How much weight can a bedside table hold?

It depends on the part. Where a figure is published, the bedside tables we sell are rated 30 to 60 kg on top for most floor-standing models and 3 to 20 kg for wall mounted ones, but only 0.5 to 2.5 kg per drawer. Heavy things go on top; the drawer is for light ones.

Each of our 130 bedside tables and pairs shows its rated load on its product page, part by part, or says plainly that none is published. The highest figures sit in our solid mango wood bedside tables: 21 of the 22 tables we list that are rated 50 kg or more on top are solid mango wood.

Updated 30 October 2026 by the Bedside Table UK team. Every load below is the published figure as shown on each table's product page that day. We have not load-tested any table ourselves.

The short answer, part by part

Outside the 30 to 60 kg band, our smallest floor-standing tables, 20 and 30 cm wide, and one 45 cm LED table are rated 10 to 15 kg on top. One table goes much higher: the Wye 36 cm, with four drawers, is rated 100 kg on top, although no figure is published for the drawers. Of the 130 bedside tables and pairs Bedside Table UK lists, 86 carry a rated load for the top: 30 to 60 kg on 56 of the 65 floor-standing tables with a figure, and 3 to 20 kg on the 21 wall mounted ones (product pages, 30 October 2026).

Why the drawer is the weak point

On every floor-standing table we list with both figures, the top is rated far above the drawer: from 15 to 120 times as much. The Wear 45 cm spindle leg table, rated 60 kg on top, shows the gap at its widest, with 0.5 kg in the drawer. No explanation is published for these figures. Our reading, not theirs: the top rests on the frame and the legs, while a drawer carries everything on its own base and on whatever it slides on.

To picture it, a litre of water weighs about a kilogram, so a 2 kg drawer takes the weight of two full litre bottles. Unsure what something weighs? Stand on the bathroom scales holding it, then without it, and take one reading from the other. On the 51 floor-standing bedside tables Bedside Table UK lists with both figures, the top is rated for 15 to 120 times the load of each drawer, and no drawer in the range is rated above 2.5 kg (product pages, 30 October 2026).

Where heavy things should go

• A lamp, a clock, a speaker, the books by the bed: on top. Weigh the lot once; most floor-standing tables we list with a figure are rated 30 kg or more there.
• Books you keep below: on a shelf with a figure of 4 kg or more, such as the Wear 45 cm (5 kg) or the Darent 45 cm low table, 4 kg on the shelf, which is 45 cm tall for a low bed. More in our bedside tables with a shelf.
• Anything holding water, a humidifier, a carafe, a vase: count about 1 kg per litre on top of the container. A humidifier holding 4 litres adds about 4 kg when full. Keep it on the top, not on a shelf rated 1 or 2 kg.
• Chargers, glasses, medicine, a notebook: the drawer, kept within its figure. The Tees 30 cm round drum table, three drawers rated 2 kg each, spreads that over three in a 30 cm footprint; our 3 drawer bedside tables show the others.
• On the wall: 20 kg on top is the most we list, on the Medway 35 cm and Medway 45 cm. See our floating and wall mounted bedside tables, each with its figure.

Six bedside tables and what they are rated to carry

Sizes and weights from each product page, loads from each table's figure on that page, 30 October 2026. All six are solid mango wood, the round one with a marble top. Look at the weight column next to the top: a table's own weight tells you nothing about its rating. On Bedside Table UK's range, the 3.5 kg Medway 35 is rated 20 kg on top and the 20 kg round marble table 60 kg, while the Wye 36, at 13.1 kg, carries the highest top figure we list, 100 kg (product pages, 30 October 2026).

Our picks, and when to skip each one

For the most on every part: Wide 55 cm, open shelf and two drawers

Suits: a double or king bed with a gap of 57 cm or more, and someone who uses the top, the shelf and both drawers. Why this one: the Wide 55 cm panelled table, rated 60 kg on top, 4 kg on the shelf and 2 kg in each drawer, is one of only two tables we list with 60 kg on top, 2 kg drawers and a rated shelf or slot as well. Skip it if: your mattress top is lower than about 58 cm. At 63 cm tall it suits a high divan or a deep mattress. Our wide bedside tables, 48 to 55 cm, include lower ones.

