Solid Wood Bedroom Furniture Guide: Beds, Dressers, Nightstands and Chests

What furniture goes in a bedroom?

A full bedroom usually has a bed, one or two nightstands, a dresser and a chest of drawers. Larger rooms add an armoire or a blanket chest. A small guest room may only need a bed, one nightstand and a chest. Here are the size ranges we counted across our bedroom furniture.

How do you choose a solid wood bed?

Size: measure the room, then the frame

A bed frame is always bigger than the mattress. Our queen frames run from 61 to 77½ inches wide, and most are 86 to 89 inches long, because the headboard and footboard add to the mattress size. Measure your wall against the frame dimensions on the product page, not the mattress size.

Height: where the mattress sits

On 41 of our beds, the top of the slats is 11¼ inches from the floor. On 16 others, the rails sit 8⅝ inches off the floor. Add your mattress thickness to get the height you'll sit on, which is also the height your nightstand should match.

Style: panel, sleigh, slat, post or mission

A panel bed has flat or raised panels, the style name we see most often in our bed collection. A sleigh bed curves outward at the head and foot. Slat and mission beds use rows of upright boards, and post beds have tall corner posts. Our headboards range from 42 to 85 inches tall, so check the height against windows and wall art.

Storage: drawers under the mattress

Short on storage? 61 of our beds list drawers or storage rails as a feature or an option, and some, like the Bordeaux Panel Bed with drawer units, note that no box spring is needed. If you'd rather keep the floor open, 32 list the space under the rails so you can sweep. For children's rooms, see our guide to kids' storage beds, trundles and bunks. Browse all beds or storage beds.

How tall should a nightstand be?

A simple rule: the top of the nightstand should be close to the top of your mattress, so you can reach a lamp without stretching. Measure from the floor to the top of the mattress, then pick a nightstand at about that height or a few inches taller.

Our nightstands run from 25 to 33½ inches tall, and the middle of the range is 29 inches. 105 of the 119 that list a height fall between 25 and 30 inches. For a taller mattress, look at the upper end of that range.

Widths run from 18 to 34 inches: narrow ones fit tight rooms, and wide three-drawer ones work like a small dresser. Many list useful options: 74 offer a USB/electrical port, 47 an LED nightlight underneath, and 45 a sliding top with a lock. Eleven mention a hidden or jewelry drawer. See all nightstands.

Dresser vs chest of drawers: what's the difference?

Merriam-Webster defines a chest of drawers as "a piece of furniture designed to contain a set of drawers (as for holding clothing)" and a dresser as "a chest of drawers or bureau with a mirror." In stores, the two words describe different shapes.

Dresser: wide and low

A dresser is built for a long wall. Ours are 36 to 72 inches wide, and most are 59 to 66 inches. Low dressers are 33 to 40 inches tall, a good height for a mirror above. High or tall dressers stand about 41 to 52 inches. All 126 of our dresser pages list a mirror, and 59 list soft-close slides. Browse dressers.

Chest of drawers: narrow and tall

A chest stacks its storage up instead of out. Most of our 60 chests of drawers are 34 to 42 inches wide and 48 to 56 inches tall, a good fit for a narrow wall or a room that already has a dresser.

Two variations are worth knowing. A lingerie chest is tall and slim: our 23 are 24 to 29 inches wide and 49 to 61 inches tall, with many small drawers. A gentleman's chest mixes drawers with a door, and 8 of our 10 list adjustable shelves behind it. And a tall dresser on legs has an old name: a highboy, "a tall chest of drawers with a legged base," per Merriam-Webster. See our chests of drawers.

Do you need an armoire or a wardrobe?

Merriam-Webster defines an armoire as "a usually tall cupboard or wardrobe." Add one when the closet is small. Our 50 armoires and wardrobes are 32 to 45 inches wide and 60 to 81 inches tall. Inside, 42 list adjustable shelves and 23 list a clothes rod, so check which you need: shelves for folded clothes, a rod for shirts and dresses.

Measure the ceiling and the path in, including stairs and doorways. Browse armoires and wardrobes.

What does a matching bedroom set measure?

It helps to see one line side by side. Here is the Bordeaux bedroom line, with the sizes from each product page.

