Nightstand Sets of 2

Why buy nightstands as a pair?

Buying a pair guarantees the two sides of the bed match in height, finish and hardware, which is the one thing that is very hard to correct later. Finishes drift between production runs, so a second unit bought months after the first often reads slightly different in the same light. A pair also arrives together, which matters when both sides are going in at once.

How tall should a nightstand be?

Match the top of the nightstand to the top of the mattress, or sit within about two inches either way. These stand 20 to 27 inches high, which covers most mattress heights from a low platform bed to a thick hybrid on a taller frame. Measure from the floor to the top of your made mattress, not to the top of the bed frame, because bedding adds real height.

Do nightstands have to match?

No, but they should agree on height. A pair is the simplest way to get there and always looks deliberate. Mismatched nightstands work when they share a height and a material family and differ in form, which reads as collected rather than accidental. What does not work is two units at noticeably different heights, because the eye reads the bed as crooked.

What size fits beside your bed?

These are 18 to 26 inches wide and 14 to 24 inches deep. Leave at least a couple of inches between the nightstand and the bed frame so bedding does not catch, and check the depth against your frame: a nightstand deeper than the bed makes the whole wall look uneven. In a tight room, the narrower end of that range still takes a lamp and a book.

What are they made from?

This collection covers solid wood, engineered wood, particleboard and metal, in walnut, natural and bronze finishes. Solid wood holds drawer hardware best over time, which matters on a bedside drawer that gets opened every day. Several pairs include a built in charging station, which removes the trailing cable that is the usual problem with a bedside outlet. Construction: engineered wood and MDF on select models.

What size lamp goes on a nightstand?

The shade bottom should sit at about eye level when you are sitting up in bed, which usually means a lamp 24 to 27 inches tall on a nightstand in this height range. A useful check: the lamp should be no more than about one and a half times the height of the nightstand, and its base no wider than a third of the top.

What goes inside?

Drawers here run one to four per unit. A single drawer suits a reader who wants a book, a charger and not much else. Two or three drawers let you separate the things you reach for at night from the things you store, which is what stops the top surface filling up. Open shelf models suit a smaller room where a closed drawer would feel heavy.