Thinking about bedside tables and backgrounds

I decided to write a little about bedside tables, taken from my looking at hundreds of interior photos, and looking for my own tables.

Bedside tables should, in my opinion (and need), be able to:
1. store private stuff
2. stack books
3. display lamp

At the moment, we are looking to move (to another rental). I found these fantastic bedside tables by the roadside three weeks ago. The master bedroom has been neglected in my low-budget interior Audrey-fying. Our previous mismatched tables barely met our needs... so the find was a good one. They are now in my bedroom... and while being useful there, they have sparked some thoughts:

Lesson #1: Size Matters
Our master bedroom has the width span just to fit a queen-sized bed and two bedside tables (i.e. not real large room). So the width of said tables need to be carefully planned. Too large, they won't fit (duh). Too small, they look orphaned. Like ours. Ours are slim. And they need more space to for presence. Luckily this is only rental and hopefully (soon) we'll be able to move into one with more room to swing a cat.

Anyway. Right now, the bedside tables standing next to our bed feel lost. Like it needs huge slim floor lamps to fill the floor and height space.


Lesson #2: Work with Width
If you have a similar problem to mine as abovementioned, I thought one way to combat the lack of fit would be to highlight the narrow width with a feature. Like installing a headboard across the whole wall 'couches' the bedside tables.


Or draping that whole wall + window with gorgeous fabric from ceiling to floor. (That room mirrors most closely our master bedroom atm with its narrow beige walls and the window behind the bed. Complete with that awkward space between bedside table and wall and bed). So this is an idea we could adopt.


Lesson #3: Storage vs none
Figure out what you really need in your bedside tables. So often we misjudge what we need. So often we find what we have lacking. I know what I'd like... (and what I can't afford right now)... but it's a step to know what to keep scouting for and when we can afford to get something that meets our needs. Some people don't need much, like the below bedrooms.




And lucite hides nothing:


I like to read in bed and like to have space for books. Something like the bedside in the below photo (with some drawers) would be great.


Lesson #4: Unsuite
I remember while shopping around for our bed before we got married. I wanted to purchase the whole bedroom suite, dresser, vanity, bedside tables and huge bed. Luckily, the husband pointed out that we weren't rich people. Otherwise I'd be stuck with a suite! Now I can't stand suites. It's so... boring!


Anymore to add?