Nightstand Height: How Tall It Should Be Next to Your Bed

You reach for your phone in the dark and your hand finds air, or you have to lean over the edge of the bed to find the glass: the nightstand sits well below the mattress, or well above it. A “standard” nightstand only fits if your bed is in the common range: on one mattress retailer’s chart the floor-to-mattress-top height of the setups it lists runs from 18 inches to 33 and up. Below: work out the number for your own bed, see what range the makers suggest, check what heights nightstands come in, and fix a mismatch if you have one.

The short answer

1. Measure from the floor to the top of the mattress as you sleep on it, sheets and topper in place.
2. Aim for a nightstand top level with that height or up to about 2 inches above it (one mattress retailer), or within 2 to 4 inches of it (one mattress maker).
3. Check the shelf: on one furniture maker’s page, none of the 26 listings with a labelled height is level with or up to 2 inches above a mattress top lower than about 20.5 or higher than 27 inches (our arithmetic); for a mattress top above 27, the retailer’s chart pairs 28 to 32 inch tops with 28 to 32 inch nightstands, and 33 and up with 30 to 34 or a taller chest style.
4. Fix a mismatch with risers or legs for a few inches, a different nightstand, a wall-mounted one, or a change to the bed’s height (our suggestion).

How high is my mattress top?

That number is your target. One mattress retailer’s page says to measure from the floor to the top of the mattress, with the sheets on and any topper in place, and that the frame height and the mattress thickness alone are not the figure to use. Measure the made bed once, from the floor to the top of the bedding or topper you lie on (our suggestion).

If you want an estimate before you measure, the number is the base plus the mattress. Printed figures from three makers and one retailer, with our sums:

Setup	Printed height	Mattress top (our arithmetic)
Plank+Beam Classic Queen Bed, slats, with the 8-inch mattress the maker recommends	Slats 12 in from the floor	12 + 8 = 20 in
Amerisleep Foundation with an AS3 mattress	Foundation 13 in; AS3 sizes listed at 12 in	13 + 12 = 25 in
Saatva Classic on a foundation or box spring	Mattress 11.5 in or 14.5 in	Foundation height + 11.5 or 14.5 in, plus the frame
One retailer’s foundation menu	Box spring 9 in, low-profile box spring 5 in, bunkie board 2 in	9 + 11.5 = 20.5 in, before the frame

The mattress is the part that changes. On the Plank+Beam bed’s Q&A, a 12-inch mattress would sit 4 inches higher than the one pictured, and the retailer’s page puts a swap from a 10-inch to a 14-inch pillow-top at the same 4 inches. A topper adds to it too.

How far above or below the mattress should it be?

The two sources read here give different ranges, so take both:

• Level to about 2 inches above. One mattress retailer’s page puts the nightstand top level with the mattress top or up to about two inches above it, and says slightly above beats slightly below: the extra inch or two keeps a glass from being knocked off and gives a lamp base room, while a top that falls short is the version that feels wrong every night, on that retailer’s page.
• Within 2 to 4 inches. One mattress maker’s nightstand guide says the top should be within 2 to 4 inches of the mattress top. It words this as “within”, without saying above or below. It adds that a table well above the mattress makes you reach at an awkward angle and one that is too low makes you bend over the edge.

On the 20-inch mattress top from the table, the first gives 20 to 22 inches, and the second 22 to 24 inches if read as above the mattress (our arithmetic and our reading).

How to choose between them (our suggestion): start from level to 2 inches above, and treat 4 inches above as the outer limit, the top of the maker’s range; the two ranges meet only at 2 inches above (our reading). Our furniture buying guide carries the same measure-first step for the whole room.

If you sleep on an adjustable base, the retailer says to measure with the base flat, since that is where the bed spends most of the night. The maker’s guide says to use the position you use most, or to choose a table with adjustable height.

What heights do nightstands come in?

