The Smart Shopper’s Guide to Bedside Tables in 2026

The right bedside table is the one that matches your mattress height, fits the gap beside your bed with room to walk, and holds what you actually reach for at night. Height is the detail that decides comfort: aim for a top surface within 5cm of the top of your mattress, above or below. Everything else, from drawers to finish, follows from there.

Bedside furniture has quietly changed. Charging points, slimmer profiles and wall mounted designs have become standard options rather than specialist ones. Here is what to weigh up before buying.

Height: Measure the Mattress, Not the Bed Frame

Bed heights vary considerably. A low platform frame with a thin mattress might put the sleeping surface at 45cm, while a divan with a deep mattress and a topper can reach 70cm.

Measure from the floor to the top of your made mattress. Then look for a table with a top surface in that region. Too low and you reach downwards awkwardly for a glass of water. Too high and the table looms over the bed.

If you are replacing a mattress at the same time, buy the mattress first or allow for the change. A deeper replacement can put a previously correct table 10cm out.

Width: What the Gap Will Take

Measure the gap between the bed and the wall, or between the bed and any obstruction. Then subtract the walking space you need.

If you walk down that side of the bed, keep at least 60cm clear and choose a table that fits the remainder. If the side is only used for making the bed, 45cm is workable. If the gap is under 40cm in total, a wall mounted shelf or a slim floating cabinet is the better solution.

Our modern bedside cabinets UK sale range covers widths from narrow single drawer units to wider two drawer designs, so it is worth shortlisting by dimension before style.

Open Shelves or Closed Drawers

Open shelving photographs well and collects clutter quickly. Drawers hide what accumulates beside a bed, which in most households includes chargers, medication, hand cream, receipts and reading material.

A practical middle ground is one drawer above one open shelf. The drawer takes the small items you would rather not see, the shelf takes books you are currently reading.

Three shallow drawers suit anyone who wants separation, but they reduce the usable depth of each. Two drawers of reasonable depth usually holds more in practice.

Materials and How They Behave

Timber suits most bedrooms and hides marks reasonably well. Oak and walnut toned finishes are the most flexible, since they sit comfortably with both painted and papered walls. Our wooden bedside cabinets UK sale selection covers the common tones.

High gloss reflects light, which helps in rooms with limited daylight, though it shows fingerprints on a surface touched every night. Wiping it down is straightforward, but be honest about whether you will.

Mirrored designs suit glamorous schemes and bounce light around a room, at the cost of showing every mark. They work best where the bedside table is not the busiest surface in the room.

Metal framed tables read as light and open, which suits small rooms, though they offer less concealed storage.

Charging and Cables

This is the practical detail most people notice only after buying. A bedside table with a cable outlet at the back, or a shallow rear gap, keeps charging cables out of sight and stops the top surface filling with wires.

Where your chosen table does not have one, a small cable tidy fixed to the rear leg achieves much the same result. Check where the nearest socket is before deciding which side of the bed the table with the outlet should go.

Matching, or Deliberately Not

A matched pair either side of the bed creates symmetry and calm. It is the safe choice and it suits most bedrooms.

Deliberately different tables on each side can work when they share a height and a tone, and it suits rooms where the two sides of the bed have different constraints, such as a radiator on one side and a clear wall on the other.

What rarely works is a near match. Two tables that are almost the same but slightly different in height or finish look like an accident rather than a decision.

Wall Mounted and Floating Designs

Floating bedside cabinets remove the legs from the floor, which makes cleaning easier and a small room look larger. They need a solid wall or appropriate fixings, and they must be positioned at the right height at the point of installation, so measure carefully.

They suit rooms where the gap beside the bed is narrow, since they can be shallower than a freestanding unit without looking undersized.

Matching Bedside Tables to the Rest of the Room

Bedside tables are small, so they do not have to match the bed exactly. They should relate to the larger storage in the room, usually the chest of drawers or wardrobe, since those are the pieces the eye compares them to.

Repeating the handle style is often enough. If your chest has brushed brass bar pulls, matching handles on the bedside cabinets ties the room together even when the timber tones differ slightly. Coordinated options are grouped in our modern bedroom furniture UK sale collection.

What to Check Before Ordering

Confirm the assembled dimensions rather than the packaging dimensions. Check whether drawers are on runners or grooves, since runners will last longer in nightly use. Look at the back panel, as a fitted panel keeps the unit square over time.

Check the weight capacity of the top if you plan to put a substantial lamp on it. And check the delivery access if the bedroom is upstairs in an older property with a tight turn.

Making the Surface Work

A bedside table top holds more than people expect if it is organised. A small tray corrals small items and makes the surface easy to clear. A lamp with a narrow base leaves more usable area than one with a wide foot. Wall mounted reading lights free the surface entirely, which is worth considering where the table is under 40cm wide.

You can see the wider bedroom range at Furniture in Fashion.

Alternatives Worth Considering

A bedside table is the default, but it is not the only answer. In rooms where the gap is very tight, or where the bed sits under a window, other formats can serve better.

A slim console run along the whole side of the bed gives you a continuous surface and looks deliberate in a narrow room. A small stool or a low timber block works as a minimal bedside surface and can be moved when not needed. A wall mounted shelf with a peg rail beneath handles a lamp above and a bag or dressing gown below.

For a bed in the centre of a larger room, a pair of low round tables reads softer than square cabinets and takes less visual space at the corners.

Buying for a Guest Room or a Child’s Room

The requirements shift depending on who uses the room. In a guest room, a clear surface matters more than storage, since visitors need somewhere to put a phone and a glass rather than a place to keep things.

In a child’s room, prioritise rounded corners, stable bases and drawers light enough for small hands. A lower table suits a lower bed, and a cabinet with one drawer and one open shelf usually holds everything a child keeps beside a bed.

In both cases, keeping the design simple pays off, because a bedside table is a piece you look at every day and elaborate detail tends to date faster than plain shapes.

Depth and What It Means in Practice

Depth is the dimension people forget. A table 30cm deep holds a lamp and a glass but little else. At 40cm you can add a book and a tray. Beyond 45cm the table starts to project past the bed frame in most rooms, which makes the side of the bed feel narrower than it is.

Where the table sits against a wall, check whether a skirting board will push it forward. A few centimetres matters when the gap is tight, and cabinets with a recessed base or a cut out at the back sit flush where others cannot.

Lamps and the Surface They Leave Behind

The lamp usually takes more of the surface than anything else. A narrow cylindrical base leaves far more usable room than a wide ceramic one, and a tall slim shade throws light onto the page rather than across the room.

If two people share the bed, consider shades that direct light downwards so one person can read while the other sleeps. It is a small decision that affects the room more often than any styling choice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How tall should a bedside table be?

Within around 5cm of the top of your made mattress. Measure the mattress height rather than the frame, since mattress depth varies considerably.

How wide should a bedside table be?

It depends on the gap. Keep 60cm clear for walking on that side of the bed and size the table to what remains. Under 40cm total, use a wall mounted shelf instead.

Do bedside tables need to match?

A matched pair is the simplest route, but two different tables work if they share a height and a tone. Avoid a near match, since small differences look unintentional.

Are drawers better than open shelves?

Drawers hide the small items that gather beside a bed, so they usually keep a bedroom looking calmer. One drawer above one open shelf is a good compromise.

What should I keep on a bedside table?

A lamp, a glass of water and one book is enough for the surface. Everything else belongs in the drawer, which keeps the top usable and the room quiet.