For books on the shelf: Wear 45 cm, spindle legs

Suits: a gap of 47 cm or more, a lamp on top and a row of books on the shelf below. Why this one: 60 kg on top and 5 kg on the open shelf, in a 45 × 35 cm table, 60 cm tall, in two finishes. Skip it if: the drawer has to carry more than 0.5 kg. That is the lowest drawer figure in our range; the Darent 45 cm, with 2 kg in the drawer and 4 kg on the shelf, is the safer choice, and at 45 cm tall it suits a low bed.

For a narrow gap and a lot on top: round marble top, 27 cm

Suits: a gap of 29 cm or more beside a lower bed, with a mattress top 40 to 50 cm from the floor. Why this one: our specification rates its 27 cm marble top for 60 kg, the same figure as our 55 cm tables, and it weighs 20 kg itself. See our marble top bedside tables for the other two. Skip it if: you need storage. There is no drawer and no shelf. The Tees 30 cm takes about the same floor space with three drawers, 40 kg on top and 57 cm of height.

What the published figure does not tell you

• How it was measured. None of our specifications says which test, if any, sits behind the figure. The British and European test method for storage furniture, BS EN 16122, sets out how to test strength, durability and stability, and leaves the requirements to other standards. Read a load as the published rating.
• Whether the weight can sit in one spot. None of our specifications says whether the top figure assumes the load spread across the top.
• Whether the table will tip. Strength and stability are different things, and BS EN 16122 names them separately. No stability result is published for any of our tables, so a tall, heavy item on a small top, or a full drawer pulled right out, is a question the load figure does not answer.
• Sitting or standing on it. The specification of our 30 cm wall mounted two-drawer table tells you not to sit on it. The others say nothing either way. We would not sit or stand on any bedside table.
• Your wall. For units that hang on a wall, the strength tests in BS EN 16122 leave out the wall and the wall attachments. The 20 kg on a Medway is the table's figure; what holds it up is your fixing. Our guide to the best wall mounted bedside tables goes through the checks before you drill.

BS EN 16122:2012, the British Standard that sets test methods for the strength, durability and stability of storage furniture, does not assess the wall or the wall attachments when a unit hangs on a wall (BSI, standard listed as current on 30 October 2026).

When no figure is published

44 of our 130 bedside tables and pairs have no published load at all: 37 floor-standing, 7 wall mounted. Most are engineered wood. Of our 25 engineered wood listings, 21 carry no figure, including all 8 rattan-style tables with woven panels. Their product pages say so where the load would be.

Do not guess from the table's own weight: the table above shows it predicts nothing. Do not borrow a single number from a general guide either; on ours, top figures alone run from 3 to 100 kg. If something heavy has to go on a table without a figure, ask us before you order, or choose one that has a figure. Our guide to solid wood or MDF shows how to read the material line on a listing. Of the 130 bedside tables and pairs Bedside Table UK lists, 44 publish no rated load, among them 21 of the 25 in engineered wood (product pages, 30 October 2026).

Want the most on top? Three of our wide bedside tables are rated 60 kg there, and every product page in the range gives the published figure part by part or says there is none.

How we checked

We read the rated load for the top, the shelf and each drawer of all 130 bedside tables and pairs listed on Bedside Table UK on 30 October 2026, as shown on each product page, along with each table's size and weight. For a set of two, the figure is per table. Where no figure is published, we counted it as none rather than borrow one. We have not tested any table; the figures are the published ones, the picks are our opinion. The 2 cm gap margin and the 5 cm height rule are the working rules printed on our product pages, not a British Standard. The scope of BS EN 16122 is taken from its BSI listing.

The tables in this guide