The storage pieces share one depth, 23 inches, so they line up along a wall. The two dressers differ only in height, and the chest is 24 inches narrower but taller.

Should bedroom furniture match?

It doesn't have to. A set from one line looks tidy and the sizes work together, but mixed woods can look just as good if the colors relate. One easy approach: match the bed and nightstands, and let the dresser or chest differ a little.

Because most of our furniture is made to order, you can usually choose the wood, stain and hardware for each piece. Maple, oak, cherry and hickory are offered on nearly all of the 524 bedroom pieces we counted, and walnut on 273. That makes it easy to match a new chest to the bed you own, or to mix on purpose. Compare species in our wood guide and finishes in our guide to Amish stain colors.

How can you tell if bedroom furniture is solid wood?

Start with the drawers, because they get the hardest use. Pull one out and look at the corners: dovetails are a good sign. Our product pages list dovetailed drawers on 120 of 126 dressers, 113 of 123 nightstands and all 60 chests of drawers, and 148 bedroom pieces list ½-inch thick drawer bottoms.

Then read the listing. A clear one names the wood and the parts it covers; a vague one says "wood finish" without saying which parts. Our furniture is built from solid American hardwood, and some bed pages, like the Greenwich Sleigh Bed and the Mountain Lodge beds, list "solid hardwood side rails," the part that carries the mattress. For the full set of checks, read solid wood vs veneer vs MDF: how to tell.

Why should you anchor a dresser to the wall?

Tall bedroom furniture can tip if a child climbs it. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says its staff is aware of 234 deaths from clothing storage unit tip-overs from January 2000 through April 2022, including 199 children. A federal safety standard for these pieces took effect on September 1, 2023, under the STURDY law. It covers chests, chests of drawers, armoires, bureaus and dressers that are free-standing, at least 27 inches tall and at least 30 pounds, among other criteria.

The CPSC still recommends anchoring furniture, including dressers, securely to the wall. Its Anchor It! campaign says anchoring furniture with drawers, doors and shelves prevents tip-over injuries and deaths, so anchor tall chests and armoires too.

One bedroom line, four pieces

Where can you see Amish bedroom furniture in person?

Kings Amish Furniture is a family business that began in Raymond King's woodshop in 1986. You can see bedroom sets in our three showrooms: Intercourse, PA (13 Center St), Lancaster, PA (2460 Lincoln Hwy E, Rockvale) and Murrells Inlet, SC (12052 Hwy 17 Bypass N). We're open Monday to Friday 10 to 5 and Saturday 9 to 5, and closed Sunday. See store locations, or start with the full bedroom collection online.

Bring your room measurements, and read how custom ordering works before you visit.

Frequently asked questions

What is the standard height of a dresser?

There are two common heights. On our site, low dressers are 33 to 40 inches tall and high dressers about 41 to 52 inches.

How tall should a nightstand be next to a bed?

Aim for the top of the nightstand to be about level with the top of your mattress, or a few inches higher. Most of our nightstands are 25 to 30 inches tall. Measure your bed with the mattress on it before you choose.

What's the difference between a chest and a dresser?

A dresser is wide and low, usually with a mirror. A chest of drawers is narrow and tall. Most of our chests are 34 to 42 inches wide, while most of our dressers are 59 to 66 inches wide.

Do solid wood beds need a box spring?

It depends on the bed. Many of our beds use slats to support the mattress, and some storage beds with drawer units say no box spring is needed. Check the product page, and ask your mattress maker what support it calls for.

Sources

• Merriam-Webster: chest of drawers
• Merriam-Webster: dresser
• Merriam-Webster: highboy
• Merriam-Webster: armoire
• U.S. CPSC: final safety standard to prevent tip-overs of dressers and other clothing storage units
• U.S. CPSC: Clothing Storage Units business guidance
• Anchor It! (U.S. CPSC)
• Product pages on kingsamishfurniture.com (sizes and features as listed in November 2026)

How we made this guide: we counted the sizes and features listed on the beds, nightstands, dressers, chests and armoires on our site, read the dictionary entries and safety guidance above, and reviewed the questions customers bring to our team. Every fact was checked against our product pages.