Bedside Table Height: How Tall Should a Bedside Table Be?

Standard bedside table height, in cm and inches

There is no official British standard. These are the figures from the 262 tables we recorded, with the inch conversions.

Bedside table height by bed type

The same figures as the chart above, as a table. Your mattress depth and any topper change the result, so measure your own bed.

Bed type is only a starting point: measure the top of your own mattress. At 70 cm, our 5 cm guideline points to a freestanding table between 65 and 75 cm tall (our tallest is 70 cm), or a wall-mounted table fixed at the height you need.

Why the 61–71 cm figure does not match what we recorded

Search this question and you will be told repeatedly that a standard bedside table is 61 to 71 cm tall, or 24 to 28 inches. Two of the pages currently ranking for this exact question say it. Neither cites a source.

We recorded the published dimensions of 262 bedside tables in a British trade catalogue. Here is what it contains:

Only 2 % reach 65 cm. The 61 to 71 cm range fits few of the tables in that catalogue. Buy to that number and you will end up with a table that is too tall for a British divan and much too tall for a platform bed.

The honest range is 50 to 60 cm, with a median of 57 cm.

Sample: 262 floor-standing bedside tables from one British wholesale catalogue, recorded September 2026. Wall-mounted and floating units excluded. This is the range we sell, not a census of every table sold in the UK, and we say so.

How to measure yours, in four steps

1. Measure from the floor to the top of your mattress. Not to the top of the bed frame, and not to the headboard. The mattress is what your hand reaches over.
2. Include your topper. A 5 cm topper makes a 55 cm table the wrong height.
3. Measure the gap you actually have, wall to bed frame, at the narrowest point. Skirting boards and radiator pipes count.
4. Allow for the drawer. A drawer needs room to open. If the gap is tight, look for a door or an open shelf instead.

How wide, and how deep?

From the same 262 tables:

So when people say most bedside tables are at least 40 cm wide, they are right: the median is exactly 40 cm. That is the problem if you have a narrow gap. 24 % of the catalogue is 35 cm wide or less, and the narrowest are 20 cm. Our narrow bedside tables start at that width, with the width in every name. If your gap is narrower still, the bedside table alternatives are measured the same way. Every width band, the most common footprints and what fits beside each bed size are in our guide to bedside table dimensions.

Should a bedside table be higher or lower than the bed?

This is where the advice falls apart. Three of the guides ranking for this question disagree outright: one says never higher than the mattress, one says two to five centimetres above, one says five to ten above. None of the three cites anything.

Here is the practical answer. Level, within 5 cm either way. Slightly above is easier to reach lying down and stops a glass being knocked off the edge. Slightly below looks calmer and suits a low frame. More than 10 cm out in either direction and you will notice it every night.

There is no British standard for bedside table height. Neither The Sleep Charity nor the National Bed Federation publishes one. Anyone telling you there is a standard is guessing.

In our range: the Dove and the arched shelf table are 55 cm tall and the walnut finish table 54 cm, close to the 57 cm median. For a lower bed, the Bubble is 50 cm and the round marble top 45 cm. For a futon or a very low frame, the Tamar 35 is 40 cm tall and only 25 cm deep. A wall-mounted table goes at exactly the height you fix it.

Shop bedside tables by height

• Under 45 cm, for a platform bed, a futon or a low frame: low bedside tables.
• 45 to 54 cm, for an upholstered frame: for example the Bubble (50 cm) or the oval two-drawer table (54 cm).
• 55 to 60 cm, for most divans and ottomans: the arched shelf table (55 cm) or the three-drawer solid mango table (60 cm).
• 60 cm and over, for a high divan or a deep mattress: tall bedside tables. The tallest in our range, the Tyne spindle table, is 70 cm.
• Any height: a floating bedside table goes exactly where you fix it.

Every product page gives the height in centimetres. The size checker compares it with your own mattress height.

Use this chart

The chart above is free to publish on your own site, in a magazine, or in a university accommodation guide. We ask for one thing in return: a credit link back to this page, so readers can check the method for themselves.

Paste this where you want it to appear:

<a href="https://bedsidetable.co.uk/pages/bedside-table-height">
  <img src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0778/8360/5155/files/bedside-table-height-chart.svg?v=1789914963"
       alt="Bedside table height chart: floor to mattress height by UK bed type, in centimetres"
       width="880" height="620">
</a>
<p>Chart by <a href="https://bedsidetable.co.uk/">Bedside Table UK</a>, free to use with credit.</p>

How we measured

We took a British wholesale furniture catalogue and recorded the published width, depth and height of every floor-standing bedside table in it: 262 pieces. Wall-mounted and floating units were excluded, because their height is set by where you fix them, not by the piece. Figures are the published ones, in centimetres.

This is the range we sell, not a census of everything sold in Britain. The underlying numbers are published in full: download the dataset as a CSV: 262 rows, height, width and depth in centimetres, one row per table. No sign-up, no email, licensed CC BY 4.0: use it, republish it, check our arithmetic. We publish the product names of nobody: this is a set of measurements, not a catalogue.

How tall is a bedside table in inches and feet?

The median of the 262 tables we recorded is 57 cm, which is 22.4 inches, or about 1 ft 10½ in. Half stand between 50 and 60 cm (19.7 to 23.6 inches), and the most common single height is 60 cm (23.6 inches, just under 2 ft).

How high should a floating bedside table be?

You choose the height when you fix it. Put the top level with the top of your mattress, within 5 cm either way, the same rule as for a freestanding table, and measure from the floor to the top of the mattress, topper included, before you drill. See our floating and wall-mounted bedside tables. Our guide shows which wall mounted bedside table to choose by width and load.