A nightstand is like a loyal spouse — it sleeps next to you all night long and never mentions your snoring —but a lot easier to change.

When you do, instead of worrying about having your nightstand match your bed, how about simply requiring that it match your bedtime style? Are you a late-night bill payer? A survivor of too many midnight book-stack collapses? Or just stuck with too little storage space or a cramped bedroom?

Let yourself loose in your house — that great free-furniture store — and you’ll find all sorts of things that can hold up the lamp and the alarm clock while serving more of your nightly needs. Like keeping warm when your other bedside companion once again hogs all the covers. Keep him and trade your traditional nightstand for a chest of drawers with a blanket tucked inside. Problem solved.