

4. One table or a matching pair?

If your bed sits centrally with space on both sides — most doubles, kings and super-kings — a matching pair of bedside tables gives the room a balanced, hotel-like symmetry that is hard to beat. Pairs frame the bed, make the room feel considered and give each sleeper their own surface, which quietly prevents a lot of domestic negotiation.

That said, symmetry is not compulsory. If one side of the bed is against a wall, a single table is the sensible choice. You can also deliberately mismatch — a drawered cabinet on one side and a slim stool on the other — as long as the two pieces share a height and a colour so the pairing reads as intentional.

When you do buy a pair, order them together to guarantee the finish matches — wood tones and paint batches can drift between production runs. Browse the full range at bedside tables to see which designs come as singles and which are sold as coordinated pairs.

5. Materials, finishes and durability

Bedside tables take daily knocks, the odd water-ring and the weight of a lamp, so the material matters for both looks and longevity.

• Solid wood: oak, pine, mango and acacia age beautifully and can be sanded back if scratched. Heavier and pricier, but a genuine lifetime buy that suits traditional and warm modern schemes alike.
• Wood veneer on engineered board: a real-wood surface over MDF or chipboard. Gives the look of solid timber at a friendlier price and resists warping in our damp British winters. Treat the surface kindly as the veneer is thin.
• Painted MDF: smooth, even colour and great value, ideal for coastal and country looks. Choose a hard-wearing lacquer finish and use coasters under anything wet.
• Metal and glass: light, contemporary and easy to wipe clean. Glass tops show fingerprints, so they suit tidy sleepers and lighter lamps.
• Rattan and cane fronts: add texture and a relaxed, boutique feel, but dust settles in the weave — a soft brush keeps them fresh.

Whatever you choose, a little care goes a long way; our furniture care guide covers protecting wood and dealing with marks so your bedside stays looking its best for years.

6. Matching your bed and bedroom style

Your bedside table should feel like it belongs to the bed, not like it wandered in from another room. The easiest way to achieve that is to pick up one cue from your bed — a leg shape, a wood tone, a metal finish or a paint colour — and echo it in the table. You do not need a head-to-toe matching bedroom set; one shared detail is enough to tie the pieces together.

For a calm, cohesive scheme, keep the bedside in the same tonal family as your chest of drawers and wardrobes — they need not be identical, but wood tones that clash badly will jar. Against a warm oak, a honey or natural-toned table sits far more happily than a cool grey-painted one.

Style direction is largely a matter of leg and front detail. Tapered legs and slim profiles read mid-century and modern; turned legs and panelled drawers read traditional and country; black metal frames and concrete-effect tops read industrial. Decide what your bed is saying, then let the bedside agree with it.

7. Lighting, charging and cable management

A bedside table is also a lighting station, so think about what will sit on top before you buy. For reading in bed, the bottom of your lamp shade should sit roughly level with your shoulder when you are propped up — which usually means a lamp 40–55cm tall on a table at mattress height. Too tall and the bulb glares in your eyes; too short and the light pools uselessly on the table.

Leave room around the lamp for the things you actually use: a phone, a glass, maybe a book. A surface of at least 30cm × 30cm clear of the lamp base is a comfortable minimum. If you charge your phone overnight, a drawer or a rear cable gap lets you run a charger tidily out of sight.

8. Solutions for small bedrooms

When floor space is scarce, the bedside still earns its place — you just need to be cleverer about format. Narrow tables of 30–35cm wide, round tops that soften a tight walkway, and wall-mounted floating shelves that free up the floor entirely are all strong options. A round table is particularly forgiving in a snug room because there are no sharp corners to catch a hip as you pass.

Vertical thinking helps too: a taller, narrower cabinet gives drawer storage on a small footprint. In box rooms where even a small table will not fit, a wall-mounted shelf or clip-on headboard light keeps your essentials to hand without stealing a centimetre of floor. For more ideas on making tight spaces work harder, our small-room furniture ideas apply just as well to bedrooms.

Whatever you choose, keep the 60cm walkway in mind. A beautiful table that blocks the route to the wardrobe will frustrate you every day; a modest one you can walk past freely will not.

9. Buying with confidence

Choosing a bedside table comes down to three measurements and a little honesty about how you live: get the height level with your mattress, leave a clear walkway, and pick the storage format that matches what you keep close at night. Settle those and the styling falls into place easily.

When you are ready, every Elystra Living order is backed by fast delivery, a no-quibble 30-day returns promise if it is not quite right, and the option to spread the cost with Klarna in interest-free instalments — so you can furnish the bedroom you want without the upfront strain. Browse the full collection of bedside tables to find the height, width and finish that suit your bed, and pair them with the rest of your bedroom for a room that feels complete.