How to Choose a Nightstand
Share
A nightstand fails you at 6 a.m. more than almost any other piece of furniture. You reach for your phone in the dark, clip a water glass with your knuckles, fumble for a switch that turns out to be an inch too far. Learning how to choose a nightstand really comes down to a handful of measurements and a couple of honest questions about how you actually use the space beside your bed. Not how you picture using it.
The good news: the decision is smaller than it feels. Get the height right, match your storage to your habits, and the rest is finish and taste.
Start with height
This is the one number people skip, and it's the one that matters most. You want the top of the nightstand within about two inches of the top of your mattress. A little above is fine. Much below and you're reaching down into a dark hole every morning.
Most mattress tops land somewhere between 24 and 27 inches off the floor once you account for the frame, box spring or platform, and the mattress itself. Measure yours. Then look for a nightstand in the 24-to-28-inch range. Platform beds sit lower, so a shorter table works. If you've built up a tall bed with a thick mattress and a topper, you may need something closer to 30 inches, which pushes you toward small dressers or chest-style pieces. For more on getting the bed height dialed in first, our guide on how to choose a bed frame is a useful companion read.
How to choose a nightstand for your storage habits
Walk over to your bed and picture what's on and around it right now. Reading glasses. A book or three. Charging cables. Hand cream, maybe medication, maybe a journal. That pile tells you which style to buy.
Open shelves look airy and cost less, but everything shows. Great if you keep a lamp and a single book, rough if you're a clutter-collector. A single drawer over an open shelf is the workhorse of the category: hide the ugly stuff, display the pretty stuff. Two drawers or a small closed cabinet give you the most cover, and they read a bit more formal. We've found that couples often do best with a drawer each so nobody's fighting over one shallow tray of odds and ends.
One thing to check: drawer depth. A drawer that's only three inches deep won't swallow a paperback. Look for at least four to five inches of interior clearance if you want it to earn its keep.
Width, proportion, and the wall behind it
Standard nightstands run roughly 18 to 24 inches wide. Narrow ones (16 to 18 inches) rescue tight bedrooms and slim walkways. Wider ones (24 inches and up) feel grounded next to a king bed and give a lamp, a clock, and a glass of water room to coexist without a traffic jam.
Leave a few inches of breathing space between the nightstand and the bed frame so you can open the drawer and still climb in. And think about the lamp before you buy. A tall lamp on a wide table can crowd a low headboard, while a small table with a big lamp tips into top-heavy. If you're still sorting out the light, the piece on how to choose a bedside lamp pairs neatly with this one.
Material and finish
Solid wood ages well and takes a knock without drama, which matters for a surface that gets bumped nightly. Veneers keep the price down and can look just as good if the construction is sound. Painted finishes hide grain and lean contemporary; natural wood grain leans warm and traditional. At ARCADA we lean toward finishes that repeat something already in the room, a wood tone that echoes the floor or the frame, rather than introducing a fourth or fifth material and making the corner feel busy.
Two nightstands don't have to match, by the way. A matched pair looks tidy and calm. A deliberate mismatch, same height but different shapes, reads collected and relaxed. Either works. Just keep the heights close so the room doesn't look lopsided.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a nightstand height for a low platform bed?
Measure from the floor to the top of your mattress, then subtract two to four inches. Platform beds often put the mattress top around 20 to 24 inches up, so a nightstand in the 20-to-24-inch range usually sits right where your hand naturally falls.
Do both nightstands need to be identical?
No. Keep the heights within an inch or two of each other for balance, but the shapes, finishes, or even sizes can differ. A matched pair feels formal and symmetrical; a thoughtful mismatch feels more personal.
What if my bedroom is really small?
Go narrow (16 to 18 inches wide) or wall-mount a floating shelf to free up floor space. A single drawer still gives you a place to stash the essentials. Our small bedroom furnishing guide covers a few more space-saving tricks.