What to hang above a bed: headboard wall ideas

The wall behind the bed is the first thing you see when you walk into a bedroom and the last thing you notice before sleep, which makes it the hardest wall in the house to get right. If you are wondering what to hang above a bed, our answer at Nyra Atelier is usually textile: a piece of macramé, thread art or textured canvas that brings warmth without hard edges. Below we cover how wide to go for a 140, 160 or 180 cm bed, seven headboard wall ideas, and how to hang safely over the place where you sleep.

Why textile works behind a bed

A bedroom asks for the opposite of a living room. You want the wall to settle the eye, not hold your attention. Textile does this well: wool and cotton absorb light instead of reflecting it, so there is no glare from glass, and the surface reads as soft even from across the room.

There is a practical side too. A textile piece has no glass to break, which matters over a pillow. Soft, textured materials can also help to soften the echo in a sparsely furnished room, although a single wall hanging is decoration, not soundproofing.

How big for a 140, 160 or 180 cm bed

The usual rule is that a piece above furniture should be about two-thirds of its width. Above a bed, we measure something slightly different: the whole bed group, meaning the bed plus its bedside tables. That is the width your eye reads as one block, and it explains why a piece wider than the mattress can still look right.

Bed width	About two-thirds of the bed	Bed plus two 45 cm bedside tables	About two-thirds of the group
90 cm (single)	60 cm	180 cm	120 cm
140 cm	95 cm	230 cm	155 cm
160 cm	105 cm	250 cm	165 cm
180 cm	120 cm	270 cm	180 cm

Use the bed column when the bed stands alone or the wall is narrow, and the group column when the bed has tables or lamps on both sides. Two of our pieces, as examples: Suspenso Terra, about 170 cm wide, sits almost exactly on the group figure for a 160 cm bed with bedside tables. Cadence, at 59 × 49 cm, is the right width on its own for a 90 cm single bed, but would look lost above a double. For hallways and other walls, see our macramé size guide.

Height: the sitting-up test

For a canvas or framed piece, leave about 20 to 25 cm between the top of the headboard and the bottom of the piece. For a hanging with a fringe, allow 20 to 30 cm. Then do the test that matters most above a bed: sit up against your pillows and ask someone to mark the top of your head on the wall. Everything should end above that mark, so you never lean back into cords or a frame.

Next, check the ceiling. Suspenso Terra's longest cords hang about 100 cm, and the rope at each end of its branch sits a little higher still. If your mark is at 130 cm and the fringe ends just above it, the branch will be at about 235 cm. In a room with a 260 cm ceiling that works well; at 250 cm it becomes tight. Long hangings suit low beds and low headboards best.

What to hang above a bed: seven ideas

1. One wide textile piece instead of a headboard

A wide hanging can do the work of a headboard: it frames the bed, marks the sleeping zone and costs nothing in floor space. This is where a piece like Suspenso Terra belongs, with its three draped panels in deep brown, caramel and taupe running across the wall above a low bed. Centre it on the bed, not on the wall.

2. A tall piece off-centre

If the bed is not centred on the wall, or a window sits to one side, a centred piece can make the imbalance more obvious. A taller, narrower piece hung above one bedside table, on the side away from the window, gives the wall its own logic instead.

3. A matching pair

Two pieces of the same size, side by side with a gap of about 5 to 8 cm, read as one composition. Measure their combined width, gap included, against the table above.

4. A textured canvas over a single or guest bed

A smaller bed needs a smaller piece, and it is often where people allow themselves more colour. Cadence, with its rows of red, mustard, olive green and dusty pink stitches, suits a single bed in a study or a guest room, where a little energy on the wall is welcome.

5. A piece above a simple wooden headboard

If you already have a plain headboard, keep the piece narrower than it and leave the 20 to 25 cm gap above. Wood and wool work well together; the headboard grounds the bed, the textile softens the wall.

6. One small piece above each bedside table

Instead of one piece over the bed, hang a small piece centred over each bedside table, with its bottom edge well clear of the lamp. This suits beds with a tall, upholstered headboard that leaves little wall above.

7. Nothing at all

Under a sloping ceiling, below a window or behind a strongly patterned headboard, the calmest choice may be to leave the wall bare and put the texture into the bedding instead. A bare wall is a decision too.

Colour and texture for a restful room

Neutral and low-contrast

For a room you want to sleep in, keep the contrast between piece and wall gentle: brown, caramel and taupe cords on a warm white or plaster-coloured wall, rather than black on white. Texture gives interest without needing strong colour, the same principle behind Japandi wall decor.

Earth and terracotta accents

If the room is neutral but flat, one warm accent goes a long way. Pick up a single tone from the piece in a cushion or a throw and stop there; repeating three colours from the wall in the bedding makes the room busy again.

Mind the morning sun

Bedroom walls opposite a window can get hours of direct morning light. Our care advice for textile pieces is to keep them away from direct sunlight and humidity to protect their colours and fibres, so if the bed wall is in the sun, a sheer curtain helps.

Hanging safely above where you sleep

Above a bed, the margins matter more than anywhere else in the house. We recommend two fixings rather than one for any piece wider than a cushion, hooks with an upturned tip or a closed eye, and no heavy glass-fronted frames over the pillows. Leave a little space between the headboard and the bottom of the piece so they never rub when the bed moves, and keep cords away from wall lights and hot bulbs. Once or twice a year, check that the hooks are still firm.

For a flat canvas, our article How to hang and care for textile wall art covers the basics. For a large hanging on a branch, our step-by-step guide to hanging macramé explains fixings by wall type.

Small rooms and renters

In a small bedroom, one piece that spans the bed group turns the bed wall into a single calm block and makes the room feel more ordered, not smaller. In a rental, two small plug holes are usually simple to fill when you leave; check your contract first, and avoid adhesive hooks for anything heavy over the bed.

Explore our wall art and decorative objects. Both pieces mentioned here are one of a kind, and available at the time of writing.

Frequently asked questions

What can I hang above a bed instead of a headboard?

A wide textile piece, such as a macramé hanging on a branch, centred on the bed. Aim for about two-thirds of the width of the bed plus its bedside tables.

How big should art above a bed be?

About two-thirds of the bed's width when it stands alone: roughly 95 cm for a 140 cm bed, 105 cm for 160 cm and 120 cm for 180 cm. With bedside tables on both sides, you can go wider.

Is it safe to hang heavy decor above a bed?

Use two fixings rated well above the piece's weight, with hooks the hanging cannot slip off, and avoid heavy glass-fronted frames over the pillows. Textile pieces have the advantage of having no glass.

How high above the bed should a wall hanging go?

Leave about 20 to 30 cm between the top of the headboard and the end of the fringe, and check that it clears your head when you sit up in bed.

Does a textile wall hanging help with noise?

Soft, textured materials can help soften echo in a sparsely furnished room. A wall hanging will not block noise from outside or from neighbours.

Can I hang macramé above a bed in a rented flat?

Usually, yes. Two small plug holes are easy to fill when you move out. Check your rental contract first, and do not rely on adhesive hooks for a heavy piece.