A UK king size bed is 5ft wide by 6ft 6in long. That converts to 150cm by 200cm, or 60in by 78in. The imperial figures are the older way of describing British bed sizes and they are still the way most people talk about them, which is why a king size is often simply called a 5ft bed in the trade.
Those numbers describe the mattress. The bed itself takes up more room. Once a frame is around the mattress, expect an overall footprint closer to 5ft 3in to 5ft 7in wide, and 6ft 9in to 7ft 3in long depending on the headboard depth and whether the design has a footboard. If you are planning a room in feet, work with the outer figures rather than the mattress ones.
British bed sizes were set out in feet long before metric measurement arrived, and the trade names stuck. A single is a 3ft bed, a small double is 4ft, a standard double is 4ft 6in, a king is 5ft and a super king is 6ft. Manufacturing moved to centimetres, so product pages list 90cm, 120cm, 135cm, 150cm and 180cm respectively.
The conversions are not always exact. A UK double is 135cm, which is 4ft 5in rather than a clean 4ft 6in, so the traditional name rounds up slightly. King size is one of the tidier ones: 150cm is 59in, which rounds to 5ft closely enough that the two are used interchangeably without causing problems.
The 6ft 6in length is the part of the king size specification that gets overlooked, and for tall sleepers it matters more than the width. A UK double is 190cm, which is 6ft 3in. Stepping up to a king adds 10cm, taking the length to 6ft 6in.
As a rule, a mattress should be at least 10cm longer than the tallest person using it, so that heels and pillows are not competing for the same space. That puts a 6ft 3in double at the limit for someone around 5ft 11in, and makes a king size the sensible minimum for anyone approaching 6ft. Anyone over about 6ft 3in will find every standard British size short, and an extra long mattress is a better answer than adding width. Comparing lengths across a modern king size wooden beds UK sale range is worth doing carefully, since some frames add several inches of internal length that the mattress figure does not reveal.
Plenty of UK homes are still measured and described in feet, particularly older properties and estate agent floor plans, so it helps to do the room maths in the same units.
Allow 2ft of clear walking space along any side of the bed you use, and closer to 2ft 6in where the route passes a wardrobe or a chest of drawers. Leave 3ft at the foot if a wardrobe door opens there.
Take a bedroom measuring 10ft by 11ft, which is a common size in British houses. A king size bed with a 5ft 6in outer width leaves 4ft 6in of remaining width, or about 2ft 3in each side. That works comfortably. Add bedside cabinets of 1ft 6in each and the walking route is still viable, though only just, so slim cabinets are the right call. In a 9ft wide room the same bed leaves under 2ft each side, which is tight but usable if only one side is a main route.
The reliable test is masking tape. Mark 5ft 6in by 7ft on the floor and walk the room for a day. It reveals problems that arithmetic hides, particularly around door swings and radiators.
Bed height is rarely quoted in the same breath as width and length, yet it changes how a room feels and how easy the bed is to use. Low platform frames put the sleeping surface at around 1ft 6in from the floor. Standard frames sit at about 2ft. Divans with a deep mattress can reach 2ft 4in or more.
A useful guide is that the sleeping surface should sit at roughly the height of your knee when standing, so your feet reach the floor comfortably when you sit on the edge. Higher beds suit anyone who finds getting up from a low seat difficult. Lower frames make a small room feel taller and more open, because more wall is visible above the bed.
Height also affects storage. A taller base gives usable clearance underneath for boxes, while a low platform gives none, and that is worth weighing up in a bedroom short of cupboard space.
The mattress has to travel as one piece, and a 5ft by 6ft 6in object does not negotiate a Victorian staircase easily. Standard internal doorways are often 2ft 6in wide, so the mattress goes through on its side and the doorway is rarely the problem. The obstacle is usually a half landing turn or a low ceiling over the stairs.
Measure the narrowest point of the route, then measure the diagonal at the tightest turn. Pocket sprung mattresses flex very little, so they need the space to exist. Rolled mattresses are compressed and boxed for delivery, which removes the problem entirely, so start there if your access is difficult. Frames arrive flat packed and are seldom an issue, and divan bases usually split into two halves.
Bedding for a 5ft bed is sold as UK king size and cut for the 150cm by 200cm mattress. A king duvet is generally 225cm by 220cm, which in feet is roughly 7ft 5in by 7ft 3in, giving the overhang needed to stop the cover pulling off one side.
Mattress depth is a separate measurement and the one most often forgotten. Depths run from about 7in for a basic foam mattress to 14in for a pocket sprung model with a pillow top, so check the fitted sheet depth as well as the width and length. Bedding described as king from outside the UK will not fit, because American and European king sizing use different dimensions altogether.
Once the footprint is settled in feet, the frame style follows naturally. In a room with width to spare, an upholstered or leather design with a tall headboard gives the bed presence and finishes the wall properly, and it is worth seeing how much difference that makes across a king size leather beds UK sale collection. In a tighter room, a slim wooden or metal frame keeps the outer footprint close to 5ft and leaves the floor feeling open.
If storage is the priority, a lifting base uses the full area under the mattress, which on a king size is nearly 33 square feet of usable volume. That is more than most chests of drawers hold, and the designs across an king size ottoman beds UK sale range fit in the same footprint as a standard base. For the rest of the room, slim bedside cabinets and a tall narrow chest keep the walking routes clear, and matching pieces from a bedroom furniture sets UK collection keep the proportions consistent in a room already dominated by a 5ft bed. Furniture in Fashion lists dimensions in both units, which makes cross checking against an older floor plan straightforward.
Five feet wide by six feet six inches long, which is 150cm by 200cm.
A king size is the 5ft size. The 6ft bed in British terms is a super king, at 180cm wide.
Six feet six inches, or 200cm. That is 10cm longer than a UK double, which is 6ft 3in.
Allow 2ft of walking space on each side you use, and 2ft 6in where the route passes a wardrobe or drawer front. Three feet at the foot is sensible if a door opens there.
Yes, for most couples. Each sleeper has 2ft 6in of width. Light sleepers who are easily disturbed may prefer a super king at 6ft.
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