Side tables are the pieces most people buy last, once the bigger decisions are made, and then wonder why they spent so little time on them. A side table sitting next to a sofa or beside a bed gets used more than almost any other piece of furniture in the room. It holds your drink, your book, your lamp, your phone at 11pm. Getting the height right matters. Getting the surface size right matters. Getting something that doesn’t look like it was an afterthought matters. We’ve gathered the ones that actually do the job well rather than just technically existing beside a sofa.