What size bed fits my room?
Enter the bedroom's length and width, pick the wall for the headboard and the walkway you want. The calculator checks every US mattress size from twin to California king against the room and draws the one you pick, with the walkway around it.
Bed size calculator
30 in (76 cm) is a minimum and 36 in (91 cm) comfortable (Dimensions.com); under 24 in (61 cm) counts as not fitting.
It stands in the side walkway, so the side must be at least this wide.
Measure the room inside the walls. Sizes are US mattresses; a frame and headboard add a few inches.
Largest bed that fits
Queen
- Headboard wall
- 10′
- Each side
- 30 in
- At the foot
- 64 in
The room from above
Walkway beside the bed
- Twin41 in
- Twin XL41 in
- Full33 in
- Queen30 in
- California king24 in
- King22 in
- Pass: Twin 38 × 75 in 41 in each side, 69 in at the foot: fits with the walkway.
- Pass: Twin XL 38 × 80 in 41 in each side, 64 in at the foot: fits with the walkway.
- Pass: Full 54 × 75 in 33 in each side, 69 in at the foot: fits with the walkway.
- Pass: Queen 60 × 80 in 30 in each side, 64 in at the foot: fits with the walkway.
- Warning: California king 72 × 84 in 24 in each side, 60 in at the foot: tight, under the 30 in walkway but not under 24 in.
- Fail: King 76 × 80 in 22 in each side, 64 in at the foot: doesn't fit; it wants a 11′ 4″ wall.
How it works
- Headboard wall: the bed is centred on it, so the floor on each side is (wall − mattress width) ÷ 2.
- Foot: the room's depth from that wall, less the mattress length.
- Nightstands stand at the head end of the side walkways, so a side must be at least as wide as its nightstand.
- Fits when both sides and the foot have the full walkway; tight when they have less but at least 24 in; doesn't fit below that.
- The answer is the largest size that fits; if none does, the largest tight one.
Worked example
A 10 × 12 ft bedroom with the headboard on the 10 ft wall (120 in), a 30 in walkway and two 24 in nightstands. A queen (60 in wide) leaves (120 − 60) ÷ 2 = 30 in each side and 144 − 80 = 64 in at the foot: it fits. A California king leaves 24 in a side, which is tight, and a king 22 in, which doesn't fit; a king wants a wall of 76 + 2 × 30 = 136 in (11 ft 4 in). So the answer is a queen. Turn the bed to the 12 ft wall and a king fits with 34 in a side, but only 40 in at the foot.
| Room (inside) | Headboard on the longer wall | On the shorter wall |
|---|---|---|
| 9 × 10 ft | Full: 33 in a side, 33 in at the foot | Twin XL: 35 in a side |
| 10 × 10 ft | Queen: 30 in a side, 40 in at the foot | Queen (the same) |
| 10 × 11 ft | California king: 30 in a side, 36 in at the foot | Queen: 30 in a side, 52 in at the foot |
| 10 × 12 ft | King: 34 in a side, 40 in at the foot | Queen: 30 in a side, 64 in at the foot |
| 11 × 12 ft | King: 34 in a side, 52 in at the foot | California king: 30 in a side, 60 in at the foot |
| 12 × 12 ft | King: 34 in a side, 64 in at the foot | King (the same) |
These are the clear sizes inside the walls. A room drawn as 12 × 12 ft on wall centrelines is about 11 ft 7 in inside, so measure before you buy.
What else to leave room for
- The frame and headboard run a few inches bigger than the mattress; allow for them when a result is close.
- A dresser is typically 18 to 22 in deep and needs about 36 in in front of it to open the drawers (master bedroom size).
- Doors and windows decide where the headboard can go. A door on the headboard wall can rule out a bed that fits on paper.
- The code minimum is far below any of this: 70 ft² and 7 ft across (legal bedroom requirements).
Questions
What size bed fits in a 10 × 10 room?
A queen, with 30 in on each side and 40 in at the foot. A king leaves only 22 in a side, which the king bed guide calls too tight.
Will a king bed fit in a 12 × 12 room?
Yes: 34 in on each side and 64 in at the foot, with room for nightstands. In an 11 × 11 ft room the sides drop to 28 in, which is tight.
How much space should be around a bed?
About 30 in on the sides you walk past and at the foot is a common minimum, and 36 in is comfortable. 24 in will do on a side nobody but the sleeper uses.
King or California king for a narrow room?
A California king is 4 in narrower and 4 in longer, so it suits a room that is long rather than wide. On a 10 ft headboard wall, for example, it is tight where a king does not fit at all.
Should the bed go on the longer wall?
It usually leaves more floor at the sides, which is where the walkways are, but less at the foot. Try both in the calculator: in a 10 × 12 ft room the long wall takes a king, the short wall a queen.