The short answer: match the top of your mattress, within 5 cm either way.
We recorded the published dimensions of 262 bedside tables from a British trade catalogue. The median height is 57 cm. Half stand between 50 and 60 cm, and 67 % fall between 55 and 65 cm. The most common single height is 60 cm.
For most British beds that works. A divan puts the top of the mattress around 55 to 65 cm off the floor, so a 55 to 60 cm table sits level with it. A platform bed sits lower, so you want 45 to 55 cm.
Raising a bed on risers to make room for storage underneath lifts the mattress by the same amount, and the table has to follow. Our guide to small bedroom storage ideas goes through that trade-off.
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.
Why the 61–71 cm figure does not match what we recorded
Search this question and you will be told repeatedly that a standard bedside table is 61 to 71 cm tall, or 24 to 28 inches. Two of the pages currently ranking for this exact question say it. Neither cites a source.
We recorded the published dimensions of 262 bedside tables in a British trade catalogue. Here is what it contains:
| Height | Share of the 262 |
|---|---|
| Under 45 cm | 9 % |
| 45 to 55 cm | 22 % |
| 55 to 65 cm | 67 % |
| 65 cm and over | 2 % |
Only 2 % reach 65 cm. The 61 to 71 cm range fits few of the tables in that catalogue. Buy to that number and you will end up with a table that is too tall for a British divan and much too tall for a platform bed.
The honest range is 50 to 60 cm, with a median of 57 cm.
Sample: 262 floor-standing bedside tables from one British wholesale catalogue, recorded September 2026. Wall-mounted and floating units excluded. This is a supplier range, not a census of every table sold in the UK, and we say so.
How to measure yours, in four steps
- Measure from the floor to the top of your mattress. Not to the top of the bed frame, and not to the headboard. The mattress is what your hand reaches over.
- Include your topper. A 5 cm topper makes a 55 cm table the wrong height.
- Measure the gap you actually have, wall to bed frame, at the narrowest point. Skirting boards and radiator pipes count.
- Allow for the drawer. A drawer needs room to open. If the gap is tight, look for a door or an open shelf instead.
How wide, and how deep?
From the same 262 tables:
| Median | Half are between | Most common | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Width | 40 cm | 36 to 45 cm | 45 cm |
| Depth | 35 cm | 30 to 35 cm | 35 cm |
So when people say most bedside tables are at least 40 cm wide, they are right: the median is exactly 40 cm. That is the problem if you have a narrow gap. 24 % of the catalogue is 35 cm wide or less, and the narrowest are 20 cm. Our narrow bedside tables start at that width, with the width in every name. If your gap is narrower still, the bedside table alternatives are measured the same way.
Should a bedside table be higher or lower than the bed?
This is where the advice falls apart. Three of the guides ranking for this question disagree outright: one says never higher than the mattress, one says two to five centimetres above, one says five to ten above. None of the three cites anything.
Here is the practical answer. Level, within 5 cm either way. Slightly above is easier to reach lying down and stops a glass being knocked off the edge. Slightly below looks calmer and suits a low frame. More than 10 cm out in either direction and you will notice it every night.
There is no British standard for bedside table height. Neither The Sleep Charity nor the National Bed Federation publishes one. Anyone telling you there is a standard is guessing.
Use this chart
The chart above is free to publish on your own site, in a magazine, or in a university accommodation guide. We ask for one thing in return: a credit link back to this page, so readers can check the method for themselves.
Paste this where you want it to appear:
<a href="https://bedside-table.co.uk/pages/bedside-table-height">
<img src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0778/8360/5155/files/bedside-table-height-chart.svg?v=1789914963"
alt="Bedside table height chart: floor to mattress height by UK bed type, in centimetres"
width="880" height="620">
</a>
<p>Chart by <a href="https://bedside-table.co.uk/">Bedside Table UK</a>, free to use with credit.</p>How we measured
We took a British wholesale furniture catalogue and recorded the published width, depth and height of every floor-standing bedside table in it: 262 pieces. Wall-mounted and floating units were excluded, because their height is set by where you fix them, not by the piece. Figures are the supplier's own, in centimetres.
This is a supplier range, not a census of everything sold in Britain.The underlying numbers are published in full: download the dataset as a CSV — 262 rows, height, width and depth in centimetres, one row per table. No sign-up, no email, licensed CC BY 4.0: use it, republish it, check our arithmetic. We publish the product names of nobody: this is a set of measurements, not a catalogue.
Questions
How tall is a standard bedside table?
There is no official standard. Across 262 tables we recorded, the median is 57 cm and two thirds sit between 55 and 65 cm. The most common single height is 60 cm.
Is a bedside table too low for my bed?
If its surface is more than 10 cm below the top of your mattress, you will feel it every time you reach for a glass of water. Measure floor to mattress top, then compare.
What are the standard dimensions of a bedside table?
Median 57 cm tall, 40 cm wide and 35 cm deep, from our measurement of 262 tables. Half fall within 50 to 60 cm tall, 36 to 45 cm wide and 30 to 35 cm deep.
What is the standard size of a bedside table in the UK?
In the British trade catalogue we recorded, the same figures apply. The 61 to 71 cm height quoted online does not match the catalogue we recorded: only 2 % of its tables reach 65 cm.