British beds come in five standard sizes. A single is 90cm by 190cm, or 3ft by 6ft 3in. A small double, sometimes called a three quarter, is 120cm by 190cm, or 4ft by 6ft 3in. A standard double is 135cm by 190cm, or 4ft 6in by 6ft 3in. A king size is 150cm by 200cm, or 5ft by 6ft 6in. A super king is 180cm by 200cm, or 6ft by 6ft 6in.
Two things are worth noticing straight away. The first three sizes share the same 190cm length, and only the king and super king step up to 200cm. And every one of those figures describes the mattress, not the bed. Once a frame is fitted, the outer footprint grows by anything from a few centimetres to 10cm on each side.
Below the single sit the sizes made for children. A cot bed mattress is commonly 140cm by 70cm, and a toddler bed uses the same. A short single, sometimes called a small single, is 75cm by 190cm and is useful in a narrow box room where a standard 90cm single will not leave a walking route.
The usual progression in a UK family home runs cot bed, then single, then double when the room allows. Children rarely need anything wider than a single, and the floor space saved is worth more to them than sleeping width, since it becomes play or desk space. Comparing the frame footprints across a modern childrens beds UK sale range is more useful than comparing mattress sizes at this stage, because the frame is what takes the room.
Super king is the largest standard British size. Above it, everything is non standard.
Emperor beds are usually 200cm by 200cm, occasionally 202cm by 200cm, and are produced by specialist makers. Caesar and Alaskan king sizes are wider still and are made to order. They give real space, but bedding choice narrows sharply, replacement mattresses are harder to source, and a 200cm wide mattress will not travel up most British staircases in one piece.
Extra long mattresses are the other route upwards, adding length rather than width. For a sleeper over about 6ft 3in, every standard UK size is short, and extra length solves the problem where extra width does not.
International sizing is where most confusion begins, particularly around the word queen.
An American queen is 152cm by 203cm, which is very close to a UK king size at 150cm by 200cm. An American king is 193cm by 203cm, wider and shorter than a UK super king. An American full, often called a double, is 137cm by 190cm, marginally wider than a UK double. European sizes vary by country, with 160cm by 200cm and 180cm by 200cm both common.
The UK does not use queen sizing at all, so a British listing that mentions it is either imported or loosely worded. Always look for the centimetre measurements. And never mix bedding standards: a fitted sheet cut for an American queen will work loose on a UK king, and duvets cut abroad leave too little overhang.
The size that suits you is usually decided by the room, not by the bed.
As a working guide, a single suits a room from about 2m by 2.6m. A double needs about 2.7m by 3m to be comfortable. A king size wants around 3m by 3.4m. A super king is at home in 3.6m by 3.6m or larger.
Clearance is what makes those figures real. Allow 60cm of clear walking space along each side of the bed you use, 75cm where the route passes a wardrobe or drawer front, and 90cm to 100cm at the foot if a door opens there. Check the bedroom door swing against the bed corner. Then mark the whole footprint on the floor with masking tape, including the headboard depth, and live with it for a day before ordering. Floor plans flatter rooms; tape tells the truth.
The base you choose affects the footprint as much as the size you choose.
A divan base is almost exactly the mattress dimension, which makes it the most space efficient option and a sensible answer in a tight room. Drawers inside the base recover storage that small bedrooms need.
A frame adds width and length but gives the room its character. Wooden designs are generally the most economical with space, and the range of wooden beds UK sale styles runs from light Scandinavian shapes to heavier traditional forms. Upholstered and leather frames add the most bulk and the most presence, and the choices across a modern fabric beds UK collection show how much a tall padded headboard changes the feel of a bedroom.
Storage bases sit in the same footprint as a standard base while using the full area underneath, which on a double or larger is a considerable volume. In a room too small for a wardrobe, that is often the deciding factor rather than a bonus.
Some beds solve problems that size alone cannot.
Bunk beds put two single sleeping places in the footprint of one, which is why they work so well in shared children’s rooms. Sofa beds give a double sleeping surface in a room that has to be a living space for most of the year. Zip and link bases join two 90cm mattresses into a 180cm super king surface, allowing different firmness for each sleeper and much easier delivery access. Guest beds and folding frames store flat when not needed.
Each of these trades something for the space it saves, usually a slightly thinner mattress or a mechanism to operate. In a home where a room has more than one job to do, that trade is often worth making.
Access is the constraint people discover last and should check first. The mattress travels as one piece, and British staircases were not designed around a 150cm or 180cm object.
Measure the narrowest point of the route from the front door to the bedroom, which is usually a half landing turn rather than a doorway, and measure the diagonal at that turn. Standard internal doors are often 76cm, so the mattress goes through on its side. Pocket sprung mattresses barely flex, so the space has to exist. A rolled mattress arrives compressed and expands in the room, which removes the problem entirely and is the single most useful option for older UK properties. Frames arrive flat packed, and divan bases usually split in half.
Bedding follows the mattress size, and each standard has its own duvet dimensions. A single duvet is generally 135cm by 200cm. A double duvet is 200cm by 200cm. A king duvet is 225cm by 220cm. A super king duvet is 260cm by 220cm.
Fitted sheets need to match the mattress depth as well as the width and length, and depth is the measurement most often missed. It ranges from about 18cm to over 30cm, and a standard sheet on a deep mattress will keep working loose at the corners.
Work in this order and the decision becomes simple. Measure the room, mark the footprint, check the access route, then choose the size. After that, pick the base type for the storage you need and the frame style for the look you want. Buy the mattress to the size of the base and the bedding to the size of the mattress, all to the same national standard.
Furniture in Fashion lists every size across frames, divans and storage bases with both metric and imperial dimensions, which makes cross checking against an older floor plan straightforward. If you would rather plan the room as a whole, matching pieces from a bedroom furniture sets UK sale collection keep the proportions consistent, and the full modern beds UK range lets you compare footprints across sizes before anything is ordered.
Single at 90cm by 190cm, small double at 120cm by 190cm, double at 135cm by 190cm, king at 150cm by 200cm and super king at 180cm by 200cm.
Single, small double and double are all 190cm long. King and super king are both 200cm.
No. Queen is not a British standard. The nearest UK equivalent to an American queen is the king size at 150cm by 200cm.
A standard single at 90cm wide is the usual minimum. A short single at 75cm exists for very narrow rooms but is best kept for children or occasional use.
Measure the room, then mark the external footprint of the bed on the floor with tape and allow 60cm of walking space on each side you use. If the taped outline makes the room awkward to move through, drop down a size.
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