What kind of a night stand do I need for my bed type?
The general idea is to match up the height of the night stand with the bed itself. A platform bed would need a much shorter night stand than a regular or a high rise bed. Choose carefully and make sure you double check your measurements. Fitting in the night stand in the overall theme of the bedroom is a great idea and might be hard without a whole set of a bed frame + a night stand.

How big should my night stand be and where should I put it?
Assuming you have a bed in the middle of your bedroom, you should put a night stand at each side of the bed. For people whose beds are adjusted against the wall at two points, a bigger night stand is a better alternative than two stands. Make sure you have a night stand big enough for everything you need because it will be counterproductive to just stock pile everything on top of it at night.

Materials and styles are exactly like the drawer, as nightstands are built with the same concept. Rarely do night stands come in something other than wood, and for other cases (metal, plastic) they can look great as well as you furnish your room right for them. Like dressers, night stands can add a lot to a bed set, but can also be a negative.