Standard Bedside Locker Size | Specs That Actually Fit

No single universal standard bedside locker size exists, but hospital and aged-care units commonly measure 450 × 500 × 820 mm.

For the full breakdown, see our best Metal Bedside Locker guide.

The sizing question behind the standard bedside locker size comes up most in hospital, aged-care, and medical furniture planning, where published specs cluster around 400–480 mm wide, 375–665 mm deep, and 810–840 mm high. Home furniture retail follows looser norms. The one figure repeated most often in trusted specifications: 450 mm wide × 500 mm deep × 820 mm high, which works out to about 17.7 × 19.7 × 32.3 inches.

That’s a useful anchor, but the real answer is messier. Different manufacturers publish different “standard” dimensions depending on the use case, and mixing up a bedside locker with a bedside cabinet, nightstand, or standard locker produces badly wrong fit calculations.

How Big Is A Standard Bedside Locker?

Lockers marketed for hospital and aged-care use typically run 400–480 mm wide, 375–665 mm deep, and 810–840 mm high, with 450 × 500 × 820 mm the most-repeated single spec. Published examples illustrate the spread rather than a hard rule.

• 450 × 500 × 820 mm — the widely cited hospital/aged-care spec (about 17.7 × 19.7 × 32.3 in)
• 465 × 525 × 840 mm — another common published hospital size
• 405 mm square × 810 mm high — a compact locker spec
• 16 × 16 × 32 inches — a deluxe bedside locker overall size
• 480 × 665 × 1237 mm — a larger medical cabinet with separate drawer internals

Coda Care’s product brochure for hospital and aged-care lockers lists its standard dimensions as 450 mm wide, 500 mm deep, and 820 mm high. Dalcross offers a basic 3-drawer bedside locker whose overall footprint sits in the same general range. These are manufacturer specs, not a governing standard.

One relevant standard does exist: BSI’s BS 1765-1:1990, titled “Hospital bedside lockers. Specification for general purpose bedside lockers for patients.” The title confirms a patient-use specification exists, but the standard’s full dimensional text isn’t public, so treating any single number as “the” standard overstates the case.

What About Bedside Cabinets And Nightstands?

Home bedside cabinets and nightstands vary far more than hospital lockers, with retail guides suggesting 55–72 cm high, 35–60 cm wide, and 30–45 cm deep. That works out to roughly 21.7–28.3 inches high, 13.8–23.6 inches wide, and 11.8–17.7 inches deep.

For home settings, one bedside-table guide recommends matching height to the mattress comfort zone, with 24–28 inches ideal and about 25 inches treated as the “standard” bedside table height. The wider spread reflects bedroom furniture being chosen against bed height and room clearance rather than a fixed spec.

The trap: calling a nightstand a “bedside locker” or a “standard locker” in the same search. A standard steel locker, for instance, runs 1700–1850 mm tall — double a bedside locker’s height. Hospital lockers, home nightstands, and tall lockers are different products with different footprints.

How Much Space Does A Bedside Locker Need?

Leave roughly 1–2 inches of clearance around a bedside locker so drawers and doors open freely and you can reach items without shifting furniture. That guidance comes from buying guides for bedside lockers and applies to most placements.

For clinical settings, check locker dimensions against facility requirements and patient-access needs before ordering. Confirm drawer clearances and overall footprint separately — internal drawer dimensions differ materially from the unit’s outside measurements, and overestimating storage capacity is a common mistake. For home use, verify the locker height doesn’t obstruct bed access and the depth leaves walking room beside the bed.

If you’re comparing metal options for a home or light-care setup, our tested roundup of the best metal bedside lockers breaks down real dimensions and build quality side by side.

Bedside Locker Sizes At A Glance

Unit context matters. The same nominal dimensions in millimeters versus inches change the footprint dramatically, and a hospital locker spec won’t match a home nightstand norm. When in doubt, measure the actual space, confirm whether the listed size is overall or internal, and pick the spec that fits the room rather than the label.