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Beds come in a wide array of shapes and sizes. Early beds were little more than piles of straw or some other natural materials. An important advancement was raising them off the ground, to avoid drafts, dirt, and pests.
To make beds more comfortable the top layer is normally a mattress. Originally these were bags of straw for most people and filled with feathers for the wealthy. Eventually new fillings such as cotton and artificial fillers became common. In modern times most mattress use springs.
At the top of the mattress, to provide more support for the head, most people use a pillow. Also used is some form of covering blanket to provide warmth to the sleeper, often sheets, a quilt, or a duvet.
The bed frame may simply made of wood or metal, but many also use springs. Most expensive and bulky, but also strong and comfortable are box springs, a large mattress-sized box containing wood and springs.
Most countries have a standard set of 4 sizes of mattress. While the "Double" size appears to be standard between English speaking countries, based on the imperial measurement of 4 'This article is about a foot as a biological structure. For other uses of foot, see foot (disambiguation). The foot is a biological structure found in many animals that is used for locomotion. The plural of foot is feet and this pair is one of seven mutat 6 "An inch is an Imperial unit of length. Sweden also briefly had a "decimal inch" based on the metric system: see below for more. According to some sources, the inch was originally defined informally as the distance between the tip of the thumb and the firs by 6' 3" the others sizes tend to vary. The European sizes differ again being based on metric system.
| US | UK | Australia | Europe | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single, Twin | 39 "An inch is an Imperial unit of length. Sweden also briefly had a "decimal inch" based on the metric system: see below for more. According to some sources, the inch was originally defined informally as the distance between the tip of the thumb and the firs × 75" | 36" × 75" | 36" × 75" | 36" × 79" |
| 1 mFor other uses of "metre" and "meter", see Metre (disambiguation). The metre is the basic unit of length in the International System of Units (SI: Systeme International d'Unites). It is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in absolute vacu × 1.9 m | 0.9 m × 1.9 m | 0.9 m × 1.9 m | 0.9 m × 2 m | |
| Double, Full | 54" × 75" | 54" × 75" | 54" × 75" | 55" × 79" |
| 1.35 m × 1.9 m | 1.35 m × 1.9 m | 1.35 m × 1.9 m | 1.4 m × 2 m | |
| Queen, (King) | 60" × 80" | 60" × 78" | 60" × 80" | 63" × 79" |
| 1.5 m × 2.05 m | 1.5 m × 2 m | 1.5 m × 2.05 m | 1.6 m × 2 m | |
| King, (Super King) | 76" × 80" | 72" × 78" | 72" × 80" | 71" × 79" |
| 1.95 m × 2.05 m | 1.85 m × 2 m | 1.85 m × 2.05 m | 1.8 m × 2 m |
(Width by length. Metric sizes (US, UK, AUS) rounded to nearest half decimetre; inch sizes (European) rounded to nearest inch.)
The sizes in the UK, other than the Double, vary compared to the US sizes, being generally smaller. The US Queen corresponds to UK King and King to Super King.
The Australian Single is the same as in the UK while the Queen is the same as the US. The Australian King size differs again, having the length of the US King but the width of the UK Super King.
The European or continental basic sizes are similar to the UK but have a set length of 2 metres (width by length, Imperial sizes rounded):
These dimensions are for the mattress – the actual bed frame will be a little bigger in order to fully encompass and support the mattress. The thickness of the mattress may vary considerably.
Other less common sizes are
US:
UK:
Australia:
Europe:
A king-sized bed differs from the other sizes in implementation, as it is not common to have a king-sized box spring; rather, two single-sized box springs are used under a king-sized mattress.