The bedside table is the first thing you see in the morning and the last at night, so it pays to keep it calm. It also has a job: somewhere to put a glass, your glasses, a book and the rings you take off before bed. Here are ten easy ideas that make it look good and still work, plus how to handle a small table or a matching pair. Prices were correct when we published this guide, and each product page always shows the current price.
The short answer
Keep it to three or four things: a lamp, a small dish for rings and earrings, one natural touch such as a bud vase or an air plant, and the book you are actually reading. Leave room to put down a glass, and keep anything with a flame off the bedside table at night.
1. Start with the lamp
A lamp is the tallest thing on most bedside tables, so let it set the scale for everything else. Warm, low light is kinder at night than a bright overhead bulb, and a shade at roughly shoulder height when you sit up in bed is easiest to read by.
2. A dish for rings and earrings
Jewellery left loose on a bedside table ends up on the floor. A small dish gives it a home and looks lovely on its own. Our mini blue glass bowl on wood (£18) and mini amber bowl (£18) are about 12cm long, with a glass dish about 6cm across: just right for a night's worth of rings.
3. A bud vase with one stem
One flower or a few sprigs of dried lavender bring colour without clutter. The small flower vase on wood (£12) has a slim neck that holds a single stem upright, and dried lavender needs no water at all.
4. Something living
An air plant in a small glass terrarium is the easiest bedroom plant there is: no soil, no mess and a soak every week or two. The medium shaped terrarium on dark tung wood (£18.50), about 16 x 18cm and open at the top, holds a pair of air plants on sand; for a narrow table, the mini terrarium (£7.75) is about 13cm tall. Plants are not included, and our air plant care guide has the routine.
5. Dried stems that ask for nothing
Bunny tails, pampas or dried grasses add softness and last for months. The small vase on whitewashed wood (£26.50) suits a few short stems and its pale base sits well against white bedding. For more ideas, see what to put in a vase without flowers.
6. One book, not a pile
Keep the book you are reading and put the rest on a shelf. A single book with a small object on top looks intentional; a tower of six looks like homework.
7. A calming scent, earlier in the evening
Lavender is the classic wind-down scent. Our Amethyst Dream crystal wax melt (£3.50) is lavender, with real Amethyst chips that appear as it melts. Warm it in the bedroom earlier in the evening and blow the tealight out before you settle down, or use an electric warmer with a timer. Never fall asleep with a tealight or candle burning.
8. Hide the chargers
Cables are the quickest way to make a bedside table look messy. Run them behind the table or through a small box, and keep just the end within reach.
9. Match the scale
A small table needs small pieces. Choose things in proportion to the surface, and keep the tallest piece to the back so it does not block the lamp.
10. Leave space for a glass
However good it looks, the table must still hold a glass of water, your glasses and your phone. Keep the front edge clear so you can reach for them in the dark without knocking anything over.
For a small bedside table
- Use a wall light or clip-on lamp to free the surface.
- Choose one natural piece only: a bud vase or a mini terrarium, not both.
- Use the drawer or a shelf underneath for everything else.
For a matching pair
Two matching tables look calm with the same lamp on each, then something different beside it: a bud vase on one side and a ring dish on the other. Hand-blown pieces vary a little from one to the next, so even two of the same design will not look rigidly identical.
Common questions
What should be on a bedside table?
A lamp, a dish for jewellery, one natural touch such as a bud vase or an air plant, and the book you are reading, with space left for a glass and your phone.
How do you style a small bedside table?
Keep to two or three small pieces, move the light to the wall if you can, and use the drawer or a shelf below for everything else.
Should bedside tables match?
They do not have to. Matching tables with matching lamps look calm and formal; odd tables look relaxed. Either way, keeping the same lamp height on both sides ties the bed together.
Is it safe to use a wax burner in the bedroom?
Use it earlier in the evening and blow the tealight out before you go to sleep: never leave a tealight burning unattended. An electric warmer with a timer is the safer choice for a bedroom.
Browse our bowls, vases and glass terrariums, see what to put on a coffee table for the living room, or desk decor ideas for the home office.
