The bedroom is unlike any other room in the house. It is the one space that exists entirely for you — the place you retreat to at the end of the day, where your mind begins to slow and the noise of the world recedes. The art you choose for it should reflect that purpose. It should feel personal, considered, and calm rather than decorative for decoration's sake.
This guide walks through everything you need to know about choosing and hanging framed art for your bedroom, from subject matter and scale to placement measurements and frame styles that suit different interiors.
Why Art Matters in a Bedroom
In busier rooms — kitchens, living rooms, hallways — art can be bold, graphic, or even provocative. The bedroom calls for a different sensibility. Research into environmental psychology consistently finds that visual complexity in sleeping spaces elevates cortisol and disrupts the mental wind-down that precedes sleep. Art that is too busy, too high-contrast, or emotionally charged can subtly undermine the sense of sanctuary you are trying to create.
The good news is that this constraint is also an invitation. A bedroom is the ideal setting for art you genuinely love — a wildlife print that reminds you of a favourite walk, a botanical study that brings a little of the natural world indoors, or a landscape so quietly beautiful that it rewards repeated looking.
Choosing the Right Subject Matter
Botanical and Nature Prints
Botanical illustrations and nature studies have been used in domestic interiors for centuries precisely because they are timeless, soothing, and endlessly varied. A well-executed botanical print — detailed but not cluttered, with considered negative space — works in almost any bedroom style, from a bright Scandi aesthetic to a warm, layered traditional room.
Our botanical prints collection includes everything from single-stem studies to more elaborate arrangements, and the muted, earthy tones that characterise many botanical works suit bedroom palettes particularly well.
Wildlife Art
British wildlife subjects have a quiet, grounded quality that translates beautifully into bedroom art. A hare in a winter field, an owl perched in still air, a deer half-hidden in woodland — these images have atmosphere without drama. They invite the eye to rest rather than race.
If you are drawn to wildlife art, look for compositions with generous breathing space around the subject. A print where the animal is the sole focus against a clean, tonally simple background will carry far more serenity than a crowded woodland scene. Browse the wildlife art collection for subjects that suit calmer, more contemplative moods.
What to Avoid
Extremely high-contrast graphic art, very saturated colours, or imagery with strong emotional charge tends to work against the bedroom's purpose. That is not a rule — it is a question of how you want to feel when you wake up and when you are trying to sleep. If in doubt, lean towards cooler or more neutral palettes, and towards subjects from the natural world.
Size and Scale: Getting It Right Above the Bed
The wall above a bed is the most prominent hanging position in any bedroom, and getting the scale right is the single most important decision you will make.
A common mistake is to hang art that is too small. Above a standard double or king-size bed, a piece that feels adequately sized when held against the wall often looks lost once you step back. As a guide:
- For a single bed or narrow wall: a print around 40 x 50cm or 50 x 70cm works well as a solo piece. - For a double bed: consider either a single statement print of 60 x 80cm or larger, or a pair of matching prints hung side by side. - For a king-size bed or wider wall: a large single piece — 70 x 100cm or above — makes the most confident statement. Alternatively, a symmetrical pair of identically framed prints flanking the headboard creates balance without requiring one very large piece.
Placement Height
There is a simple rule for hanging art above a bed that prevents the common error of hanging too high. Leave a gap of approximately 15 to 20cm between the top of the headboard (or the pillow line if you have no headboard) and the bottom edge of the frame. This anchors the art to the bed visually and makes it feel intentional rather than floating.
If you are hanging a pair of prints, treat them as a single unit: centre the pair on the width of the bed, and maintain that 15 to 20cm gap from the headboard to the bottom of both frames.
The Case for a Triptych
A calming triptych — three prints of equal size hung with consistent spacing — is one of the most satisfying arrangements for a bedroom wall. It works particularly well above a wide headboard or across a chimney breast.
For a bedroom, the most effective triptychs are those with visual continuity: three botanical studies from the same series, three wildlife prints that share a tonal palette, or three landscape details that feel like windows into the same world. Avoid mixing very different subjects or colour palettes across a triptych in a bedroom; the unity is what gives it its calming quality.
Colour Palette: Pulling the Room Together
One of the most practical approaches to choosing bedroom art is to work from colours already present in the room — your bedding, curtains, or upholstery. You do not need an exact match; you need resonance.
If your bedroom is dressed in soft whites and warm linens, art with warm cream, ochre, or muted green tones will feel cohesive. A room with charcoal or navy accents can carry darker, more moody wildlife art with confidence. A botanical print with dusty rose or sage tones ties naturally into many current bedroom palettes.
The frame colour should also be considered in this context. See the section below on frame choices.
Frame Styles for Different Interiors
Our framed prints — from £34.99 — come ready to hang, so the frame style you choose is the only variable to consider.
Thin black frame: Clean, minimal, and versatile. Works especially well in modern, Scandi, or monochrome interiors. The black defines the art clearly without competing with it.
Warm wood or natural finish frame: The more traditional choice, and the warmer one. Works beautifully in cosy, layered rooms with natural textiles — linen, wool, jute. A warm wood frame softens botanical and wildlife prints and makes them feel rooted in the room.
White or off-white frame: Light and airy, ideal for maximising brightness in smaller bedrooms. Works well with pastel or watercolour-style artwork.
For bedrooms especially, avoid mixing very different frame finishes on adjacent walls. Cohesion in framing is one of the simplest ways to make a room feel considered rather than assembled over time.
The Reading Nook
If your bedroom includes a reading corner or a small armchair, this is one of the best places in the house for a single favourite print. Scale it to the chair or corner rather than to the full wall — a 30 x 40cm or 40 x 50cm piece hung at seated eye level creates an intimate, personal pocket within the room.
Hallway and Landing Adjacency
Bedrooms rarely exist in isolation. The hallway or landing outside often benefits from art that creates a visual transition — stepping down gently from the rest of the house as you move towards the sleeping spaces. Botanical and wildlife prints work particularly well in this transitional role.
---
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How far above the headboard should I hang bedroom art?
Leave 15 to 20cm of clear space between the top of the headboard and the bottom edge of the frame. This is close enough to visually anchor the art to the bed, and far enough that it does not feel cramped. If you have no headboard, measure from the pillow line instead. For a triptych or pair, treat the whole arrangement as a single unit and apply the same gap measurement to the bottom edge of the lowest frame.
Q: What size framed print works above a double bed?
For a standard double bed (approximately 135cm wide), a single print of 60 x 80cm is the practical minimum for a confident statement piece. A 70 x 100cm print reads better in most rooms. Alternatively, two matching prints of 40 x 50cm hung side by side with a 5 to 8cm gap between them cover a similar total width and create a more symmetrical look that suits traditional and contemporary rooms alike.
Q: Should bedroom art match the decor exactly, or can it stand apart?
It should harmonise, not match. Pulling one or two colours from your bedding or curtains and finding art that shares those tones is more effective than searching for an exact colour match — and more interesting to live with. A little contrast between the art and the room adds depth; the aim is for the art to feel chosen rather than colour-coordinated as a single purchase. Wildlife and botanical prints tend to work across a wide range of palettes because they draw on nature's own colour relationships, which the human eye finds inherently harmonious.
Shop the Collection
Browse our full wall art collection: original art prints uk, framed prints uk, wildlife art prints.