Bed Sizes and How Much Space You Need Around a Bed
A queen in New York, a king in London and a 160 in Berlin are three different beds. Here are the sizes, and the room you need around them.
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Quick answer: Leave at least 60 cm (24 in) beside each side of the bed you use and at the foot, and 75 to 90 cm (30 to 35 in) if you can. In front of a wardrobe or a chest of drawers, leave room for the doors or drawers to open and for you to stand: around 90 cm (35 in).
US mattress sizes
| Name | Inches | Centimetres |
|---|---|---|
| Twin | 38 × 75 in | 97 × 191 cm |
| Twin XL | 38 × 80 in | 97 × 203 cm |
| Full (double) | 54 × 75 in | 137 × 191 cm |
| Queen | 60 × 80 in | 152 × 203 cm |
| King | 76 × 80 in | 193 × 203 cm |
| California king | 72 × 84 in | 183 × 213 cm |
UK mattress sizes
| Name | Centimetres | Inches |
|---|---|---|
| Single | 90 × 190 cm | 35 × 75 in |
| Small double | 120 × 190 cm | 47 × 75 in |
| Double | 135 × 190 cm | 53 × 75 in |
| King | 150 × 200 cm | 59 × 79 in |
| Super king | 180 × 200 cm | 71 × 79 in |
European mattress sizes
Most of continental Europe names a bed by its width in centimetres, almost always 200 cm long.
| Size | Centimetres | Inches |
|---|---|---|
| 90 | 90 × 200 cm | 35 × 79 in |
| 140 | 140 × 200 cm | 55 × 79 in |
| 160 | 160 × 200 cm | 63 × 79 in |
| 180 | 180 × 200 cm | 71 × 79 in |
How much space around the bed
- The sides you get in from: 60 cm (24 in) at least, 75 to 90 cm (30 to 35 in) to move comfortably.
- The foot: 60 cm (24 in) to walk past. More if a wardrobe or a dresser faces it.
- Against a wall: pushing one side to the wall saves a walkway in a small room, but whoever sleeps there climbs over, and making the bed gets harder.
- Nightstands: most are 40 to 60 cm (16 to 24 in) wide. Two of them add up fast next to a wide bed.
- Wardrobes and drawers: leave space for doors and drawers to open fully, plus room to stand in front of them.
Check it in the room
A bed is the biggest thing in most bedrooms, so it decides everything else. In Scooch, draw the bedroom, add a bed at the size you are buying, and the nightstands and wardrobe around it. Wardrobe doors and drawers can show the space they need to open, so you can see whether they hit the bed.
To decide which wall the bed goes on in the first place, how to lay out furniture in a room works through it in order, starting with the doors, windows and switches the bed must not block.
If a small child could end up on the bed, a narrow gap between the mattress and the wall is an entrapment hazard, and the space between a bed and the wall covers why it should be no gap or a full walkway.
Choosing an app to plan the bedroom? See how Scooch compares with Keyplan 3D Lite and Home Planner AI, or all 9 room planner apps compared.