Bedroom Wall Decor: Above the Bed, Colour and Size

The bedroom is the one room in a house that works differently. In a living room the aim is to impress; in a bedroom it is to settle. That difference changes what belongs on the wall.

This article gathers the bedroom-specific decisions: above the bed, colour, size, and one subject most guides skip entirely — texture.

Above the bed: safety first#

We have to start here, because it comes before aesthetics.

A piece hung above a bed sits 50-60 cm above your head all night. Two things follow:

• Do not hang glazed, heavily framed work above a bed. The chance of a fall is low but the consequence is serious
• Do not rely on a single hanging point. Use two points or a concealed cleat

This is one of the practical reasons textured surfaces come into their own above a bed: a tufted panel has no glass, and is light and soft. I described hanging methods separately.

Size: two thirds of the bed#

The general rule applies here too: the piece should be about two thirds the width of the furniture beneath it.

In practice:

• 160 cm bed: a piece around 100-110 cm wide
• 180 cm bed: around 120 cm, or two 50x70 pieces side by side
• 200 cm bed: around 130-140 cm, or a set of three

Two rules for height: keep the bottom edge 20-25 cm above the headboard; with no headboard, about 60 cm above the mattress is a good starting point.

I gathered the whole sizing decision in the sizing guide.

Colour: why quiet tones#

In a bedroom, colour is less a matter of taste than of function.

This is the last surface you look at before sleeping and the first after waking. A saturated, high-contrast piece stimulates the eye; a quiet, low-contrast one releases it.

So the palette that works in a bedroom is narrow:

• Earth tones, off-whites, the warm side of pale grey
• Unsaturated shades of green and blue
• Pieces built on textural difference within a single colour
• Black and white, but graded through grey rather than high contrast

What to avoid: sharp reds, saturated orange, high-contrast graphic patterns. Work that looks excellent in a living room becomes restless in a bedroom.

I explained how to read a room's palette in the colour guide.

Texture: the bedroom's real gain#

This is the subject most decorating articles skip, and the one that makes the biggest difference.

Bedrooms are usually hard-surfaced: wardrobe doors, glass, wood floors, flat walls. The only soft thing is the bed. That makes the room acoustically live; sounds reflect.

A textured surface on the wall reduces that. The acoustic effect of textile is measurable, and above the bed is the ideal position for it: the point closest to both the source and the ear.

The second gain is warmth. Yarn texture reads warm; in a bedroom that feels cold in winter, a single panel is noticeable.

The third is light. A glazed piece reflects a bedside lamp and glares; a textured surface absorbs it. If you read in bed, you feel that difference.

How many pieces#

One piece is the calmest solution and usually the right one in a bedroom, where the function is already simplicity.

A symmetrical pair also works well: two pieces of equal size flanking the bed. Orderly and balanced.

A gallery wall struggles in a bedroom. Many pieces mean many frames and a lot of information, which occupies the eye in a room designed for rest. If you want one, put it on a secondary wall — above a chest of drawers, not above the bed.

The bedroom rug#

Alongside the wall, the floor sets the comfort of a bedroom.

Three common layouts:

• A large rug under the bed extending on both sides: the most generous, for larger rooms
• A small rug on each side of the bed: practical in narrow rooms and enough for bare feet
• A rug placed across the foot of the bed: decorative and useful for sitting to put shoes on

For a bedroom rug I recommend cut pile: the velvety surface is noticeably more comfortable underfoot, and durability is not the priority in this room.

In a small bedroom#

In narrow rooms space is scarce and every surface counts.

What works:

• Choose one horizontal piece. A horizontal form widens a room
• Leave the wall above the bed empty and hang on a side wall. The bed is already the visual centre of gravity
• Prefer light palettes. Dark, heavy work narrows a small room
• Account for surfaces like wardrobe doors; what you measured as wall may turn out to be a cupboard

What not to hang#

A few things specific to this room:

• Heavy, glazed work above the bed
• Very high-contrast, busy graphic patterns
• A gallery of family photographs. A personal choice, but for many people a bedroom is too private a space for it
• Above a radiator. The flow of warm air strains both the piece and its backing
• The damp inner face of an external wall

Where to start#

Stand opposite the bed and photograph the room, including the bed and the wall above it. Size, palette and how many pieces are all answered in that photograph.

The gallery holds both tufted and painted work, with dimensions and prices on each page. If your wall needs a particular size or palette, send a shot of the room through the custom order page and we will plan it together.