Put the lamp at the back corner away from the bed, the book beside it, and keep the front edge nearest your pillow clear. That is where your hand lands with the glass at night.
What should you put on a nightstand?
A light, a glass of water, your phone and the book you are reading. Then at most one thing that is there only because you like it: a small plant, a photo, a bowl for rings.
How do you style a nightstand?
Something you use, something living, something with height. The lamp gives the height, a plant or a cut stem the life, and the book and glass are the use. Three groups is enough on a bedside top.
The same rules work on a side table next to a sofa: see the side table guide and how to style a coffee table.
| Table | Top | Fits on top | Hidden storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iris | 15.7 x 13.8 in | A lamp, a book and a glass | One drawer |
| Lisa | 12 x 12.2 in | A small lamp, a phone and a glass | Two straps for magazines |
| Affe | ø12 in | A glass, a phone and a book; the lamp on the wall | None |
What goes in the nightstand drawer?
The things you need at night but do not want to see by day: glasses, a charger, hand cream, lip balm, earplugs, tissues, a notebook and a pen. Medicine you take at bedtime belongs here too, out of sight and in one place.
Iris has one drawer, fitted and running on delivery. Clear it out now and then: a drawer that holds more than one hand can find in the dark has become a cabinet. Lisa has no drawer, but its two vegan leather straps under the top hold a magazine or a paperback.
Where should the bedside lamp go?
At the back of the table, on the side away from the bed, so the base is not where your hand reaches. Sit up against the headboard: the bottom of the shade should be at about chin height. The lower the table, the taller the lamp, and the other way round.
On a small top such as Affe's ø12 in or Lisa's 30 x 12.2 in, a wall light above the table frees the whole top. Our nightstand height guide has more on lamp height.
What about the phone and the charger?
None of our nightstands has a built-in charger or outlet. Run the cable behind Iris or Lisa to a wall socket, and keep a spare charger in the drawer rather than on top.
Charge the phone face down at the back of the table, away from the glass of water.
What should you leave off a nightstand?
Anything you do not use at night. Stacks of books you are not reading, a second lamp, a pile of jewellery. They crowd the glass and get knocked over in the dark.
Be careful with two things. A candle: never leave one burning when you fall asleep or leave the room. A lantern shields the flame in glass, but it is still a flame; our hurricane candle holder guide explains how they work. And water on oak: the lacquer on Lisa and Affe takes a glass overnight, but wipe a spill and use a coaster if the glass sweats.
What you use at night, and one thing you like
- Lamp
- back corner, away from the bed
- Front edge
- clear for the glass
- Small top
- wall light above
