Within the sizing system both names come from, the king is bigger. An American king measures around 193cm by 203cm and a queen 152cm by 203cm, so the king is about 41cm wider.
In Britain the comparison changes, because our king is a different size altogether. A UK king is 150cm by 200cm, marginally smaller than a queen in both directions. Anyone comparing a British king with a queen should expect them to feel the same, while anyone comparing an American king with a queen will find a substantial difference.
Put simply: king beats queen in the same system, but a British king and a queen are near twins.
Britain uses single, small double, double, king and super king, running from 90cm through to 180cm in width. The American range uses twin, full, queen, king and California king, running from about 97cm to 193cm. The names never converted between the two, which is why a queen has no official British measurement and a British super king has no exact American match.
The most useful pairing to remember is that a British king sits alongside an American queen, and a British super king sits closest to an American king. Once you hold those two pairs in mind, most listings become easy to read.
Ignore the name and answer three questions instead.
First, how many people sleep in the bed and how much do they move? Width per sleeper is the figure that matters. A double gives about 67cm each, a queen or British king about 75cm each, and a super king about 90cm each. If you are frequently woken by movement, increase the width rather than changing the mattress.
Second, how tall is the tallest sleeper? A bed should be roughly 15cm longer than that person. British singles, small doubles and doubles are all 190cm long, which becomes short above about 175cm in height. Kings and super kings are 200cm.
Third, what does the room allow? This is the question that overrules the other two, and it is worth doing properly with a tape measure rather than by eye.
Take the mattress width and add 8cm to 15cm for the frame. Add 6cm to 15cm at the head for a headboard. That gives you the footprint to plan around: roughly 165cm by 215cm for a queen or British king, and 195cm by 215cm for a super king.
Now add clearance. Sixty centimetres is the minimum usable walking width, and 70cm to 75cm is what you want where a bedside drawer or a wardrobe door needs to open. Seventy centimetres at the foot of the bed makes changing the bedding straightforward.
Mark the whole thing on the floor with masking tape and live with it for a day. It is the single most reliable way to know whether a size is right, and it costs nothing. If the tape shows you shuffling sideways past a chest of drawers, drop a size and put the space back into the room.
Do not forget the delivery route. Doorways, stair turns and low landing ceilings defeat more large beds than room size does. Frames that arrive in sections handle tight access easily, and split divan bases exist for the same reason. Many of our modern fabric beds UK sale arrive flat packed for exactly this situation.
A double at 135cm is workable for two adults who sleep fairly still, and it leaves a medium bedroom feeling open. It is the size that suits most British second bedrooms without argument.
A queen or British king at around 150cm is the size most couples notice as an improvement. Shoulders no longer meet in the middle, one person can read while the other sleeps, and a child arriving at six in the morning does not displace anyone.
A super king at 180cm is a different experience again, effectively a single bed each. The cost is floor space and slightly narrower bedding choice, and it is only sensible in a genuinely large room.
Finish plays into the decision more than people expect. Upholstered frames soften a room and take the visual weight out of a wide bed. Leather has a cleaner outline that suits minimal rooms, and our modern leather beds UK range covers the larger sizes if you prefer that look. Where a bedroom doubles as a snug, modern TV beds UK sale integrate the screen into the footboard, which removes the need for a separate unit and keeps the floor clear.
One practical argument favours staying inside British sizing: bedding. UK king bedding is widely stocked, super king is well supplied, and neither will become difficult to replace. Queen and American king bedding are not standard British sizes, so restocking sheets over the years takes more effort.
Whatever you choose, buy bedding to the mattress measurement and check the fitted sheet pocket depth against the mattress depth. A pocket shallower than the mattress will lift at the corners every night, which is the most common bedding complaint we hear.
Mattress and base must agree exactly as well. A couple of centimetres of mismatch allows the mattress to creep within the frame and leaves its edges unsupported, which shows as uneven wear along the sides within a few years.
Once the bed size is settled, keep the surrounding furniture in proportion. A pair of slim matching cabinets flanking the bed gives the arrangement order, and keeping their surface near mattress height puts a lamp and a book within reach. Our modern bedside cabinets UK sale range includes narrow widths for rooms where the bed has taken most of the floor.
Storage should climb rather than spread: a tall wardrobe holds more than a low chest for the same footprint, and under bed drawers or a lift up platform recover space that would otherwise sit empty. Keep the rug wide enough to show either side of the bed so it grounds the arrangement instead of looking like a runner.
If you are still weighing two sizes against each other, compare the stated footprints rather than the names. Every bed at Furniture in Fashion lists its measurements, and that comparison usually settles the question in a minute or two.
If you are shopping in Britain, the choice is usually between a double at 135cm, a king at 150cm and a super king at 180cm, whatever the word queen appears to promise. Work through it in this order and the decision tends to make itself.
Start with the room. Measure the wall the bed will sit against and subtract the space needed to walk past on each side you use. If what remains is under 150cm, the double is your answer and no further comparison is needed.
Next, count the sleepers. One adult is comfortable on a double for years. Two adults sharing every night will notice the extra width of a king almost immediately, particularly if one of you is a light sleeper.
Then look at storage. If the wardrobe is small and there is no loft access, a bed with drawers or a lifting base may be worth more to you than fifteen extra centimetres of mattress. Space under the bed is often the difference between a tidy room and a cluttered one.
Finally, check the route in and the bedding you already own. A bed you cannot carry upstairs is no use, and a new size means new linen. Settle those two practical points and the size you should buy is usually clear without any need to weigh up names from another country’s system.
In American sizing the king is bigger by around 41cm in width. In Britain, our king at 150cm by 200cm is fractionally smaller than a queen at 152cm by 203cm, so the two are effectively the same size.
Yes, for most couples. Each sleeper gets around 76cm, which is noticeably more than the 67cm each on a double, though less than the 90cm each a super king provides.
A king at 150cm by 200cm. Bedding, mattresses and bases in that size are widely available across the UK, which makes it the more practical choice here.
Not in British terms, since the footprints are almost identical. Stepping up to a super king does need a larger room, realistically around 3.6m by 3.8m with clearance.
Work from centimetres, not names. Note your mattress or frame measurement, mark the footprint on the floor before ordering, and match every mattress, base and fitted sheet to that figure.
Most UK beds are either 190cm or 200cm long. Singles, small doubles and doubles measure…
A king bed in the UK has mattress dimensions of 150cm by 200cm, which is…
A standard size single bed in the UK has a mattress of 90cm by 190cm,…
A queen size bed is approximately 150cm by 200cm, which is 5ft by 6ft 7in…
Double beds are 190cm long in the UK, which is 6ft 3in, and that length…
An American queen size bed measures 152cm by 203cm, or 60in by 80in, while Australia…
This website uses cookies.