If trying to figure out how to hang art above a bed has been driving you bonkers, this complete guide has all the answers you need to finally get it right.
From frame colour to the distance the art should be from the headboard, whether to hang one artwork or two (and how far apart they should be); I’m lifting the lid on the lot.
This is the stuff we take care of daily as our work as interior designers, so you can rest assured you’re in safe hands. Scroll on as I talk you through everything you need to consider when hanging art above a bed in your bedroom.
How to Hang Art Above a Bed Rule #1: Choosing a Style
Before we get into the nitty gritty of how to hang art above a bed, can we talk about the style of art you’ve chosen? I want to start here because people sometimes hang an art style across from their bed that they really should be hanging above the bed itself.
Everyones art preferences are different, of course, but as a rule it’s wise to hang vibrant, bold or eye-catching art above the headboard of your bed. Then, install calmer art across from your bed or on an adjacent wall if you wish to.
This rule applies because when you’re laying in your bed you can’t see the bold artwork above you. Instead, you lay down and look across from you at something much calmer, which can help you sleep better at night.
Louder, graphic art is often not easy on the eye, so it’s best left where you can’t see it as you drift off. Or, try hanging it in a more social zone where relaxation isn’t as crucial (like above a sofa, dining table or console tables in the entryway).
Art Above a Bed Rule #2: Match the Frame Colour to a Furniture Piece
We’ll get into measurements in a second, I promise. I want to touch on frame colour before we do that though, because this can be make or break for the look and feel of the bedroom.
Ideally the frame your art is encased in should speak to other design elements in the room. This will most likely be furniture like a bedside table/nightstand, or a tallboy or chest of drawers. It might even be connected to colours in rugs, table lamps or pendants in the space.
Doing this keeps a sense of harmony and cohesion in the room, and the art will make far more visual sense if the colour/material of your furniture (say oak, for example) is repeated in the frame the art is in.
You can see this at play in the image above; the similar frame and bedside table colour works so well in the space. It’s such a cohesive colour palette.
Art Above Bed Rule #3: The Proper Height to Hang An Artwork Over a Bed
One of the common art-above-bed blunders I see clients make is having the art hung too close to the bedhead. That’s usually because the artwork is too large for the space, and often feels wedged in.
As a rule, you want a good hand-length of bare wall between the top of the headboard and the bottom of the artwork. In exact measurements, that’s about 20cm or 7.8 inches. If the art sits any closer to the top of the bedhead or headboard it’s going to look too cramped.
The last thing you want is for the art above the bed to look like a mistake. You want it in the right size and scale for the room and in relation to the bed beneath it. If the art is so large it’s leaving a gap less than 20cm between it and the bed, it’s best relocated somewhere else.
Art Above Bed Rule #4: Breathing Room Between Top of Art and Ceiling
Equally Important is the distance between the top of the artwork and ceiling/cornice. This rule is going to vary depending on what height your ceiling is, of course, and how large the artwork is you want to hang on the wall.
But as a general rule, artwork is at its best size when there’s a 20cm or 7.8 inches gap between art to ceiling. If you have rather high ceilings (3 metres or more), then the gap is going to be larger above the artwork to ceiling, than it is between the artwork and the headboard.
If your ceilings are high, you’d still leave a 20cm gap at the bottom of the art and have a much larger gap from top of art to ceiling. You’d never install the artwork with an equal distance above and below in this instance, as it will look odd. Always go closer to bed than ceiling.
Art Above Bed Rule #5: The Art Should Step in from the Width of the Bedhead
One of the big considerations around how to hang art above a bed is width. The width of the furniture in relation to the art above it is important in any room, but in the bedroom it’s crucial.
Golden Rule: the width of the artwork should never, ever be wider that your headboard/bedhead. You always want the edge of the art to sit either in line with with the width of the headboard, or ideally step in from it.
Think of it like a pyramid (a subtle one);
The bedhead or headboard is the wider part down the bottom, and then the artwork above steps in. Either side, let the empty walls be the negative space the zone needs; the breathing room where you see some wall space.
