It depends on the gap. With 20 cm or more beside the bed, a narrow table still fits. If skirting, a socket or a radiator valve eats the floor, a wall-mounted unit clears it and sits level with the mattress. Under 20 cm, use a shelf above the headboard or a mattress caddy: none of the 262 tables we recorded is narrower than 20 cm.
Six of the pages that rank for this question in the UK suggest 57 alternatives between them, from floating shelves to stools and crates. One of the 57 comes with a measurement. Yet two numbers decide whether any of them works in your room: the width it needs and the height it ends up at. This guide goes through the alternatives with both.
How much room a bedside table actually needs
We recorded the published sizes of 262 floor-standing bedside tables for our height study. The median width is 40 cm and the median depth 35 cm, and the most common width is 45 cm. That is why the question comes up at all: a bedroom with 25 or 30 cm beside the bed rules out almost everything.
| If the gap beside your bed is | Tables in the 262 no wider than that |
|---|---|
| Under 20 cm | None |
| 20 cm | 7 (3 %) |
| 30 cm | 47 (18 %) |
| 35 cm | 64 (24 %) |
| 40 cm | 142 (54 %) |
| 45 cm | 240 (92 %) |
A table has to be no wider than the gap, and in practice a little narrower, so read each line as the best case.
First, measure the gap you actually have
Measure from the side of the bed frame to the wall at the narrowest point. Skirting boards, radiator valves and plug sockets all count, and so does the swing of a door. Then measure from the floor to the top of your mattress, topper included. Whatever you use should sit level with that, or slightly above: more than about 10 cm below and you are reaching down in the dark every night. The bedside table height guide has the figures bed type by bed type.
If you would rather not do the sums, the size checker takes the gap, the depth you can give up and the mattress height, and checks every piece we sell against them, with a 2 cm margin.
Bedside table alternatives, and what each one needs
| Alternative | Space it takes | Height | What it holds | Works best when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wall-mounted bedside unit or floating shelf | No floor. Wall as wide as the unit: ours are 30 to 45 cm | Wherever you fix it | On a 30 cm top, a lamp and a phone; on 45 cm, a lamp, books and a glass | Skirting, sockets or a radiator valve take the floor, or you want the height exactly right |
| A 20 cm table | 20 × 20 cm | Ours are 40 cm tall | A small lamp, or a book and a glass | The gap is 20 cm or more and you cannot drill |
| A stool or small chair | The size of its seat | Set by the seat | Whatever fits on the seat | The seat is level with the mattress, or close to it |
| A bedside caddy that tucks under the mattress | None | Hangs down the side of the mattress | A phone, glasses, a paperback. Not a drink | The gap is under 20 cm, or you are renting |
| A shelf above the headboard | None beside the bed | Above the pillow | A phone and a book, if you can reach it lying down | There is no room on either side of the bed |
| The window sill | None | Set by the window | A glass and a phone, if it is deep enough | The bed is right beside a deep sill |
| A small round side table | Its diameter, both ways | Set by the table | Less than a square top of the same width: a round top has about a fifth less surface | The gap is at least as wide as the table |
| A storage ottoman or pouf | Its footprint | Set by the ottoman | Things inside it; on top, only what a soft lid will take | You want storage more than a surface |
| A wall light instead of a lamp | None | Wherever you fix it | Frees the whole surface you do have | The lamp is what fills your small surface |
The measurements in this table are the published sizes of the pieces we sell. Stools, sills, ottomans and headboards vary too much to quote one size, so measure yours against the two numbers from the first step. A small chest of drawers is sometimes suggested too, but it needs at least as much floor as a bedside table, so it does not solve a narrow gap.
Go up the wall
A wall-mounted unit still needs wall as wide as the unit, so it will not put 30 cm of furniture into a 15 cm gap. What it does is take the floor out of the sum. At floor level the strip beside a bed is narrowed by the skirting board, a socket or a radiator valve. Fixed at mattress height, the unit sits above all of them, and the floor underneath stays clear for hoovering.
The other gain is height. With no legs, the top is wherever you fix it, so you can set it level with your mattress, which a stool or a chair only manages by luck.
Our floating and wall-mounted bedside tables are 30 to 45 cm wide and 25 to 35 cm deep, with a carcass 15 to 25 cm tall. The depth is how far they stand out from the wall, so fix them where you will not catch a shoulder or a knee getting in and out of bed. Check what the wall is made of before you drill. Fixings are not supplied with ours, because the right one depends on the wall: plasterboard, brick and dot-and-dab each need something different.
