When setting up your bedroom, you want to make sure that your nightstands complement your bed, your dresser, and any other pieces of furniture you may have. It’s just as important, however, to pay attention to size as to aesthetics. This includes the height of your nightstands — the wrong height can not only make a room look out of place, it can also make it difficult for you to use it.
So what is the correct height for a bedside table? Interior design content creator Kiva Brent (@kivabrent) has a handy video explaining the right height and width for a nightstand.
The formula is simple: the height of your nightstand should be the distance from the floor to the top of your mattress, plus or minus four inches. This ensures that you can easily reach for anything, even if it is in the middle of the night. It will also ensure that your nightstands are in proportion with your bed and mattress.
The width of the bedside table, however, is a bit more complicated, as the appropriate dimension depends on the size of your bed and your room. According to Kiva, these are the correct widths to use, depending on the size of your bed.
These measurements make sense, as you want to make sure your nightstands balance your bed, rather than taking up the entire space or being overshadowed by the rest of the furniture.
Keep in mind that these are all guidelines – if the height or width of your nightstand isn’t perfect, that’s okay. You may want to choose smaller nightstands that save space, or you may want to go with something very narrow. You might even want to use just one nightstand or a nightstand alternative, like a chair with a compact footprint. If you’re looking to buy something new, check out this list of our favorite nightstands.