Dressing Tables — Small, Corner, Oak & Dressing Tables with Mirrors

A dressing table is the one piece of furniture in the house where the light matters more than the furniture. You are looking at your own face at close range, and if the window is behind you or the only bulb is on the ceiling, the table has failed before you've opened a drawer. Buy the right table for the wrong wall and you'll end up doing your make-up at the bedroom window anyway.

Below you'll find where the table should stand, how to match a stool to it, what size mirror belongs above it, and what to look for in a small or corner room.

Where a dressing table should go

Start with the window, not the wall.

The best position is beside a window or on the wall perpendicular to it, within about 3ft (90cm) of the glass. That puts daylight across your face from the side, which is the most even and accurate light you will ever get and costs nothing.

Two positions to avoid. Directly opposite a window, the mirror reflects the glass straight back at you and the glare makes it unusable for most of the day — the commonest mistake, and it looks perfectly sensible on a floor plan. With the window directly behind you, you are backlit: your face falls into shadow while the mirror fills with bright light.

You also need floor space in front. Allow at least 3ft (90cm) clear so the stool can be pulled out and you can sit down and stand up without moving it sideways. This is the measurement people miss — they check the table fits the wall, and then discover the stool blocks the door or hits the end of the bed.

Lighting a dressing table

If daylight isn't available where the table has to go, the light needs to come from the front or the sides — never from above alone. A ceiling light behind you throws shadows into your eye sockets and under your jaw, which is precisely where you need to see.

Two arrangements work. Lights either side of the mirror at roughly eye level when seated give even light across both sides of the face. A bulb strip framing the mirror does the same job and is the reason theatre mirrors look the way they do — it's function, not decoration. If the table has to go on an internal wall with no daylight at all, an illuminated mirror solves the problem in one piece rather than three, and our mirrors collection covers the lit designs.

On the bulbs themselves there's a genuine trade-off worth knowing. Warmer light is more flattering and suits a bedroom in the evening; cooler, more neutral light is far more accurate for judging colour, which matters if you're doing make-up you'll then wear out in daylight. Warm light will consistently make you apply more than you meant to. If the table is used mainly in the morning, favour the neutral end.

Dressing table height and matching the stool

Most dressing tables stand between 28 and 31 inches (72–79cm), with 30 inches (76cm) the common figure — close to desk height, because the task is the same: sitting with your forearms resting on the surface. Below about 28 inches (72cm) you hunch; above 31 inches (79cm) the mirror ends up too high when you're seated.

But the absolute height matters less than the relationship to the seat. Aim for 10 to 12 inches (25–30cm) between the top of the stool seat and the tabletop. Keep that gap and your posture stays neutral whatever the actual numbers are. Lose it and you get one of the two standard complaints: knees jammed under the table, or arms reaching up to a surface that's too high.

In practice that means a 30 inch (76cm) table wants a stool seat of 18 to 20 inches (45–50cm). If you're buying the two separately — which most people do, since they're usually sold as separate items — measure the table's actual height first and subtract 10 to 12 inches to get your target seat height.

Check the knee clearance too: you want 24 to 26 inches (60–65cm) of vertical space under the top, and a drawer running the full width immediately beneath the surface will eat into it. That's the one thing worth testing by actually sitting at the table rather than reading a specification, and our Enniskillen showroom is the easiest place to do it.

Dressing table stools and chairs

A backless stool tucks fully under the table and disappears, which is the right answer in a small bedroom, and some come with a hinged lid and storage inside — useful where the table's own drawers are shallow. An upholstered chair with a back is considerably more comfortable if you spend half an hour at the table doing hair and make-up, but it takes more floor space and won't tuck away as neatly. The honest test is how long you actually sit there: ten minutes and a stool is fine, half an hour and you'll want a back.

Height-adjustable stools are worth considering if more than one person uses the table, or if a child will grow into it. Whichever you choose, work from the 10 to 12 inch (25–30cm) gap rather than a standard seat height — you'll find the full range in our dressing table stools collection.

Dressing table sizes at a glance

Dressing tables with mirrors

Some dressing tables come with the mirror attached; many don't, and the mirror is bought separately. Both work, and they suit different rooms.

An attached mirror is set at the right height by the maker and can't be knocked out of position. A separate mirror, hung on the wall or standing on the surface, gives you more freedom over size and style, and lets the table double as a desk when the mirror isn't in use. A flip-up mirror set into the tabletop is the compact answer: closed, the piece reads as a plain console and the mirror disappears entirely.

If you're pairing a mirror yourself, two numbers make it look intentional. Leave 5 to 8 inches (13–20cm) between the tabletop and the bottom of the mirror — closer and the two crowd each other, further and the mirror floats away from the table it belongs to. And position it so its centre sits at your eye level when seated, which for most people puts the centre around 5ft (150cm) from the floor. Size it in proportion to the table rather than to the wall: a mirror much wider than the table looks top-heavy. Our mirrors collection covers the shapes and sizes, including illuminated designs.

