Bedside Tables

Not sure? Put your three numbers into the size checker — gap width, depth available, and floor to the top of your mattress — and it will tell you exactly which of our tables fit.

Every table on this page is measured

Each of ours gives three numbers on its product page, in centimetres: width, depth and height. Nothing else changes what fits beside your bed.

What they are made of, and what we know about assembly

Most tables here are solid mango wood, not board with a printed finish. Those in a chestnut or California walnut finish, a dark brown, are together in dark wood bedside tables. The fluted Hamble tables, the painted Fowey and Exe tables and the 55 cm washed wood one are described by their maker simply as wood, without saying which parts are solid, so we do not claim either. The Colour Block table is described as solid wood without the species, and the three Wey wall pieces as oak wood. The white and black painted tables are engineered wood, as their supplier states. Where a table is confirmed by the maker to arrive fully assembled, its own page says so. Where the maker has not confirmed it, we say nothing rather than guess, and we will confirm it for you before you order. We would rather leave the line out than fill it with a guess.

Which size do you need?

The gap is measured at its narrowest point, and each width leaves a 2 cm working margin so the table goes in without forcing it.

Not sure which height? How tall should a bedside table be walks through it, with the floor to mattress height for each common UK bed type.

Bedside cabinets, drawers and nightstands

These all mean the same piece of furniture. Cabinet usually implies a door or a closed front, drawers means two or three, and nightstand is the American word for it. Everything on this page fits whichever term you searched for.

Buying two?

A matching pair keeps both sides of the bed at the same height, in the same wood and finish, in one order. See the bedside tables set of 2.

Questions

Should bedside tables be higher or lower than the bed?

Level with the top of your mattress, within 5 cm either way. We recorded the published dimensions of 262 bedside tables: the median height is 57 cm, and two thirds sit between 55 and 65 cm. The full guide.

What is the narrowest bedside table available?

Ours start at 20 cm wide and 20 cm deep. That is narrow enough for a gap most tables cannot use. See the narrow range.

What can I use instead of a bedside table?

A wall shelf, a stool or a small chest all work. The trade off is storage: none of them give you a drawer, and most give you less surface than a 20 cm table.

Once you know the width, the next question is what will actually sit on it. We worked out what fits on a 20, 30, 36 and 45 cm top: a lamp, a book and a glass need about 30 cm between them.

Not sure which kind of table suits your room? Our bedside table ideas go through twelve, from 20 cm tables to wide cabinets, each with the size that makes it work.

At the very tight end we go narrower than the trade normally does: our 20 cm range exists for radiators, door arcs and box rooms where a standard 40 cm table will not go.