• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Home Tour
    • Master Bathroom
    • Kitchen
    • Kitchen Eat-In Area
    • Family Room
    • Living Room
    • Home Office
    • Laundry Room
    • Master Bedroom
    • Craft Room
    • Dining Room
    • Garage
    • Guest Room
    • Guest Bathroom
    • Patio
    • Powder Room
    • Teen Blue & White Bedroom
    • Teen Boho Chic Bedroom
  • Projects
    • Room Remodels
    • DIY Projects
    • Decorating Tips
    • Cleaning
    • Organizing
  • Subscribe
  • Shop My Faves
  • Instagram
  • About
    • Contact
    • Meet Kris
    • FAQs
    • Media
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy

Driven by Decor logo

menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Home Tour
    • Master Bathroom
    • Kitchen
    • Kitchen Eat-In Area
    • Family Room
    • Living Room
    • Home Office
    • Laundry Room
    • Master Bedroom
    • Craft Room
    • Dining Room
    • Garage
    • Guest Room
    • Guest Bathroom
    • Patio
    • Powder Room
    • Teen Blue & White Bedroom
    • Teen Boho Chic Bedroom
  • Projects
    • Room Remodels
    • DIY Projects
    • Decorating Tips
    • Cleaning
    • Organizing
  • Subscribe
  • Shop My Faves
  • Instagram
  • About
    • Contact
    • Meet Kris
    • FAQs
    • Media
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Updated: Jan 1, 2025 by Kris Jarrett

    Unique Nightstand Ideas

    Looking for unique nightstand ideas? Try one of these!

    When buying furniture for a bedroom, it’s tempting to buy a matching set where the headboard, nightstands, and chest of drawers are all the exact same color and style. It’s a quick and easy way to furnish an entire room and you can often get furniture sets for a super low price. But the truth is that most beautifully decorated rooms have pieces that feel like they’ve been collected over time rather than purchased in a single visit to Furniture Fair. A good start to having this “collected” feel would be to have nightstands that are unique and “non-matchy”. You could buy a typical nightstand in a different finish or material than the rest of your bedroom furniture or you could try out one of these unique ideas! (post includes affiliate links – full disclosure statement available {here})

    Use a Step Ladder as a Nightstand

    A small step ladder with wide rungs that you can stack a lamp, clock, and a few bedside books on can work well as a nightstand. You can find a vintage step ladder such as this cute painted wood one found at {this Etsy shop}:

    A short vintage step ladder makes a great unique nightstand!

    By searching antique stores, flea markets, eBay, and Etsy you’ll find lots of unique vintage options but if you want something more modern and fresh, check out {this cute white ladder shelf}:

    This darling ladder shelf would make the perfect unique nightstand!

    Create a Nightstand from Stacked Vintage Suitcases

    Stacking 2-3 suitcases makes a beautifully unique nightstand, especially if they’re vintage. You could also create a nightstand on a much smaller budget by spray painting old suitcases white like this:

    Paint a pair of old suitcases and stack them to create a unique nightstand!

    A Beach Cottage

    Turn a Folding Tray Table Into a Nightstand

    A folding tray table can be a stylish, inexpensive stand-in for your typical nightstand:

    A stylish folding table can double as a unique nightstand!

    Horchow

    You can use a simple, clean-lined folding tray table like {this one}, a more ornate folding tray table like {this one}, or even {this teak beauty}.

    A Small Desk Can do Double Duty as a Nightstand

    This is one of my favorite unique nightstand ideas because it’s such a smart one! A small desk such as {this one} can serve as a works space or vanity along with functioning as a nightstand:

    One 2021 design trend is double duty decor like this small desk that doubles as a nightstand

    Image courtesy of West Elm

    Sources:  Desk  |  Black sconce  |  Mirror  |  Chair

    Want to save this post?

    We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

    These are a few other small stylish desks that would make great nightstands:

    Favorite small desks

    Sources: 1. Mid-Century Mini Desk (3 finish options) |  2. Livingston Writing Desk (4 finish options) |  3. Beadboard Classic Desk  |  4. Quinn Fluted Desk (2 finish options)  |  5. Simple Parsons Desk (multiple color options)  |  6. Haywa Desk (4 color options)  |  7. Folsom Writing Desk with Drawer (2 finish options)  |  8. Homfa Writing Desk  |  9. Parsons Mini Smart Desk  |  10. Tilden Small Space Desk  |  11. Casada Desk (4 color options)

    Use a Rolling Cart as a Nightstand

    Yet another option is to use a rolling cart such this IKEA kitchen cart:

    This rolling cart makes a unique small space nightstand

    The Freelancer’s Fashion Blog

    or {this rattan bar cart}:

    This rolling rattan bar cart makes the cutest unique nightstand!

    A Small Chest of Drawers As a Nightstand

    My last idea is a practical solution that’s especially smart when space is tight – place a small chest of drawers next to the bed to do double duty as a nightstand. I did this in my girls’ bedroom, using a small chest between their two beds as a nightstand:

    Along with our new wallpaper, there are a few other additions to my girls’ room that I’m happy to share sources for. We already had {these cute twin beds} (they’re no longer available in the Driftwood finish that I have but are still available in French White) but I upgraded the small nightstand that was previously between them to a larger white chest found {here}:

    This small white chest is perfect or a bedroom nightstand

    Sources:  Chest  |  Rattan lamp  |  Peel & stick wallpaper  |  Twin beds  |  Blush tasseled duvet cover

    I hope you found a few ideas and inspiration for changing up your bedroom in ways that you’ll love!

    • Share
    • Email

    ✉️FREE EMAIL SERIES ✉️

    5 Secrets to Reinventing Your Home on a Budget

    Simple tips to instantly transform five rooms in your home!

    Primary Sidebar

    ✉️FREE EMAIL SERIES ✉️

    5 Secrets to Reinventing Your Home on a Budget

    Simple tips to instantly transform five rooms in your home!

    Meet Kris

    Photo of Kris Jarrett

    Follow Me

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    All images on DBD are copyrighted and taken by me unless otherwise noted. If you'd like to use any of my images, please request their use via my Contact page.

    I am a participant in several affiliate advertising programs (including the Amazon Associates program) and earn fees from qualifying purchases. For more information, see my full disclosure statement {here}.

    To view my privacy policy, go {here}.

    Copyright © 2025 · Driven by Decor