On Instagram yesterday, I was asked if there was a standard for selecting the right height for nightstands. I thought that was a great question and one I never looked up, but I have typically chosen nightstands that felt like the right height for the bed they were paired with. I like nightstands that are roughly the same height as the top of the mattress or perhaps a little bit taller. This makes reaching for things easy when turning off an alarm in the morning, checking a text or call, grabbing a tissue, or turning a lamp on and off. I decided to look it up to see if conventional decorating guidelines match my intuition on the matter, and they do. There isn’t a standard height as there is for chair rail and countertops, but a guideline based on each individual room.
I like a tall mattress. It’s not right or wrong, but just my preference. I might not like it in 20 or 30 years, but right now, I enjoy the somewhat childlike process of crawling into a tall bed. Because of this, most of my nightstands over the years have been small dressers, washstands, cabinets, and desks. Traditional nightstands often appear too short and too small.
I also like adding storage in a nightstand for books, chargers, tissues, and sometimes clothes like socks and pajamas.
When I looked back through pictures of nightstands used in our home, almost all of them are around the height of the top of the mattress, even in different rooms with different bed/nightstand combos.
Even when I designed the built-ins for my parents’ bedroom makeover, I set the height of the nightstand portion of the bookcase to match the top of the mattress.
This room was set up in my PA studio, consisting of antiques I was selling at the Lucketts Spring Market that year, and I followed the same principle.
I did notice a few exceptions as I was gathering photos. This small washstand in our PA master bedroom was a few inches shorter than the mattress, but this particular bed frame and mattress combo is the tallest we’ve owned. It’s in our current guest room and is paired with taller nightstands.
The nightstand in Calvin’s room in our former PA house was also a little bit shorter than the height of the mattress, but it still felt like a good match for this bed and the feel of the room.
In our previous MN home, the nightstand/cabinet in the sewing room was much taller than the bed. Since it is a twin daybed, though, the height difference didn’t seem like a big deal. It would be a little awkward for someone reaching for something in the middle of the night, but I don’t think we ever had any guests sleep in there with this arrangement.
The other pairing that was a little lopsided was in the guest room in our PA house before it became Calvin’s room. The room was particularly challenging to furnish due to its sloped ceilings, dormer window, and small attic door. I ended up using a little stool as a nightstand, which wasn’t the most practical, but it was what would fit. For a guest room, it was passable even if it wasn’t ideal.
So, there you go! A little round-up of nightstand examples and suggestions for a height that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional.
11 Responses
I like dressers instead of nightstands., have a Gentleman’s dresser now and It is higher, which I also prefer. I haven’t had anything else that I can remember, so useful pieces make sense to me. I love remembering all your pretty things again.
These are very pretty examples, thank you for sharing on this topic.
Good suggestions! I also take into consideration the lighting that will be used next to the bed. Most everybody has a lamp or a sconce next to the bed. This is especially helpful for those who get up during the night or read in bed. I never want the light source to be where it shines directly in the eyes of the person – so the height of the lamp could make a difference or the height where the sconce is mounted needs to be considered so that the whole effect is balanced and doesn’t look wonky. When traveling, I always grumble about a light source that shines directly in my eyes when I try to read or first turn it on in the morning to blind myself. So, those sort of things really need to be considered in a guest room especially. Love all the choices you shared!
Yes, that’s a great consideration, too!
Our master bedroom has low nightstands because our mattress is so thick. It was a set and they were probably the right height with the original mattress 35 years ago.
I didn’t want to get different nightstands because these have drawers and work well for stashing everything bedside. I opted for tall console style lamps with pull chains. They are finally perfect height.
Yep, sometimes you just make adjustments and work with that you have!
So fun to see your photos again! Beside our bed we have chests very similar to yours and they are mattress height which works well. I hung the swing light fixtures above the chests for just the right height for reading and decor with paintings next to them. We have small rooms so using the drawers and cabinet give nice storage.
It as fun looking through those photos, too!
The nightstands in your photos are all perfect where there are! The nightstands in our bedroom were an amazing find. Vintage Ralph Lauren from the 80s. They felt like there were forever on lay- buy, but were great value! I cannot imagine not having them now.
Thank you for your thoughtfulness in supplying a nightstand, stool, or something (!) beside each side of the bed. I’ve stayed in various beach houses, family members’ guest rooms, etc., where there was NOTHING beside the bed … no nightstand, no lamp, not even a stool … just a bed with a light switch across the room. I had to leave my eyeglasses on the floor, hoping I could find them in the morning. Obviously in those houses, the owners never remembered the Golden Rule … spend at least one night each year in your own guest room to see what needs to be added, fixed, or taken away!
I love seeing all those bedroom decorating styles again. Every single one was beautiful!