How To Choose The Right Size Art To Hang Above Your Bed

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The wall behind your bed is the most important wall in your bedroom. It's where your eye naturally goes when you walk into the space, and often the only one that gets any decorating love. The other walls are often cluttered with dressers, windows, closet doors, and perhaps a television, but the bed wall is a blank canvas. Many people choose to decorate the space above their bed with artwork. This is a classic design move that is easy to get right — but even easier to get wrong. 

Hanging artwork that is too small or too big for your space is worse than leaving the wall completely blank. Tiny art above a massive bed only draws attention to it's tiny-ness, while a too-large piece can make the room feel cluttered and off-kilter. For expertly scaled artwork above your bed, go with something around ⅔ the width of your bed frame. When centered over your bed, the artwork should be almost the same size, but with an invisible frame creating some needed negative space. Typically, art above a twin bed should be 22 to 30 inches wide, 30 to 41 inches for a full, 34 to 45 inches for a queen, and 43 to 57 inches for a king bed. The sizing remains true whether you go with one large piece, two side-by-side pieces, or a gallery wall. 

Another mistake people make when hanging artwork above the bed is hanging it too low or too high. The bottom of your artwork should be around 7 to 10 inches above the headboard. If you don't have a headboard, prop up your pillows, then go up 6 more inches to mimic the height of a headboard. Artwork should be around 14 to 16 inches from your mattress. Too low, and you'll bump into it while sitting up in bed to read (or more likely to scroll). The shape of the artwork is also something to consider. Choose horizontal artwork if you have low ceilings, and vertical for high ceilings. Of course, every room is different, and what really matters is that your space looks well-balanced to you. 

Hanging art over the bed could be a safety concern, so be sure to use sawtooth picture hangars that support the weight of your piece (like the Eestech Sawtooth Steel Picture Hangers that support up to 50 pounds) and attach hooks to wall studs. If you live in an earthquake-prone area, you may want to choose a textile hanging or basket display instead of framed art or photographs.