Bedroom Tables - Bedside Tables and Dressing Tables

A bedroom asks less of a table than any other room in the house, and that changes what you should be choosing on. Nothing hot is set down, nothing is cut, and spills are rare and mild. Durability stops deciding anything, and three other things take over: whether it fits the gap, whether it sits at the right height for the bed, and whether it holds what you actually keep beside you.

There are only two kinds of table in a bedroom, and they solve completely different problems.

Bedside tables for the bedroom

The bedside table is the most used surface in the house per square inch, and the only table chosen in pairs. It is also the only one where getting the height wrong is felt every single night: reaching down into the dark for a glass of water is what happens when the top sits below the mattress.

Measure your own bed rather than trusting a standard. Mattress heights vary far more than they used to — a deep divan with a topper can sit several inches higher than a low frame — so the right answer is level with the top of your mattress or an inch or two above it, whatever number that turns out to be. There is more on drawers, shelves and sizes in our bedside tables.

Dressing tables for the bedroom

A dressing table is the opposite proposition: one piece rather than a pair, chosen for the front elevation rather than the height, and used sitting down rather than lying down. Its height is set by the stool that goes with it, not by the bed.

In a smaller bedroom it is also the piece that most often does two jobs, standing in as a desk or as a console under a window. If that is the plan, the knee space matters more than the drawer count, since a dressing table with deep pedestals either side leaves nowhere to pull a chair into. Our dressing tables collection covers the layouts.

Narrow and tall bedroom tables for tight spaces

Most bedroom tables are bought to fit a gap rather than to furnish a room, and the gap is usually whatever is left between the side of the bed and a wall, a radiator or a door swing. That is why narrow, tall and slim are among the most common things people ask for here, and why the measurement to take first is the gap rather than the table.

Two things help when the space is tight. Going up instead of out — a taller, narrower table gives the same usable top on a smaller footprint, and at bedside height taller is often more comfortable anyway. And choosing legs over a solid box, because a table you can see the floor under reads as far smaller in a room where the bed already dominates.

Check the door swing and any radiator before you commit. A table that fits the gap on paper but blocks a door or sits over a radiator is a common and expensive mistake.

White, grey and painted bedroom tables

The bedroom is the one room where painted furniture outsells timber, and white is the single most searched-for finish here by a distance. There is a practical reason behind the preference: a bedroom is usually the smallest room with the largest object in it, and pale furniture keeps the space from closing in around the bed.

It is also the room where matching actually helps. Unlike a living room, where several tables in the same finish read as a suite, a bedroom benefits from the bedside pair, the dressing table and the wardrobe agreeing with each other — the room is small enough that variation reads as clutter rather than character.

Bedroom tables with drawers

What you keep beside a bed decides this more than anything else. A drawer hides the things nobody wants on display — medication, chargers, reading glasses, a book you are halfway through — while an open shelf keeps them reachable without opening anything, which suits anyone who reads in bed.

On a dressing table the calculation is different again: a run of shallow drawers sorts small things where two deep ones just create a pile. Bedside tables with drawers are worth the extra depth they cost in a room where surfaces are limited.

Bedroom table FAQs

What height should a bedside table be?

Level with the top of your mattress or an inch or two above it. Measure your own bed rather than working from a standard, because mattress heights vary widely — a deep divan with a topper sits far higher than a low frame. Below mattress height is the one thing to avoid, since everything then has to be reached down for.

Do bedside tables need to match?

The pair either side of the bed should match each other, yes. Two different tables flanking a bed read as an accident rather than a choice. Matching them to the dressing table and the wardrobe is optional but usually helps, because a bedroom is small enough that too much variation reads as clutter.

What if there is very little space beside the bed?

Go taller and narrower rather than trying to squeeze in something wide. A slim table at or slightly above mattress height gives you the same usable top on a much smaller footprint, and one on legs rather than a solid box will make the gap look bigger than it is. Measure the gap first, and check the door swing and any radiator.

Can a dressing table be used as a desk?

Often, and in a small bedroom it is a sensible way to get two pieces of furniture for the space of one. The thing to check is the knee space: a dressing table with deep drawer pedestals either side leaves nowhere to pull a chair into, while one with a clear span underneath works as a desk without any compromise.

Are drawers or open shelves better beside a bed?

Drawers if you want the clutter out of sight, shelves if you want things reachable without opening anything. Most people end up wanting one of each, which is why a table with a drawer above and a shelf below is the most common arrangement.