The word is the whole confusion. A nightstand is a small cabinet that stands beside a bed, and that is the entire definition. It is American. In Australia the same object is a bedside table, in Britain it is often a bedside cabinet, and in older catalogues it turns up as a night table. Four words, one piece of furniture, no difference in construction.
Which means the useful question is not what to call it. It is which one to buy, and that comes down to three numbers: how high the top sits, how deep it runs into the room, and how much fits in the drawer. Only one of those three varies much, and it is not the one most people check.
Key Takeaways
- Nightstand is the American word for what Australians call a bedside table. Same object, same job.
- Every one here is 45cm deep. Depth is the dimension that never moves.
- Height runs 55.9cm to 64.4cm, an 8.5cm spread. Match it to within 5cm of your mattress top.
- Drawer interiors run 15.1cm to 22.5cm high, a 49 per cent difference on almost the same box.
- Two of them beside a queen need 273cm to 291cm of unbroken wall, depending on the range.
The Word, Settled in One Paragraph
Nightstand and night table are the American terms. Bedside table is what the piece is called in Australia and New Zealand. Bedside cabinet is the British retail term and usually implies a door rather than open shelves. None of those words tells you anything about size, material or drawer count, which is why shopping by the word gets you nowhere. If you searched for a nightstand and landed on a page of bedside tables, nothing has gone wrong. We set out the terminology side by side in bedside table vs nightstand.
What the word does tell you is roughly what to expect: a piece under about 65cm tall, under about 60cm wide, with a surface big enough for a lamp and a glass and not much else. Anything taller is a chest. Anything with a cupboard door and shelves is a bedside cabinet.
Five Ranges, One Depth, and Everything Else Moves
Set the five side by side and the pattern is immediate. Depth is fixed at 45cm across every range. Width moves once. Height moves 8.5cm. The drawer moves by half.
| Range | Size | Drawer interior | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 60 x 45 x 55.9cm | 46.4 x 36.9 x 22.5cm | 22kg |
| London | 55 x 45 x 60cm | 35.5 x 38.3 x 17.5cm | 19kg |
| Manchester | 55 x 45 x 60cm | 37.5 x 37 x 18.6cm | 19kg |
| Bristol | 55 x 45 x 60cm | 42.5 x 37 x 19.2cm | 20kg |
| Newcastle | 55 x 45 x 64.4cm | 42.6 x 34.7 x 15.1cm | 15kg |
Four of the five are 55cm wide. The Liverpool is 60cm, which sounds trivial and is not, because it lands on both sides of the bed and costs 10cm of wall across the pair.
Manchester Pine 2 Drawer Bedside Table
Height Is the Number You Feel Every Day
The rule is simple and almost nobody applies it: the top of the table should land within about 5cm of the top of your mattress. Above that and you knock things off it reaching across in the dark. Below it and you are reaching down past the edge of the bed for a glass of water, which is how glasses of water end up on the floor.
The complication is that mattress height is not a fixed number. A thin foam mattress on a low base and a pillow top on a storage base can differ by 20cm on the same frame. So the honest method is to measure your own mattress top from the floor before choosing, not to trust a chart. The full version of that method is in bedside table height guide.
Across these ranges the 55.9cm Liverpool is the lowest and suits a low platform bed with a slim mattress. The 64.4cm Newcastle is the tallest and is the safe choice with a deep mattress and a thick topper. The three at 60cm sit in the middle and cover most beds without thinking about it.
The Drawer Is Where They Actually Differ
This is the number nobody compares, and it is the biggest gap in the whole set. The interior height of the drawer runs from 15.1cm on the Newcastle to 22.5cm on the Liverpool. That is 49 per cent more usable depth in the same 45cm deep box.
What that decides in practice is whether a paperback stack, a folded jumper or a laptop goes in the drawer or on the surface. At 15.1cm you are storing flat things: a book, a charger, a tube of hand cream. At 22.5cm you can stand things up. Neither is wrong, but if the drawer is meant to keep the surface clear, the shallow one will not do it. We ran the same comparison across widths in two bedside tables the same width outside.
Newcastle Acacia 2 Drawer Bedside Table
The Wall Is the Constraint, Not the Table
One nightstand is easy. Two is a wall length problem, and it is the reason so many bedrooms end up with one table and a stack of books on the other side.
- A 162.4cm Bristol queen with two 55cm tables needs 272.4cm of unbroken wall
- A 171cm Liverpool queen with two 60cm Liverpool tables needs 291cm
Unbroken means no door swing, no window sill below 90cm, no robe track and no power point you need to keep reachable. Most main bedrooms have it. A lot of second bedrooms do not, once the door is placed. That case is worked through properly in the 273cm wall problem, and the one table option is argued in one or two bedside tables.
Shop Cedora Bedside Tables
Liverpool Pine 2 Drawer Bedside Table - Natural
Solid Pine Frame with Oak Veneer
London Pine 2 Drawer Bedside Table
Solid Pine Structure
Manchester Pine 2 Drawer Bedside Table
Solid Pine Structure
Bristol Pine 2 Drawer Bedside Table
Oak Top & Solid Pine Structure
Newcastle Acacia 2 Drawer Bedside Table
Solid Pine & Acacia Structure
Liverpool Pine 2 Drawer Bedside Table - Black
Solid Pine Frame with Oak Veneer
Choosing One in Three Measurements
- Mattress top from the floor. Pick the range whose top lands within 5cm of it. That is 55.9cm, 60cm or 64.4cm here, and it is the measurement that decides comfort.
- Wall length beside the bed. Under about 273cm and the second table is costing you more than it returns. Take one table and a shelf instead.
- What actually goes in the drawer. If it is a book and a charger, 15.1cm is plenty. If it is anything that stands up, you need the 22.5cm.
Depth does not appear on that list, because at 45cm it is the same whichever one you buy. It is worth knowing anyway: 45cm is how far the piece projects into the walkway, and in a room where the bed already leaves 60cm each side, the table takes three quarters of it at the head of the bed.
Bristol Pine 2 Drawer Bedside Table
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a nightstand?
A nightstand is a small cabinet or table that stands beside a bed, usually 55cm to 60cm wide and 45cm deep, with one or two drawers. Nightstand is the American word. In Australia the same piece is called a bedside table, and the two terms describe exactly the same object.
Is a nightstand the same as a bedside table?
Yes. The only difference is which country the word comes from. Nightstand and night table are American, bedside table and bedside cabinet are Australian and British. Search either term and you will be shown the same furniture.
How tall should a nightstand be?
Within about 5cm of the top of your mattress, so you can reach a glass of water without looking down at the floor or up at a shelf. Across these five ranges the tops sit between 55.9cm and 64.4cm, which is an 8.5cm spread, so the range you pick decides more than you would expect.
How deep is a nightstand?
Every one in this catalogue is 45cm deep, the same depth as the chests and tallboys. Depth is the dimension that does not vary, which means the piece projects the same distance into the walkway whichever range you choose.
How much wall do two nightstands need?
Between 273cm and 291cm with a queen bed, depending on the range. A 162.4cm Bristol queen with two 55cm tables comes to 272.4cm. A 171cm Liverpool queen with two 60cm Liverpool tables comes to 291cm. Many second bedrooms do not have that much unbroken wall.
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