Designing your room around your mattress may seem unusual. After all, most people design their bedroom around the size of the room, the bed’s frame, the furniture, or a particular color palette.
Your mattress, however, is an important design element that can be used to customize and create your bedroom surroundings, and from there, will help you decide the other elements of your bedroom and how they’ll pull together the look of the entire room.
If you are not sure how to choose a mattress for your bedroom design, you are welcome to check out our tips below!
New Mattress—New Look!
First, you’ll have to think about the kind of bedding purchases you’ll need to make before you begin designing a room.
- Are you buying a new bed and mattress? If you’re getting a fresh start, you can design your room around both the foundation and frame. This gives you a greater amount of control over your bedroom space.
- Are you buying a mattress that will match your existing bed frame? While this narrows your options a bit, there still are hundreds of mattresses that will match your frame.
Mattress Size and Depth Determines Your Bed’s Footprint
Using your bed’s foundation as the focal point of the room will help you determine:
- Mattress Size. Twin, full (sometimes called a double), queen, king, and California king mattresses range from 38 inches by 75 inches to 72 inches by 84 inches. That’s quite a range, and the difference between a twin and a king is substantial. Consider how many people will be sleeping in the bed (two people can fit on a full bed, and can more comfortably fit on a queen and king) and how tall they are. We all know that size matters, but don’t forget to learn more about different mattress types too.
- Mattress Depth. Many people don’t consider mattress depth when they buy a bed or mattress. The standard depth is 7 inches, deep mattresses are between 10 and 15 inches, and extra deep and pillowtop mattresses are as high as 24 inches. While many people love the look and feel of these mattresses, a deeper mattress, when combined with box springs, can be very far from the floor. If you’re shorter, you may have to climb onto the bed with a deep mattress and then possibly jump down a few inches when you get out of bed. If your pets like to sleep with you, they may have difficulty jumping up on a bed with a deeper mattress and box springs.
Room Layout and Style Options
Now, it’s time to take a look at the bedroom (or bedroom space if you have a loft, studio, or open concept bedroom) to see how much space you have to design around. Then, you can pick a style that you love for the furniture and walls.
- Layout. First, measure the size of the room. Many bedrooms are rectangular instead of square, so note this when you measure. (You may want to use a piece of graph paper and assign a foot to each square so that you can map out the dimensions of the room.)
Take note of where the windows and the doors are, and how much usable space they take away from the room’s interior. You may have beautiful, floor-to-ceiling windows that run the length of the bedroom, but you shouldn’t place the head of the bed in front of them since they will take away from the airy and bright impact of large windows. Instead, you’d likely place the bed parallel to those windows so that you can enjoy the view.
- Bed and Furniture Style. If you love the traditional or classic design, a bed with large curved headboard and a standard depth mattress, with Wedgewood Blue walls and wood accents would pull the elements of your room together. A chalet-style sleigh bed begs for a deeper mattress that will fit in between the long, curved footboard and headboard. A more contemporary style will likely have smooth planes broken apart by angles.
Now you can complete your bed’s look with sheets, pillows, blankets, bed skirts, and comforters. If you have room for additional furniture, a bedroom bench at the foot of the bed adds a touch of elegance. Using your mattress to guide your bedroom design planning is practical—but also produces beautiful results!
Did you design your bedroom around your mattress or around your bed’s frame?
That is an interesting school of thought.. We just ordered a new mattress, and my wife is looking around for new things for the room..
I designed the mattress around the bedroom. It worked out. Wow! A lovely room. Thanks for sharing info for any future bedroom redoes.
Those are some great rooms. Great design.
Recently bought a new mattress, and while I’m happy with the mattress it would have been beneficial to think about its effect on my room layout before I bought it.
My mattress is 24 inches deep plus the box spring! Didn’t consider it at all when purchasing, but my bed is gigantic in my bedroom. I do love it, but it is difficult to find bedding that fits!
What I need right now huhu
Very interesting. I love the designs of the bedrooms.
Investing in a quality mattress is really ideal. Even when it’s expensive, a good mattress is worth a lifetime.
We just did this in our bedroom and it looks amazing! Makes the whole room seem different.
I would love a new mattress. My bedroom is definitely my sanctuary!
Its really important that the mattress not only looks great but comfortable too
Changing mattress can really vary the look of your room. You can also change to a more comfortable one.
yes the bed is the center and core of the bedroom, it’s what’s used the most. Makes a difference.
Exactly what I need right now, a soft bed. But I always find this type of mattress expensive.
Great advice, I’ve been thinking about buying myself a new mattress for a while now.
Great tips. I will be buying 2 new mattresses soon and will bookmark this article for future reference.
I do have to climb up onto my bed. It makes me laugh every time I have to do it. I could use a new headboard though.
We have a bench at the bottom of our bed, well a chest actually. You’re right it does lend a nice touch to the room, it makes it feel homey. 🙂
I love the first photo. That seems like it would be a nice space to come home to
No, lol.. our room needs some much loving TLC that’s for sure.
Interesting about decorating around the size of a mattress. We have a sleep number bed and when no ones in it-it looks concave and not rounded. It’s really hard to make our bed look right. I’ve kind of given up on it. Need decorating tips!! 🙂
Oh, choosing a mattress with my boyfriend was a nightmare. I love the harder ones, he has problems with his back, so we had to find something suitable for both of us, and of course big enough, because we love each other, but we love to sleep comfortable as well 🙂
I like the foam mattresses for myself thanks for sharing.
Matress is a great point to start designing and arranging your bedroom. It is a focal point.
Well, I guess that is a good point when we shop for the next mattress. Never thought about it before.
thanks for sharing
It’s very common for people to decorate/design their bedroom look using the bed/mattress as the main focus point. For me, it’s all about the size and how comfy it is!
I would have never considered using my mattress as a designing focal point, nor would I have ever considered those points when purchasing a mattress. We actually bought a new mattress last week. I am absolutely in love with it. Maybe it is now time for the rest of the room to get a facelift…
It was always been my dream to own a very comfortable mattress and the only problem was the budget, thank you for sharing some useful advice on choosing a mattress this can be useful when I am ready to purchase one.
Inspired with the photos. I always wanted a very spacious bedroom. Thanks for sharing!