Keep it on the floor, but narrower
If you cannot drill, or would rather not, you need a table made for a narrow gap, and there are few of them. In the catalogue we recorded, only seven tables are 20 cm wide, and nothing is narrower. Our 20 cm bedside tables are 20 cm wide, 20 cm deep and 40 cm tall. That is 17 cm lower than the median height of the 262 tables, 57 cm, so compare it with your mattress before you order. From 30 to 35 cm wide there are the narrow bedside tables, some of them with a drawer.
A 20 cm top holds a small lamp, or a book and a glass, not all three. The guide to what fits on a bedside table goes through it width by width.
Under 20 cm: use the wall behind the bed, or the mattress
Below 20 cm nothing we recorded will stand in the gap, and a wall-mounted unit needs the same width, so the space has to come from somewhere else.
- A shelf above the headboard. It uses the wall behind the bed instead of the wall beside it. Keep it low enough to reach lying down, and use it for things you can knock without harm: a phone or a book, not a glass.
- A bedside caddy. A fabric pocket that tucks under the mattress and hangs down the side. It holds a phone, glasses and a paperback, needs no drilling and goes with you when you move. It will not hold a drink.
- A wall light. With the light on the wall, the one thing left that needs a surface at night is a glass of water.
The ideas that cost nothing
Before buying anything, the simplest test is to use what you already have.
- A stool or a dining chair. Check the seat against the top of your mattress. A kitchen or bar stool is built for a worktop, not a bed, so measure it before you carry it upstairs.
- A stack of books or a sturdy crate. You can change the height by adding or taking away a book until it is level with the mattress. It is a cheap way to find the height you actually want before you buy anything.
- The window sill. Only useful if the bed is right beside it, and if the sill is deep enough to take a glass without it sitting on the edge.
If you are renting
Check your tenancy agreement, or ask your landlord, before you drill. The options that need no drilling are the ones that stand or hang: a 20 cm table, a stool, or a caddy that tucks under the mattress. A caddy goes with you when you move, but a glass of water still needs a flat surface somewhere within reach. For storage that needs no drilling elsewhere in the room, see our small bedroom storage ideas.
Do you really need a bedside table?
You need three things within reach of the bed: a light you can switch off lying down, somewhere for your phone, and somewhere for a glass. None of them needs a table. A wall light covers the first, and a caddy or a small shelf covers the other two. What a table adds is a drawer and a surface that stays level with you, and in a small room that can be worth less than the floor space it costs.
Planning the whole room rather than the bedside? The box room guide works out what a typical small British bedroom has left once the bed is in.
If a table does fit after all, the bedside table ideas guide sorts the options by gap, bed height and storage.
Questions
What can I use if I don't have space for a bedside table?
It depends on the gap. With 20 cm or more, a 20 cm table fits. If skirting, a socket or a radiator valve narrows the floor, a wall-mounted unit clears it. Under 20 cm, use a shelf above the headboard or a bedside caddy that tucks under the mattress.
What is the narrowest bedside table you can get?
In the 262 floor-standing tables we recorded for our height study, the narrowest are 20 cm wide, and only seven are that narrow. Below 20 cm, no table in the catalogue fits, so look at a shelf above the headboard or a bedside caddy instead.
How much space do you need for a bedside table?
For a typical one, about 40 cm of width and 35 cm of depth: those are the medians of the 262 tables we recorded. With a 30 cm gap, only 47 of the 262 are narrow enough.
Does a wall-mounted bedside table need less space?
It needs no floor, but the same width of wall as the unit. What it gains you is the space that skirting, sockets and radiator valves take at floor level, and the freedom to fix it at exactly the height of your mattress.
Can I use a stool as a bedside table?
Yes, if the seat is level with the top of your mattress or close to it. A kitchen or bar stool is built for a worktop, not a bed, so measure it first.
What do British people call a nightstand?
A bedside table. Cambridge Dictionary marks nightstand as the US word and gives bedside table as the UK equivalent.
Do I really need a bedside table?
No. You need a light you can reach, somewhere for your phone and somewhere for a glass. A wall light and a small shelf or caddy do all three. A table adds a drawer and a level surface, which is worth having only if you have the floor to spare.
What can a renter use instead of a bedside table?
Anything that does not need drilling: a 20 cm table, a stool, or a caddy that tucks under the mattress. Check your tenancy agreement or ask your landlord before fixing anything to the wall.
How high should a bedside table alternative be?
Level with the top of your mattress, or slightly above. More than about 10 cm below and you are reaching down in the dark every night. A wall-mounted unit is the easiest way to get it right, because you choose the height when you fix it.