A superking bed in the UK is 180cm wide, which is 6ft, and 200cm long, which is 6ft 6in. The width is the figure that defines the size and the reason people choose it: at 180cm, two adults each have 90cm of sleeping space, the same width as a standard single bed. That is 15cm more each than a king and 22.5cm more each than a double.
As with every bed size, 180cm describes the mattress. The frame will be wider, typically by 5cm to 15cm depending on the design, and an upholstered frame with a padded surround can add more than that. If the bed has to fit between two fixed points, such as a chimney breast and a wardrobe, work from the external frame width rather than the mattress width.
The step up from king to superking is 30cm across the bed, and it changes how a shared bed works. Two people can turn over without disturbing each other, and the middle of the bed stops being contested ground. For couples where one person sleeps lightly or works shifts, that separation is the main benefit rather than any sense of luxury.
It also makes a difference for taller sleepers, though for a different reason. Superking and king share the same 200cm length in the UK, so the extra room is entirely sideways. Anyone over about six feet three will want to check the length rather than the width, since 200cm is the standard maximum in most ranges.
Families notice the width too. A superking absorbs an early morning visit from a child or a dog without anyone ending up on the edge, which is a practical consideration rather than a small one.
A superking needs a genuinely large room to work. Allow the 180cm mattress width plus roughly 60cm of walking space on each side, and you are already at around 3m of usable wall to wall width before allowing for frame overhang. Add a bedside cabinet each side and 3.2m to 3.5m is a realistic minimum.
On length, the 200cm mattress plus a metre of clear floor at the foot gives you 3m, and that metre matters if there is a wardrobe or chest of drawers along that wall. Drawer fronts and wardrobe doors need room to open fully, and doors on a fitted wardrobe usually need 60cm to 70cm of clearance.
A useful check before ordering: mark the footprint on the floor with masking tape, including the frame overhang, then live with it for a day. Walk the route from the door to the window, open the wardrobe, and see whether the room still functions. Most people who regret a superking regret it because of circulation space rather than the bed itself.
If storage is tight once the bed is in, height is the answer. A tall design from our modern wardrobes UK sale range holds more in the same floor area than a wide low one, which leaves the walking space around the bed intact.
Access is the practical issue people forget. A 180cm mattress cannot be carried flat up a standard staircase with a turn, and pocket sprung mattresses of that size are heavy and only flex a little. Measure your narrowest point: the front door, the hallway width, the stair turn and the bedroom door.
There are two common solutions. Rolled or vacuum packed mattresses arrive compressed and expand in the room, which removes the access problem entirely. Alternatively, a divan base in two halves, or a frame that assembles from flat parts, gets through the house in pieces. Our modern super king size wooden beds UK are supplied for assembly in the room for exactly this reason, and the headboard usually bolts on last.
A wide mattress supports two people whose weights may differ considerably, and that makes the internal construction more important than it is on a single. Pocket sprung mattresses respond independently across their width, so one person moving has less effect on the other. Open coil designs connect the springs together, which transmits movement more readily.
Firmness is worth thinking about jointly rather than individually. If preferences differ sharply, a medium firm pocket sprung mattress is usually the sensible middle ground, and a topper on one side can adjust the feel without changing the whole mattress. Zip and link mattresses, made as two halves that fasten together, are another option and solve the access problem at the same time.
Depth affects the finished height of the bed. Our mattresses UK sale listings state depth for each model, and on a superking a deep mattress on a tall base can put the sleeping surface higher than expected in a room with a low sill or sloping ceiling.
Superking bedding is widely available in the UK but not as universally stocked as king or double, so it pays to buy duvet covers and fitted sheets from ranges that carry the size as standard. A superking duvet measures around 260cm by 220cm, and using a king duvet on a superking bed leaves both sleepers pulling at the edges.
Pillows matter more at this width. Two standard pillows side by side measure roughly 150cm, which leaves a gap against a 180cm headboard. Three standard pillows, or two king pillows, fill the width properly and stop the bed looking underdressed.
Throws need to be larger too. Where a king takes a 220cm wide throw for full coverage, a superking wants 250cm or more to keep the drape even on both sides.
At 180cm wide, the frame is the largest object in the room and it sets the tone. Upholstered frames soften the visual weight, and a tall buttoned or panelled headboard gives the bed the vertical presence to match its width. Our modern super king size fabric beds UK sale range covers both restrained low profile designs and taller statement headboards.
Wooden frames read as more structural and suit rooms with strong architectural features. Metal frames are the lightest visually, which can help if the room is large in floor area but modest in ceiling height. High gloss finishes reflect light and work well in rooms with limited natural light, though they show marks more readily.
Whatever the style, symmetry helps a bed this wide sit comfortably in a room. Matching bedside cabinets and lamps either side give the eye something ordered to read, and a coordinated set from our modern bedroom furniture sets UK range removes the guesswork of matching finishes across several pieces.
We stock superking frames in fabric, leather, wood, metal and high gloss, along with mattresses, wardrobes and bedside furniture designed to sit alongside them. At Furniture in Fashion every listing gives the external frame measurements, which is the number that matters when a bed this size has to fit a real room. We offer free delivery to most UK mainland postcodes, and Returns are available up to 30 days.
A superking claims wall space that other furniture would otherwise have used, and the honest way to plan is to accept that and adjust. In a room of 3.5m width, a 180cm bed with two cabinets leaves little room for a chest of drawers on the same wall, so storage has to move to the wall behind the door or go vertical.
Two adjustments usually solve it. The first is a single bedside cabinet rather than a pair, placed on the side that gets used most, with a wall mounted shelf or a slim pedestal on the other side. The second is losing the footboard. A frame with no footboard reads as shorter, opens the walkway at the end of the bed and makes the extra width feel deliberate rather than crowded.
Mirrors help with the same problem visually. A tall mirror on the wall opposite the window pushes light back across the width of the bed and stops a large frame from dominating the room. That is a finishing detail rather than a structural one, but in a room where the bed takes 180cm of the floor it does real work.
Making the bed becomes a two sided job. At 180cm across, you cannot reach the far edge from one side, so allow enough clearance on both sides for that rather than treating one side as ornamental. This is the practical reason a superking pushed against a side wall rarely works, even where the measurements technically allow it.
Mattress turning needs planning too. A 180cm mattress is heavy and awkward, and rotating it end to end in a room with 60cm clearance requires the door to be open and the bedside cabinets moved. Many superking mattresses are single sided and only need rotating rather than flipping, which is worth checking before you buy if the room is tight.
Airflow matters more on a wide bed than a narrow one, because the centre of the mattress sits further from any edge. A slatted base rather than a solid platform lets the middle of the mattress breathe, and that reduces the trapped warmth that some couples notice in the centre of a large bed.
No. A superking is 180cm by 200cm. Emperor beds are larger again, commonly around 200cm by 200cm, and they are a specialist size with limited bedding availability in the UK.
30cm wider. A king is 150cm across and a superking is 180cm, so each person gains 15cm. The length is the same at 200cm.
It will cover the bed but hang unevenly and drag on the floor, and a superking fitted sheet will not stay taut on a king mattress. Buy bedding to match the mattress size.
As a working minimum, around 3.2m by 3m, which allows access on both sides and room at the foot of the bed. It can be squeezed into less if one side sits against a wall, though changing bedding becomes awkward.
Often yes, but measure the stair turn and doorways first. Rolled mattresses and zip and link designs are the reliable options where access is tight, since a one piece sprung mattress at 180cm wide has very little flex.
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