In an ideal world, the art would step in from the width of the bed (regardless of what size the bed is) about 20cm or 7.8 inches.
If you have a much larger step in from the width of the bed to the artwork (say anything more than 50cm or 19.6 inches), then your art is too small and you should hang a large art piece with greater proportions here instead.
Art Above Bed Rule #6: Artwork Orientation – Portrait, Landscape or Square?
You’re probably also wondering what orientation of art is best to hang above a bed: a square, portrait or landscape orientation.
Here, the answer is simple. A single square artwork on its own is never going to be successful. That’s because there will be too much room either side of it (blank wall). A single portrait orientation artwork will look even stranger and is never recommended.
Ideally, you want one landscape orientation artwork hung above the bed, or two squares side by side. In some instances, two landscape or portrait artworks will work too, but I’ll expand more on this in the rule below.
Art Above Bed Rule #7: One Artwork, Two Artworks, Or More?
The number of artworks you should hang above a bed can vary, depending on how you want the room to look and feel.
As a rule though, I always install either one landscape artwork above the bed, or two square artworks of the same size side-by-side. You can hang two landscape artworks side-by-side if headboard is extra wide (as seen above) or if the bed is a California king bed in width.
Two portrait artworks side-by-side can sometimes work if the wall the bed is on is narrow or the ceiling high, but it’s not my preferred method. It just won’t ever look as good as one landscape artwork, or two squares next to one another.
Should you do more than two artworks above the bed? You can, if the headboard is an extra wide one like these, or if you’re going for a multi-frame, random gallery wall vibe.
Art Above Bed Rule #8: Types of Hooks to Hang Art Above a Bed
The best type of hooks for hanging art above a bed varies depending on the weight of the artwork in question.
If you have lightweight canvases in no frame (though that is one of my big art mistakes you best avoid), then a set of 3M Command hooks would work successfully to install these. Just make sure you check the weight the hooks can hold on the front of the packet before you buy.
For heavier canvas artworks in box frames, or glass-front artworks, the best type of hook is a sawtooth hook, which is attached to the back of the artwork. Failing that, you just want to ensure the artwork is hung on multiple sturdy hooks.
If you’re feeling unsure and want to avoid doing this yourself, call in a professional picture hanger. We use one on every one of our interior design projects and they’re amazing!
Art Above Bed Rule #9: How to Hang Art Above an Arched Bedhead
A lot of the rules so far have been around hanging a piece of wall art above a regular bedhead. You know, ones that are more clean-lined or square-set. But what about art above a curved or arched bedhead? Fear not, I’ve got you covered.
A good rule of thumb here is to let the arched headboard be the focal point in the room, and go off-centre with your canvass or framed art.
You can either hang a larger piece of art either side of the arch, above your bedside tables (as seen above). Or, you can cluster a few smaller pieces (or wall hangings) to one side of the arch in a more random composition.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a queen bed or king-size bed you’re working with, the best idea is to avoid hanging a large piece of art directly above the arch. The bottom of the frame will look odd sitting so close to the curved bedhead beneath it.
More Artwork Help on the TLC Interiors Blog
Now that you know how to hang art above a bed, you might want to take a look at a few other tips I’ve wrote about when it comes to art, for the bedroom and other pockets of your home. Whether it’s for your hallway, living room or dining room, these posts have you sorted:
- A No-Regret Buying Guide to Choosing Art
- How to Hang a DIY Gallery Wall of Art at Home
- The Best Places to Buy Affordable Art from Online
Drop me any questions you have below around how to hang art above a bed. Be it about measurements, art styles, frame colours, installation or anything else you’re struggling with!
This post includes images and/or videos of Metricon display homes and events, reproduced with permission. © Metricon Homes Pty Ltd 2021.
Hi, Chris –
We plan to hang three pictures above a day bed. The day bed is not centered in the wall. Do we hang the first picture centered off the day bed and the other two off the first picture? Or, would you center the first picture in the center of the wall (not centered above the day bed) and hang the other two off the first hung picture so that the pictures look like they fill the wall instead of complimenting the day bed?
