It would also depend on the style of your bed/headboard.

I have a window over my king bed!

Is there a rule of thumb on determining the correct size artwork to go over a piece of furniture or is it just a matter of taste or aesthetics?

No rules when it comes to artwork -- if you love it -- hang it! Queen size beds are about 5' Wide -- depending on your headboard ... you should be fine. :)

I have always had the same question. However, I have noticed while looking at magazines and design shows that there doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule. I see small pieces of artwork over beds often that look really neat! For example I noticed in one of the bedrooms that Sarah Richardson decorated in her farmhouse, had a very small round picture over a full or queen bed. It looked great!

I agree with Pines that if you love it and you think it looks ok, hang it.

I say it's a matter of taste and aesthetics. I, for instance, have a queen-sized sleigh bed with an unusually high headboard, in a room with 8 foot ceilings. (I did not pick out our bedroom set and wouldn't have chosen this because I would actually like my bed to be under a window, but we'd have to go for an almost non-existent headboard to do that.) The size of the headboard makes hanging any artwork a challenge.... it all seems "out of balance" - too high up the wall. So, we have nothing. But I would not even hesitate to hang a large painting if the headboard were a bit lower. I think that you can hang a large piece of artwork in lieu of a high headboard.

** Just make sure it is securely hung so it doesn't fall on top of you while you sleep!

Also, my frame shop recommended plexiglass rather than regular glass in any frame over a bed.

How high is your ceiling?

I have read that the rule is to go by 3rds. So, the artwork should take up about 1/3 or 2/3 of the width of your headboard. But, that is just a guideline. Do a mockup with paper to see how you feel.

Thanks for all the input. Sounds like basically anything goes if you like the way it looks.

I think that the painting to bed ratio would be about 2/3, maybe a bit more but not much.

Our headboard is not high and it is an open weave style (cherry wood).

With the furniture, windows and doorways in the bedroom, there isn't much space left at all for artwork. So I want to make the space above the bed count.

DD2 just asked me to email her picture of her old townhouse - selling the artwork on a local FB trading page. It's about the size you're considering over a queen bed.

I used to have a large picture about the size of Allison's picture over my bed that I bought from an Estate sale and loved until I got new bedroom furniture and my headboard is so tall that now I have nothing over the headboard but I think about it all the time. I am thinking now of a few smaller pictures over my headboard so my 6 feet iron headboard can remain the star. I still have the beautiful flower picture that I have nowhere to hang.

Had a long narrow print over the bed for a few years and always felt the scale was off. I recently inherited a large oil painting that I placed in my dining room, so I relocated the old oil to my bedroom. I think it's much better in scale. No heavy glass either!

BEFORE

AFTER - Sorry for the ceiling shot...my bed is not made. :)

Newhomebuilder, I love the new picture over your bed that is the right size and looks so peaceful and goes so well with the colors in your room. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you. :)

nhb22 It looks great! Is this a queen size bed? What are the dimensions of your picture? thanks

gsciencechick Could you post a picture of your pictures over your bed? thanks