More permanent than wall art but more subtle than a bed frame, bedside tables (also known as night stands and bedside cabinets) have the power to change the mood of your bedroom. Too often we see people walk in-store knowing they need a bedside but end up leaving empty-handed because they neglected some essential considerations.
So, we’ve gone ahead and compiled a buyer’s guide to bedsides to make sure you don’t miss anything when you have to make your purchase decision. Answer these five questions and you’ll be able to assess the suitability of any bedside that comes your way!
1. DO YOU ACTUALLY NEED ONE?
What’s this, a furniture retailer asking you to question whether to spend money on their products?
Well, there’s a very good reason why we want you to question every purchase decision you make about furniture—whether it’s questioning you if actually need it or it’s questioning the environmental impacts of purchase decisions—and that’s simply because we’re buyers too. Some us have had that awful experience of being excited about buying a new piece of furniture, only to come home and find we don’t actually need it; or worse still, that it’s unsuitable for our space.
For example, I’ve written before on why I don’t have a bedside in my bedroom. TL;DR, I live in a tiny box and I’ve found other storage solutions, such as a desk with drawers, have killed more birds with one stone.
So before you buy your bedsides out of some need to conform to the “norm”, question whether a bedside is best for you, or whether other bedroom storage solutions will serve you bedder. (OK, that was pretty terrible. Moving on…)
2. HOW MANY DO YOU NEED?
This again might seem silly. You always buy a pair of bedsides with any given bed frame, right? Well no. if you’ve got one side of your bed against a bedroom wall, for example, there may be no need to buy more than one. This is why it’s not uncommon to find only one bedside in a kid’s bedroom. But even for adults, there may be no need for more than one bedside. Have a think before you splash that hard-earned cash.
3. PROPER PROPORTIONS
If you’ve already got a bed, make sure you measure from the floor to the top of the mattress before you buy your bedside. You’ll want the bedside to roughly the same height, or a tad higher.
As for the size of the bedside more generally, you’ll want to make sure its proportioned to the rest of your bedroom furniture. A safe bet is to buy your bedsides from the same furniture collection as your other big bedroom furniture pieces (assuming it’s still made), such as the dresser or tallboy. If that’s going to be impossible, consider whether you need to refurnish more in your bedroom than just your bedside.
(P.S. if you’re stuck and not sure, just chat to our staff in-store or draw from the well of knowledge and experience you’ll find in our lovely My Family Home community on Facebook.)
4. KNOW YOUR STYLE
If you’ve got a Hamptons-style bedroom, buying an industrial-style bedside may not do you much good. If you’ve stuck to a particular set of colours, materials, or textures, make sure your bedside is consistent with those.
That’s not to say it’s not okay to experiment in the bedroom. In fact, we encourage it! Just be careful—you don’t want to regret your purchase.
5. CHECK: HOW MUCH STORAGE DO YOU NEED?
No drawers? One drawer? Three drawers? One drawer with an open space underneath for a stack of books or magazines? This question you must answer before you make any purchase decision.
See, that wasn’t hard! Now that you’re armed with answers to all those questions, you can rest assured that the decision you make to buy a bedside will be well-informed.
Happy shopping!