Before and After: 8 Easy Tips for Styling a Nightstand

Brittni Mehlhoff

Does your nightstand look anything like this one, almost completely bare except for a few remotes and a weird light? Guilty as charged, over here. Until, that is, I took the time to actually style it. Now it looks like a grown up’s nightstand, as opposed to a college kid’s. See how I styled this mid-century nightstand, along with 8 tips for styling a nightstand perfectly.   

What a difference a few new items and a couple of changes will make, huh?

Brittni Mehlhoff

Here are my top 8 tips for styling a great looking nightstand.

1. Good lighting: You want to find a light that will illuminate your side of the bed for reading, but is also a good size for the surface of your nightstand. This means you may have to test out a few different lights to find the one that works best for you.

2. Add something soft: This nightstand isn’t the greatest, but it’s not the worst either. It’s the right height and I love the way the legs cross into an X toward the bottom. The only problem is that because we have wood floors and our nightstand is also wood, everything kind of blends together and nothing really pops.

So I added a rug to separate the woods from one another, which creates enough distance for it to work. Bonus! When you have hardwood floors, a soft rug underneath your feet while getting in and out of bed is really nice. *Opt for a light rug if you are looking for a high contrast look between the woods and the rug you have selected.

Brittni Mehlhoff

3. Vary the height: Be sure that the items you add to your nightstand are at various heights – low, medium, high. This will help pull together the look. Books are a great way to prop up shorter candles and vases too, if all of the items you want to use are similar heights.

Another note on height: A good nightstand height is roughly the same height as the top of your mattress. Too much higher or lower than that and you may have a wonky looking bedside table. 

Brittni Mehlhoff

4. Mix it up: For a nicely styled look, make sure you place items at a variety of angles. For example, I’m creating vertical lines with the artwork and lighting, so I arranged the books horizontally to change things up and situated the jewelry box on a diagonal.

Brittni Mehlhoff

5. Hang artwork: If you’ve been following my previous before and after style posts here on Curbly, then you probably already knew that I would be mentioning artwork. I never style a room without it.

In this case, instead of resting artwork against the back of the nightstand, I hung it a few inches above the table top surface. This freed up a lot of room on the nightstand for other things and allowed me to cut down on the clutter.

Brittni Mehlhoff

6. Add storage: If you have a nightstand with a drawer or bottom shelf you already have storage, but if not, you’ll need some. A small jewelry box on top of your nightstand is a great place to store any jewelry you take off before bed each night. And a flat tray for electronics and remotes will be helpful too, if you have the space.

Brittni Mehlhoff

7. Don’t forget about scents: Add a nice smelling candle or fragrant flowers in a vase to make your bedroom feel relaxing and peaceful.

8. Say no to clutter: When possible, try to group items in odd numbers and steer clear of clutter. More than 5 items (not counting books as separate items) on your nightstand at once is probably too much, unless you have a high nightstand.

Brittni Mehlhoff

Brittni Mehlhoff