How Do You Style a Bedroom Set with Bedside Tables? 6 Easy Ideas

Start with the answer

Style a bedside table by giving it one tall element, one low element and one useful element, then leaving at least a third of the surface clear. A lamp provides the height, a stack of books or a small tray provides the low horizontal, and a glass, a candle or a dish for jewellery covers daily use. That three part rule is why professionally styled bedrooms look composed rather than cluttered, and it works on a 30cm cabinet as well as it does on a wide two drawer table.

The six ideas below build on that principle, moving from the arrangement itself to how the tables relate to the rest of the bedroom set.

1. Set the height against the mattress, not the floor

The most common styling problem has nothing to do with objects on the table. It is the table height. A bedside surface should sit level with the top of the mattress or up to 5cm below it. Any lower and you reach down awkwardly for a glass of water in the dark. Any higher and the table crowds the bed visually, particularly with a low platform frame.

Measure from the floor to the top of your mattress, not the top of the bed base, since a deep pocket sprung mattress can add 25cm or more. If you already own a table that sits too low, a stack of two large hardback books under the lamp restores the working height without buying anything. If it is too tall, a low profile lamp brings the visual line back down.

When you are choosing new, our modern bedside cabinets UK sale listings include height measurements on every product so you can match them to your mattress before ordering.

2. Use a lamp to anchor the arrangement

The lamp is the tallest object and therefore the one that sets the composition. Choose a shade that sits above eye level when you are sitting up in bed, so the bulb is not in your sightline while reading.

Scale is where most schemes go wrong. A small lamp on a wide table looks lost. As a working guide, the lamp should occupy roughly a third of the table width and stand somewhere between one and a half and two times the table height above the surface. In a narrow room, a wall mounted reading light or a slim pendant hung beside the bed frees the whole surface, which is often the better answer when the table is under 35cm wide.

Keep both sides of the bed lit, even if only one person reads. Symmetrical light makes a bedroom feel balanced in a way that a single lamp never does. Matching lamps from our modern table lamps UK sale range are the simplest route to that symmetry.

3. Contain the small things on a tray

Bedside surfaces collect. Phone, charger, lip balm, hair ties, reading glasses, a spare charger cable. None of it is going away, so the trick is to contain it rather than fight it.

A shallow tray in timber, ceramic, leather or rattan gives all of those items a defined home. Visually, the tray groups them into one object instead of eight, which is what makes the difference. Choose a tray in a material that already appears elsewhere in the room, so it reads as deliberate: a wooden tray beside a timber bed frame, a ceramic dish beside a painted set.

If the cable clutter still bothers you, run the charger through the back of the drawer and keep the phone inside it overnight. A drawer is the only bedside storage that genuinely hides things, which is a good argument for choosing cabinets with at least one over an open shelf design.

4. Decide between matching and mirrored pairs

There are two ways to handle a pair of bedside tables and both work.

Matching tables styled identically create formal symmetry. Two of the same lamp, two of the same tray, mirrored placement. This suits a bedroom with a strong central bed position and a large headboard, and it makes a plain room feel resolved.

Matching tables styled differently create a softer, more lived in result. One side holds a lamp and books, the other holds a lamp and a plant or a small framed picture. The underlying symmetry holds the scheme together while the styling keeps it from looking staged.

What rarely works is two visibly different tables of different heights. If you have inherited a mismatched pair, unify them by painting both the same colour or by topping both with identical lamps. Consistency in one element is usually enough.

5. Let the bedside tables link the rest of the set

Bedside tables are small, which makes them the best place to introduce a secondary material without disrupting the room. If your wardrobe and chest of drawers are all one finish, tables in a contrasting tone break up the block: pale timber tables beside a dark grey set, or a painted pair beside an oak wardrobe.

Work the other way if the room already has several finishes. Matching the bedside cabinets to the largest piece, usually the wardrobe, pulls the scheme back together. This is the most reliable approach when furnishing from scratch, and it is why most of our bedroom furniture sets UK sale pair cabinets with a wardrobe in an identical finish.

Handles offer a quieter way to link pieces. Swapping bedside cabinet handles to match those on the chest of drawers costs very little and creates an immediate visual thread across the room.

6. Give the wall above the table a job

A styled bedside table sitting under a blank wall always looks unfinished. The space above it is part of the composition.

Three options work well. A small framed print or a pair of prints hung low, with the bottom edge around 20cm above the lamp shade, draws the eye and fills the gap. A slim wall mirror opposite a window bounces light into the darker side of the room. A wall light removes the lamp from the surface entirely and gives you a cleaner table.

Whatever you choose, hang it lower than feels natural. Bedroom artwork is viewed from a seated or lying position, so the standard gallery height of 150cm to the centre is usually too high beside a bed. Options from our modern wall mirrors UK range work particularly well above a narrow cabinet, where a mirror adds depth without adding surface clutter.

Keeping it that way

Styling holds only if the arrangement suits how you actually use the room. If you read three books at once, plan for a stack. If you use a CPAP machine or a baby monitor, build the arrangement around it rather than pretending it is not there. A tidy bedside table is one where every object has a reason to be there and a place to return to.

Do a short reset each week: return anything that has migrated from another room, wipe the surface and put the tray contents back in order. Two minutes is usually enough. You can browse coordinated bedroom pieces across the collections at Furniture in Fashion if you are starting the room from scratch.

Frequently asked questions

How wide should a bedside table be? Between 40cm and 55cm suits most double bedrooms. In a narrow room, a 30cm table still holds a lamp and a glass, and leaves a usable walkway beside the bed.

Do bedside tables have to match the bed? No. They should relate to the room as a whole, but a deliberate contrast in timber tone or colour often looks better than an exact match.

What should I put on a bedside table? A light source, something low such as books or a tray, and one or two items you actually use at night. Leave a third of the surface empty.

Can I use one bedside table instead of two? Yes, particularly in a single bedroom or where one side of the bed sits against a wall. Balance the empty side with a floor lamp or a piece of artwork so the bed does not look off centre.

How do I style a bedside table with no drawers? Add a small covered box or a lidded basket on the lower shelf. It gives you the concealed storage an open table lacks without changing the furniture.