Art Over a Bed: Size, Height and Keeping It Secure

The wall above the bed is the first thing you see when you walk into a bedroom. It is the natural place for art. It is also a place where people worry, with some reason, about hanging something heavy over their heads. This guide covers both: how to make it look right and how to make it safe.

How wide should it be?

The art, or the group of art, should be about two-thirds to three-quarters as wide as the bed or headboard. Narrower than that looks lost. Wider than the bed looks top-heavy.

Our canvases and posters are portrait, taller than they are wide. So the width above a bed usually comes from a pair or a row. There are three ways to reach it.

• Two pieces side by side. Two 20 × 30 or 24 × 36 canvases, 3 to 4 inches apart, make a shape 43 to 52 inches wide. That suits a queen.
• Three in a row. Three 16 × 24 or 18 × 24 pieces, evenly spaced, make 54 to 62 inches. Good above a king.
• One piece. A single 24 × 36 or 30 × 40 canvas suits a twin bed. For one wide piece above a larger bed, use a tapestry. Ours come in landscape as well as portrait: 60 × 50 or 80 × 68 inches.

See how to measure a wall for art for the sums.

How high?

The usual rule, centre at 57 inches from the floor, doesn't apply above a bed. The art relates to the headboard.

• With a headboard: the bottom of the art sits 6 to 10 inches above the top of the headboard.
• Without a headboard: the bottom of the art sits about 24 to 30 inches above the top of the mattress. That leaves room for pillows and for sitting up.
• Check it sitting up. Sit against the wall as you would to read. Your head should not touch the frame.
• Centre it on the bed, not on the wall. If the bed is off-centre, the art follows the bed.

A tall headboard may leave little wall above it. In that case, choose smaller pieces in a row, or move the art to another wall.

Is it safe?

It can be, if you choose the right thing and fix it properly. The risks are a heavy object, glass, and a fixing that fails.

Choose something light

• A tapestry is the safest choice of all. It is fabric and weighs very little. If it comes down, nothing happens.
• A stretched canvas is the next best. It is light for its size, with a hollow wooden frame and no glass.
• A poster hung without a frame weighs almost nothing.
• A framed print is heavier and has a cover over the print. It is fine if it is fixed well. Keep to smaller sizes above a bed, or put large framed pieces on another wall.

Avoid heavy mirrors, large glazed frames and anything hung on a single small nail.

Fix it properly

• Use two fixing points for anything wider than about 24 inches. Two hooks stop the piece tilting and share the load.
• Use the right fixing for the wall. A screw into a wall stud is best. In plasterboard with no stud, use a wall anchor rated for well above the weight of the piece.
• Check the rating on hooks and adhesive strips. Use more than you think you need. Adhesive strips can fail in warm or humid rooms and on textured paint.
• Check the hardware on the piece itself is tight before you hang it.
• Add rubber bumpers to the bottom corners so the piece sits flat and doesn't swing. Our canvases come with them.
• Test it. Once it is up, press gently on the frame and lift the bottom edge slightly. It should not move on its hooks.

If you live in an area with earthquakes, use closed hooks or security fixings that lock the piece to the wall, or choose a tapestry.

For heavy pieces, a professional or a competent friend with a stud finder is worth it.

What subject suits the wall above a bed?

You don't look at this wall when you are in bed. You look at it when you walk in. It sets the mood of the room, so choose something calm.

• Cool, dark and soft. Blues, violets and deep greens. Night skies, mist, water.
• Low contrast. Gentle changes of tone, without hard edges.
• Nothing that stares. A large face or a pair of eyes above the bed bothers some people.

Pieces of ours that suit it: Blue Mountain Fog, Hand of the Stars, Light Nebula, Starlight City and Lost Forest Magic Portal. Keep the loud, neon pieces for the wall you face from the desk. See bedroom wall art that still lets you wind down.

A tapestry as a headboard

If you have no headboard, a tapestry can do the job. Hang it so that the bottom edge falls just behind the mattress, and it frames the bed.

• Twin or full bed: 50 × 60 inches.
• Queen: 68 × 80 inches.
• King: 88 × 104 inches.

See a tapestry as a headboard, canopy or room divider and how to hang a tapestry without nails.

Lighting

• Bedside lamps light the art from below and to the sides. Warm bulbs suit a bedroom.
• Wall lights either side of the art frame it well. Measure so that the art and the lights don't crowd each other.
• An LED strip behind the headboard or a canvas gives a soft glow. Keep it dim and warm in the evening. See how to light wall art with LED strips.

Common mistakes

• Too small. One 16 × 20 above a king bed.
• Too high. The art floats near the ceiling, with a wide gap above the headboard.
• Centred on the wall when the bed is not.
• One nail for a wide piece.
• Too busy. A crowded gallery wall above the bed can feel restless.
• Above a radiator or under a vent. Heat and moving air are hard on prints.

If you would rather not hang anything there

That is a reasonable choice. Put the art on the wall opposite the bed, where you will see it from the pillow, or on a side wall. Lean a canvas on a dresser. A calm piece on the facing wall may do more for you than one behind your head.

Browse the canvas art and tapestries collections, and see the canvas size guide.