Modern Nightstands

A nightstand is small furniture doing constant work. It holds the lamp, the book, the glass of water and the phone, and you reach for all of it in the dark without looking, which is a design problem rather than a decorative one.

Height is the first thing. A nightstand within an inch or two of the mattress top means you can put a glass down without lifting your shoulder off the pillow. Too low and nothing on it is reachable; too high and it looms over the bed. Measure the mattress, not the bed frame, because a thick mattress changes the answer entirely.

After that it is material and the question of doors or drawers. A drawer hides what a shelf displays, which in a bedroom is usually the point. Copeland works solid cherry and walnut in Vermont, and cherry keeps darkening for years, so a pair bought together will age together. Greenington caramelized bamboo brings warmth at a smaller scale. Ethnicraft oak sits well beside a bed frame in any finish because oiled oak rarely argues with anything.

Pairs are worth buying together rather than a year apart, since solid timber continues to change colour with light exposure. Allow a clear run between the bed and the wall before you choose a width. The questions below have the heights and clearances.