Bedside tables are the personal assistant of the bedroom. They keep what you need close and convenient saving you time and effort. No bedroom is complete without one or two. Today we do so much re-purposing with fun table or chest finds, we hardly call them the plain vanilla nightstands anymore. Just as organizational skills are vital to a good assistant, size matters for the bedside table. When scavenging a flea-market, browsing an antique or furniture store for some interesting bedside tables, what is the right size?
First imagine sitting in bed, swing your arm to the side to set down a glass of water. Too low and you’ll spill. More than 4-5″ too high, just feels weird. Ideal table height is within 1-3″ above or below the top of the mattress. As you are swinging your arm around the table should be deep enough to comfortably place the glass to the side but forward of your body, not behind it. To give you a number a minimum of 19″ deep is a good starting point, over 24″ it becomes a tripping hazard.
This bedside table is completely useless due to the angled bed placement. (Reason #25 why angled beds are a bad idea.)
When it comes to width the best rule of thumb is proportion. Tables look best when they are in proportion with the bed. If you look at these tables below, the combined width of two tables are almost equal to the bed. 
Designer diva Bunny Williams used equal sized non-matching tables with a pair of lamps – perfection. 
Last three photos via Architectural Digest, Micasa and Canadian House & Home
What is your bedside table preference?
Getting the wall color right is the next step. By having the rug first it is easy to play with colors to discern the right color for drama or serenity depending on your room goals. It is so much easier to paint the walls to go with the rug than to find a rug to go with the walls. 
When selecting a paint color it is often a color outside of your initial preference which will produce the prettiest results. For deeply saturated rugs less saturated colors allow the rug to remain important in the room and not be overpowered by the walls. 
Using a rug as the 
Best Dinner: 
Photo via The Breakers
Photo via Taboo
It just looks like perfection. Pure solid white or ivory work can sharpen any bedroom decor. If you need a little embellishment add coordinating trim, monogram or edge detail for the perfect tailored look.
Pastels are almost any muted version of a color, not just the sherbet or baby tones. These are easy on the eye and help to promote the feeling of tranquility.
Bold color adds a whole new dimension depending if you prefer a dramatic pattern in richly saturated colors or just a strong color paired with white. These are a fantastic way to call attention to an otherwise not so interesting bed – focal point of the bedroom. This preference calls for careful decor coordination to keep the feeling of a restful oasis. Too many pattern or big bold color changes in one room can create energy and cause unrest. See last week’s post on 
My ”spy” shots of the new Ferrari 458 Spyder, the convertible. 
The Cordell House in Houston, built from four shipping containers via 
The Old Lady House by 
Maison Moschino via 