One mattress retailer says most nightstands fall between 24 and 28 inches, with chest-style ones at 30 to 34 for high-profile beds or thick pillow-tops. Its chart pairs mattress tops with nightstand heights like this:

Floor to mattress top	Nightstand height on that chart
18 to 22 in	20 to 24 in
23 to 27 in	24 to 28 in
28 to 32 in	28 to 32 in
33 in and up	30 to 34 in, or a taller chest style

For a real shelf, we read the nightstand listings of one solid-wood furniture maker. The page lists 27 nightstands, and one prints its size without labels, so we left it out. Of the other 26 listings (the Modern Nightstand is listed twice, singly and as a set of 2), the printed heights run from 22.5 to 27 inches: 3 are under 24 inches (the two Modern Nightstand listings at 22.5, one at 23.75), 10 are 25 inches, and the tallest is 27. Held against the 20-inch bed in the table above (our arithmetic), none of the 26 listings lands in the retailer’s level-to-2-inches-above range of 20 to 22 inches, and 7 of the 26 listings are 24 inches or less, which is within 4 inches above. Against the 25-inch Amerisleep setup, the 10 at 25 inches are level with the mattress top.

That shelf shows who gets left out. A bed whose mattress top is above 27 inches is above everything printed on that page (the retailer’s chart pairs 28 to 32 inch tops with 28 to 32 inch nightstands, and 33 and up with 30 to 34 or a taller chest style), and a mattress top below 18 inches is below the lowest band on the retailer’s chart (our reading), so a very low platform or a tall bed on a thick base is where a standard-height nightstand is likelier to be wrong (our reading).

What about the lamp on top?

The lamp adds its own height on top of the nightstand’s, so a taller nightstand wants a shorter lamp. The shade, sconce and nightstand heights are worked out together in our bedroom decor ideas guide, so we will not redo them here.

What if my nightstand is the wrong height?

Options, from least effort to most (the order is our suggestion):

1. Raise it, if you are short by a few inches. The retailer’s page says risers, replacement legs or a low platform all work when the gap is a few inches, and that past that you are better off replacing the nightstand, because the proportions look off and stability suffers.
2. Buy a different nightstand at your measured height. Use the shelf above: if your mattress top is near 20 inches, the lowest of the 26 listings is Plank+Beam’s Modern Nightstand, $179 (Price for reference only), 22.5 inches high with a 19.75 by 17.5 inch top. That is 2.5 inches above a 20-inch top: inside the mattress maker’s 2 to 4, outside the retailer’s level to 2. Its page prints the drawer interior as only 3.25 inches high, so it holds slim items. Check the return terms before you order.
3. Hang a wall-mounted nightstand at your height. The mattress maker’s guide says a wall-mounted nightstand with enough clearance from the mattress can work well on an adjustable bed, since it is not affected by the bed’s movement, and suggests wall-mounted ones where floor space is short. As an installation example, not a pick, one maker’s floating nightstand is $429 in the 30-inch size (Price for reference only); its FAQ says it includes its own mounting kit and can be used with or without that maker’s wall panels, and its page says you must locate studs. With the panels, the height depends on which panel you remove; without them, we would mark the mattress-top height and add 0 to 2 inches, or up to 4 (our suggestion).
4. Change the bed instead. Since the target is floor to mattress top, a thicker or thinner mattress, a different foundation height or a topper moves it, as the table in the first section shows. Do this only if you were changing the bed anyway.

Where these numbers come from

Heights and rules come from the makers’ and retailers’ own pages linked above, including each product page’s printed dimensions. We counted the nightstand listings on the Plank+Beam page and did the sums marked as ours; prices are shown without a code and were read on 2 November 2026.

Frequently asked questions

How tall should a nightstand be?

Level with the top of your mattress or up to about 2 inches above it on one mattress retailer’s nightstand page; within 2 to 4 inches of the mattress top on one mattress maker’s guide. Both measure from the floor to the top of the mattress with any topper in place, so measure your own bed rather than going by a standard height.

How do I measure my bed for a nightstand?

Measure from the floor to the top of the mattress as you sleep on it, with the sheets on and any topper in place. One mattress retailer’s page says that number, not the frame height and not the mattress thickness alone, is the target. On an adjustable base, measure in the position you use most, which the same retailer puts at flat.

What if my nightstand is too short?

One mattress retailer’s page says risers, replacement legs or a low platform work if the gap is a few inches, and that a bigger gap is better fixed by replacing the nightstand. A wall-mounted nightstand can be hung at or up to 2 inches above the height you measured, 4 at most (our suggestion), and a different mattress or foundation changes the target instead.

Are most nightstands tall enough for a high bed?

On one mattress retailer’s page, most nightstands run 24 to 28 inches and chest-style ones 30 to 34. Of the 26 listings on one furniture maker’s nightstand page that print a labelled height, the tallest is 27 inches, so a bed whose mattress top is above 27 inches off the floor is above everything on that page (our arithmetic).