Thank you!
Hi Kevin. I would be inclined to hang the three pictures in relation to the bed. So, they all go over the bed rather than centering them to the wall. Often if you centre them to the wall, and the daybed is pushed to one side, whatever artwork is not over the bed tends to look like it’s hanging on the edge of a cliff with nothing underneath it to ground it. Hope that helps.
What to do if the bed is not central in the room please? I was told to centre it over the bed, rather than in the centre of the wall…… but what if we reposition the bed in the future? Thanks
Hey Kym, whoever told you to centre over the bed is correct. In any room, when one piece of art is being installed in relation to a piece of furniture underneath, it should be centred to it. If the bed moves in the future you would then reposition the artwork.
I have Twin beds and have a beautiful large piece of art 36×30 a soft colored portrait piece can I hang it over the middle space between befs and place other pieces to balance on either side?
Good article! I needed all of that information and appreciate the generic viewpoint. Question: My daughter’s queen bed sits up against a 92” wall (so about 60” queen size but with fluff from comforters, takes up more space). Being a short wall, would I still center her wall decor with her bed? I’m afraid it would look odd since there isn’t a lot of empty wall. Also, she likes to turn her bed to face different directions, so would it be best to center art with the wall, if she does move her bed, (and deal with it off centered from the bed when her bed is against that short wall)?
Hello! I’mm really struggling with how to hang art above my inverted arched bed that is flanked by two windows, one with a large radiator beneath. It’s a large room that is much wider than deep. From the hallway, and when you walk in, the bed is right on display. Light color headboard against black wall. Curtains aren’t possible bc of where the radiator sits against the wall so I have roman shades. I just don’t know how to make the space feel less empty. I tried a large round mirror and hated it. This wall needs pop. Not exact bed but example. Mine is a king and seems more arched than this.
This is the most thoughtfully written interior design article I’ve ever read. No sponsorship sway and no holding back secrets/details. And I was so delighted to see TLC is Australian. You’ve got a fan for life here!
Hey Ruby, that’s so kind of you to say! Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment. Happy to have you on-board 🙂
I’m hanging pictures above a kids bed in California. Can you suggest a frame that is light weight so that if it would fall in an earthquake, nobody would be hurt?
Hi Chris, I have a really really small bedroom. Roughly 3.6 x 3.6. The predominant colour through my home is white, with greys, navies, lighter blues, and shiny silver decor pieces. I’m really limited due to space. My bedhead is a white carina Sherlock and the bedsides. 2.7 ceilings. Would it be crazy if I were to choose mirror framed prints to reflect more light? I have silver decor throughout? Or just stick to white? And if so square or rectangle? I’d be appreciative of any advice .
Hi Nicole, I probably wouldn’t in the room you’ve described. White sounds appropriate, or you could try to match the window frame colour to the frame of the pictures. Square or rectangle depends on where it’s going but a square is easier to work with and you can have two side by side or vertical.
Hi Chris
Our ceiling height is 2.7 metres. We have a half metre window above the bed as well as a large side window. The space between top of the bed and window is roughly 1 metre. Two pendant lights at side of king bed. Will art above the bed look too cluttered?
Hey Maureen, without seeing the space myself I’d say there’s a chance it could end up too cluttered. Is your bed head quite low, or the window very close to the ceiling? If your window is 0.5m and the gap from bed to the window is 1m and the total wall is 2.7m you’re left with 1.2m to play with which has to account for the bed height and the gap from the window to ceiling.
Hard to give a definite response, I’m leaning towards it being too cluttered. But, before you commit to buying something or not, why not get some smaller pieces of art from around the house (or borrow from friends/family) you can sit on your headboard or have someone hold in place roughly where you’d hang them and then make a judgement call.
stunning artwork and bedroom ideas. Great tips as well to work out scale of artwork to ceiling height and bedhead width which I always found tricky. Thanks Chris!