If you want to upgrade your bedroom at home, you shouldn’t skimp on opulence and furnishings. The focus of a worthy refurnishing is usually the bed. The motto here is wider, longer and higher quality. There is a good reason why spoiled sleepers prefer a king-size bed or a queen-size bed. You can find out exactly what that is in this article.
What do the terms kingsize and queensize mean?
In the German-speaking world, this is first and foremost a comfortable double bed with a one-piece mattress. Such a bed is usually noticeably large, wide and luxurious.
It is common to set up the king-size bed or queen-size bed as a box spring bed. In this case, two special boxes with one mattress on each side or one continuous mattress are overlaid. Then comes the obligatory topper. This overlay works like a continuous mattress and provides that sublime feeling of lying in such a box spring bed. In American box spring beds, the topper is usually integrated into the mattress.
The advantage of the construction: the king-size bed is inimitably comfortable and convenient. It is particularly suitable for tall sleepers. One can justifiably claim to spend the night here like a king.
Different spellings – one meaning:
According to dictfurniture, both terms – kingsize and queensize – often appear in different spellings. Sometimes with hyphen and capitalized (king size), sometimes without hyphens, written together and small (kingsize), but also with hyphen and upper and lower case (queen size). They all have one thing in common: They are used as designations for measurements. There is no entry for queensize.
How big is a king or queen bed?
In Germany there is no binding size for the external dimensions. The term kingsize primarily covers those beds that have a minimum width of 190 cm and a minimum length of 200 cm. Larger beds that are extra long and extra wide are also advertised as kingsize. That is why in this country beds with a lying area of 200 × 200 cm, 200 × 210 cm and 200 × 220 cm are usually referred to as king-size beds. By the way, the American dimensions for kingsize are 76 × 80 inches (corresponds to 193 × 203 cm).
The German size for a queen-size bed is also relatively imprecise, because the American size of 60 × 80 inches (corresponds to 152 × 203 cm) does not exist as a common bed size. Freely interpreted, queen-size includes all double beds that are smaller than a king-size bed but offer comparable comfort. Often sleeping places with a lying area of 140 × 200 cm and 160 × 200 cm are counted among the queen-size beds.
What does an American bed look like?
As already mentioned, it is usually a box spring bed, which can be made like a high-quality upholstered bed, for example. The headboard is then provided with the same cover as the mattress and substructure. All styles are possible in the design. The king-size box spring bed can be individually modern, rustic or purist. Matching cushions are often offered to decorate the lying surface.
Another form of American king-size beds is the use of a lounger with a box spring structure, which is placed in front of an upholstered wall panel. In many American households, it is also common to adapt the panel or the head of the bed to the wall design of the room so that the bed fits perfectly into the bedroom.
The origin of king and queen beds
The furniture originally comes from America. Here, narrower and shorter beds are actually normal. Expensive hotels then began to offer extra wide and long double beds as an exclusive feature. These box spring beds, optimized in terms of size, were called “King” or “Queen” – to indicate a supposedly noble origin.
Worth knowing: The German standard dimensions are calculated a bit more generously per se. A normal sized bed in Germany is usually 200 centimeters long and is therefore identical to an American king bed. That is why it is now common for us to offer beds with a little more width and length than a king-size or queen-size bed – simply to emphasize the added comfort.
Bed sizes – be careful with hotel bookings
Different countries – different views. In particular, people who book their hotel online should pay attention to the following terms:
Common names and sizes for hotel beds:
- King Size – USA: In the USA, a king-size bed is a double bed measuring 76 × 80 inches. According to the European size, the bed is 193 × 203 cm. So there is enough space to sleep comfortably on the mattress with two people.
- California King Size: Compared to the Kingsize, this is a somewhat narrower, but significantly longer bed size of 72 × 84 inches, which corresponds to a metric lying surface of 183 × 213 cm.
- Queen size – USA: An American queen size bed, on the other hand, is 60 × 80 inches. Converted it has a width of 152 and a length of 203 centimeters. It is ideal for single sleepers. When worked as a box spring bed, such a queen-size bed is particularly comfortable.
- King Size – GB: An English king size bed is 152 cm wide and 200 cm long. So if you make a booking in a British hotel, you should note that, strictly speaking, it is an American queen-size bed. One person has enough space available, it could be tight for two.
- French bed: You have to be careful if a French bed is offered in the hotel. It is only 140 centimeters wide and is therefore used more as a comfortable single bed.
- Twin size: The so-called twin size bed also regularly causes confusion in the hotel room. This is a single bed measuring just 99 × 191 centimeters. If you book a double room with a twin-size bed, you will find two separate single beds in the room.
- Twin XL Size: In the meantime, slightly longer twin-size beds have become established, which are summarized under the term Twin XL. These are two single beds measuring 99 × 203 cm.
- Full Bed: German vacationers always get into trouble when they have booked an American bed with the term “Full”. Then it is a supposed double bed, which is actually only a meager 137 centimeters in width. The length is also rather short at 191 centimeters.
