Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
sbm321

Do you have a bureau next to your bed instead of a nightstand?

Sueb20
13 years ago

Looking for inspiration pictures... I have more room on my side of the bed than DH does, so I'm thinking of replacing my nightstand with a low bureau so I have more storage for jewelry and other accessories. We have a sitting area off our room, so I could move my nightstand over there to use as an end table. Just having trouble visualizing what, exactly, my nightstand/bureau might look like. I'd want it to be approximately the same height as the other nightstand.

Here's a pic of what we have now (although we just got new bedding). Wall lamps are being replaced with table lamps. I haven't measured yet, but I probably have about 5' of space between my side of the bed and the wall.

Comments (25)

  • Oakley
    13 years ago

    I don't have a picture but I have my late grandmother's Lane cedar chest (with the original papers!) next to my side of the bed and I just love the extra space on top!

    Since I'm a "girl", lol, I have my lotion, lip balm, pink Princess telephone, pink vintage alarm clock, floral lamp, kleenex, and little "what not's" on it. Very girly girl. :)

    I love to lay in bed late at night and watch the shows I've recorded.

    I think you'll really like having the extra room next to your side of the bed!

  • terezosa / terriks
    13 years ago

    That's what we had in our old bedroom. We had dressers on each side of the bed instead of nightstands, because that was really the best place for them in the room. They were about 48" wide. This is the only picture that I have of that room:

  • jlt37869
    13 years ago

    Yep, I have matching 3 ft wide w/two drawers (lots of storage space) bureaus (similar feel as terriks).

  • daisychain01
    13 years ago

    I have a taller dresser on one side of our bed. I compensated by doing a decorative stack of antique books on the lower nightstand and the lamp on that side sits on the books so that the two bedside lamps balance.

  • tinam61
    13 years ago

    I have a chest/secretary to one side of our bed and another chest on the other side. The chest/secretary looks kind of like a shorter chest-of-drawers with 4 drawers but the top drawer actually pulls down to make the "desk". I do like the extra storage of the drawers. I don't leave alot of stuff out on top other than decorative and always a glass of water (not kleenex, etc. type stuff - that stuff is in ensuite bathroom). The chest/secretary is a little taller than the side chest which is leggy with only two drawers, but I have it balanced with a taller lamp. I am actually getting ready to replace the secretary/chest with a small dresser - or perhaps may put it in the guest room. Haven't decided yet. I like different pieces rather than nightstands.

    I would think a cedar chest would be short for using as a nightstand. We have a blanket chest at the end of the bed.

    tina

  • itltrot
    13 years ago

    I don't in my room but in my guest room I did a wider nightstand/chest. It's 38" wide x 28" tall. My only complaint is it's not a quality piece of furniture. But since it's in the guest room and seldom used I think it'll be fine. I also had a piece of glass cut for the top just in case.

    But from what I've read many furniture manufactures are starting to make wider nightstands.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Ashley Embrace

  • pps7
    13 years ago

    yup, I have this RH one on Dh's side. It's a nightstand but it's 30" wide and tons of storage.

    Here is a link that might be useful: RH nightstand

  • TxMarti
    13 years ago

    I don't have a bureau, but a small desk.

    {{!gwi}}

    {{!gwi}}

  • pps7
    13 years ago

    marti8a, I love the desk. I've been on the look out on craigslist and antique malls for a desk like that to use in the guest bedroom for a night stand.

  • terezosa / terriks
    13 years ago

    The dressers that we had were designed to be used in children's rooms. That might help you find the scale that you are looking for.

  • ttodd
    13 years ago

    I thoroughly enjoyed having a bureau as my bedside table. I would love to someday have a bureau on one side and a desk or similar type table on the other side of the bed instead of bedside tables.

  • justgotabme
    13 years ago

    I'm wondering if you could add curtain rod finials to the legs of the night stand on your hubby's side of the bed to make it taller so it would be easier to match the height to a small chest of drawers? It's hard to tell, but I think we have the same nightstands so I looked at ours and I think if you drilled a hole first you be okay to screw the finial in. Or maybe even add another shelf above the new "legs/feet".
    As for the wall lamps I'd look into a larger harp so you could add larger shades and keep your table top space unless you decide to go with two chests of drawers.
    I love your bedding by the way.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Harps for most swing arm lamps can be found here.

  • TxMarti
    13 years ago

    Thanks pps7. We are in the process of restoring it. Antiques Roadshow would SO not approve, but it isn't in great shape. It was dh's grandfather's desk.

  • deeinohio
    13 years ago

    I have this one on one side of the bed; on the other side, I have a similar one, same manufacturer, but with three drawers and a solid wood top (didn't have a picture on this computer). Our dressers are in the closet so it provides tons of storage.
    Dee

  • Oakley
    13 years ago

    Tina, don't knock the cedar chest idea until you actually try it. It's at a perfect height, and looks great next to our bed. It's not too low at all, and easy access for things like the alarm clock, etc.