One safety point that applies to any tall or freestanding mirror, and doubly to a leaning one: fix it to the wall before you put anything on the surface.

Small and corner dressing tables

Most bedrooms don't have a spare wall, and there are two ways round it.

A small dressing table at the narrow end of the range, around 24 inches (60cm) wide, will still take a mirror, a lamp and the things you use daily. What it won't take is a wide array of organisers, so it works best paired with drawers rather than surface storage. Remember that the 3ft (90cm) of floor space in front is not negotiable even on a small table — if anything it matters more, because a small room has fewer places for the stool to go.

A corner dressing table uses the one part of a bedroom that's almost always wasted, and it has a genuine advantage beyond space: sitting in a corner puts walls on two sides of you, which means a mirror mounted in the corner catches light from both directions rather than one. The trade-off is depth — a corner unit projects further into the room diagonally than its dimensions suggest, so measure the diagonal rather than the sides.

A third option when neither fits: a slim wall-mounted shelf at the right height with a mirror above it does the job of a dressing table with almost no footprint, and a backless stool slides underneath.

Dressing tables with drawers

Storage is what separates a dressing table from a desk with a mirror on it, and the useful distinction is shallow versus deep.

A dressing table's drawers should be shallow and compartmented, because what goes in them is small and numerous — brushes, palettes, jewellery, bottles that fall over. A deep drawer turns into a bucket where everything ends up at the bottom. Three shallow drawers will serve most people better than one deep one, and drawer dividers fitted before you put anything in are far more effective than a system imposed on a drawer that's already full.

The thing to check is where the drawers sit. A drawer running the full width directly under the tabletop looks tidy and eats the knee space you need to sit square to the table. Side-mounted drawer stacks with a clear opening in the middle are the better arrangement, and it's worth confirming which you're looking at before ordering.

Oak, white and black dressing tables

Oak and wooden dressing tables

Solid timber is the choice for a table you intend to keep, and it has one specific advantage here: the surface meets spilled products, hairspray overspray and the occasional bottle of remover, and a wooden top can be sanded and refinished when it eventually shows it. Oak is the hard-wearing traditional option, and lighter timbers keep a small bedroom feeling open.

White dressing tables

White is the most-searched finish in the category, and there's a practical reason as well as an aesthetic one: it bounces what light there is back up at your face, which in a north-facing bedroom is worth having. The caution is that a painted white surface shows product marks more readily than timber and can't be sanded back in the same way — a chip is touched in rather than repaired.

Black and dark dressing tables

A dark table anchors a pale bedroom and hides marks better than anything else here. Bear in mind it does the opposite of white where light is concerned, so a black dressing table in a dim room makes good lighting more important rather than less.

Dressing tables for a child's room

A children's dressing table is a real category rather than a novelty, and there are two things worth getting right.

Height. An adult table at 30 inches (76cm) is too tall for most children under ten, and pairing it with a normal stool leaves them reaching up. Either buy a table sized for a child, or pair an adult table with a height-adjustable stool so it still works when they've grown.

Stability. This one matters more than anything else on the page. A dressing table in a child's room will be climbed on, and any mirror on or above it will be leaned against. Fix the table to the wall with an anti-tip fixing and fix the mirror separately, before anything goes on the surface. It takes ten minutes and it is not optional.

Dressing table FAQs

What height should a dressing table be?

Between 28 and 31 inches (72–79cm), with 30 inches (76cm) the most common — roughly desk height, so your forearms rest naturally on the surface. More important than the absolute figure is the gap to the seat: aim for 10 to 12 inches (25–30cm) between the stool seat and the tabletop. Keep that and your posture stays comfortable whatever the exact heights.

What height stool goes with a dressing table?

Measure the table and subtract 10 to 12 inches (25–30cm). A 30 inch (76cm) table wants a stool seat of 18 to 20 inches (45–50cm). Since tables and stools are usually sold separately, work from your table's actual height rather than a standard figure. A backless stool tucks fully underneath and suits a small room; an upholstered chair is more comfortable if you sit there for longer.

Where should a dressing table go in a bedroom?

Beside a window or on the wall perpendicular to it, within about 3ft (90cm) of the glass, so daylight falls across your face from the side. Avoid placing it directly opposite a window, where the mirror reflects the glass and glares, and avoid having the window behind you, which puts your face in shadow. Leave at least 3ft (90cm) of clear floor in front for the stool.

How high should a mirror be above a dressing table?

Leave 5 to 8 inches (13–20cm) between the tabletop and the bottom of the mirror, and position it so its centre falls at your eye level when seated — usually around 5ft (150cm) from the floor. Size the mirror in proportion to the table rather than the wall; much wider than the table and it looks top-heavy. Fix any tall or freestanding mirror to the wall before using the table.