How wide art above a bed should be, how high to hang it over the headboard, and which house sizes suit a double, a king and a super king.
The art above a bed is the first thing seen from the door, and the one picture in the house that ought to be calm. The right size holds the room together. Too small, and it is lost above the headboard.
Measure the bed.
Art above a bed should cover about two thirds of the bed’s width. Measure the headboard if it is wider than the mattress; otherwise use the standard widths. In the UK a double is 135 cm wide, a king 150 cm and a super king 180 cm.
Two thirds of those gives about 90 cm over a double, 100 cm over a king and 120 cm over a super king. As with a sofa, a pair counts from the outer edge of one frame to the outer edge of the other.
The sizes that fit.
The house prints every photograph in six sizes, long edge first: Collectors, 30 × 20 cm. Keepsake, 46 × 30 cm. Study, 61 × 41 cm. Signature, 76 × 51 cm. Gallery, 91 × 61 cm. Grand, 107 × 71 cm. Frame and mount add to every edge.
Over a double, a landscape Gallery at 91 cm is the natural choice. Over a king, the same Gallery once framed, or a landscape Grand for more presence. Over a super king, a landscape Grand, or a pair of portrait Signatures, each 51 cm wide, with a hand’s width between them.
How high to hang it.
Leave 15 to 25 cm between the top of the headboard and the bottom of the frame. Without a headboard, leave 25 to 30 cm above the top of the pillows, so that sitting up to read never brings a head against the frame.
Hang a wide frame from two hooks rather than one; it stays level when the bed is pushed back against the wall. Every framed piece from the house arrives with D-rings and braided wire fitted, behind anti-reflective acrylic glazing, which is lighter than glass.
What to hang over a bed.
Calm subjects: water, mist, snow, the last light of the day. Last Light follows a band of gold mist across dark hills. Room to Fly puts two small canopies above a line of snowy summits under a wide blue sky. Still Water is pink light on open water. Save the crowded beaches and the city at night for rooms you are awake in.
One photograph is calmer than three. If the wall is wide, choose one larger picture before reaching for a set. For the arithmetic of a sofa wall, see what size art goes above a sofa.
Calm landscapes.
Mist, still water and long light, printed to order in six sizes and framed by hand.
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Filed 14 October 2026, under Living with art.