    I have to ask though, you don't even keep anything on your night stand because of how it looks to you and other's? It's our bedrooms for pete's sake, there is NO way I want to get up during the night, walk to the bathroom when I need to blow my nose. lol

    Also, I keep a pretty basket (small) on the cedar chest for all my stuff so it does look organized.

  • susanka
    13 years ago

    We've never had nightstands. I don't have pix now, but we have what used to be a low console with doors and an open shelf on one side of the bed and another piece that's similar but not identical on the other. Works for us; the doors hide clutter and leave the top free for lamps,etc.

  • tinam61
    13 years ago

    No worries Oakley. I don't generally need that stuff during the night and I don't like clutter. MBath is att'd to MB so if I need something it's no problem to get up. I'd probably do that to keep from waking hubby anyway.

    Our blanket chest is low. My chests on each side of the bed are somewhere around 30 inches high and I know my blanket chest is much lower. Wouldn't be comfortable. Different strokes for different folks . . .

    tina

  • lkplatow
    13 years ago

    Here's an old and pretty unflattering picture of our two bureaus that serve as nightstands. Our bedroom is small, so we need the storage. The picture makes it look really cramped and cluttered -- don't know why I can't take a half decent picture (or maybe it really DOES look cramped and cluttered and I just don't notice it - eek!)

    Anyhow, the dressers are both antique, found at different times. The are similar but not matching, and they are similar to the other case pieces in the room (all are a medium toned wood, except the bed, which is painted black and the bedside chest, which is more of a darker wood.)

  • movin-on
    13 years ago

    Our house is very small, 780 sf, so having furniture doing 'double duty' is imperative. In the bedroom we have a side dresser on one side and a small desk/cabinet on the other.

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • ttodd
    13 years ago

    lkplatow - your bedroom looks so fresh and country modern. Did the bird on the post come that way?

  • natal
    13 years ago

    I'd love to find a small bureau and give dh my nightstand. His stands about 28" high and that's almost too tall. Mine is 23" ... the same as my cedar chest. For years I used dh's old foot locker for a nightstand. Now that was low!!! ;)

  • movinginva
    13 years ago

    Question for @lkplatow.

    I know this is a bit off topic, but @lkplatow, I love your bedroom it does not look cluttered at all, I would never guess that you had a smaller home. Would it be possible for you to send me a picture or two that shows how it it all organized. We have a smaller house 1080, and I am having a particularly hard time figuring out where to place things in the bedroom so that we have additional storage, and so that it does not look cluttered. Is that a chest or a low dresser you have at the foot of the bed?

    Thanks so much!

  • lkplatow
    13 years ago

    Thanks guys!

    ttodd - the bed did not come with the bird - I bought it at the North Penn craft show a few years ago - it is a concrete lamp finial. I never found a lamp that suited it, so I stuck it on the bedpost. Last year, it was bugging me that I only had 1 bird, so I tracked down the artist (he no longer exhibits at North Penn) and bought 3 more to match. So now I have birds on all 4 posts. Some days I like them, some days I think they look stupid, but I'm too lazy to move them so there they stay, LOL!

    movinginVA - our house is actually pretty big (3K sq ft) but our bedroom is pretty small - it's 11 x 14. I actually prefer it as it means our other bedrooms are a decent size -- so many of the homes we looked at had enormous master bedrooms and then teeny tiny kids' bedrooms - it was kind of crazy! Anyhow, we do a walk-in closet but it is kind of small as well at maybe 6x8 feet (though, coming from a 200 year old house where the only closet was about 1ft x 2ft, our "small" walkin is like paradise, LOL!) But we definitely can't fit all our clothes in the closet, so we use both dressers by the bed, as well as another big dresser and the chest at the end of the bed. I recently bought an armoire for the other corner of the room and while I'm a little concerned that the room now looks kind of heavy with 5 big "case pieces" in there, I decided I'd rather have the storage than, say, a chair or something in the corner instead. But I've been needing to change the curtains (they're now being crowded by the armoire) so I've been wanting to post pics of my room and ask advice for a couple months now. Your question is the kick in the pants I needed - I'll try to take some tomorrow.

    But in the meantime, here's a description - our bed is queen size, the dressers on either side of the bed are about 30" wide and that makes up the 11ft wall. The chest at the end of the bed is a huge blanket chest - basically as wide as the bed and probably close to 3 feet deep. I love it. The wall to the left if you are laying in the bed is basically all windows and the wall to the right is a doorway to the hall where the closet and bathroom are, so there is pretty much nothing on those walls. Then the wall opposite the bed has a window in the center (with a dog crate under it - ugh!), a large empire-style antique dresser (about 4.5 feet high) to the left of the window and the new antique armoire to the right. So again, two big hulking case pieces that combined provide a ton of storage (but probably do crowd the room a bit.)

    I will try to take pics tomorrow and post them, since I did want to get some advice from the folks here on window treatments. But thanks for asking!

  • Sueb20
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Just wanted to say thanks for all the pics! I am still hunting, have not found the right thing, but I'm sure it's out there somewhere! Of course I could get a low bureau that coordinates very well with my furniture from the same store we bought it... but, well, it's about $1800! Yikes.