10×12 for a queen, desk and dresser With both sides of the bed open and 24″ walkways, a queen fits on its own from 10×10 up, and with a 48″ desk and a dresser from 10×12. A king takes a desk and a dresser from 11×12. Below those sizes, pushing one side of the bed against a wall is what makes room.

10×10

smallest room for a queen, both sides open

10×12

queen + desk + dresser

11×12

king + desk + dresser

Every layout in the library was solved by the planning engine behind our Bedroom Solver. For each room size we tried every common bed with and without a desk and a dresser, at three clearance settings, with the bed’s sides open or one side against the wall, plus different door and closet positions. More than 1,000 combinations in all. Each page shows the layouts that pass, the ones that don’t, and why.

What fits, size by size

Room	Sq ft	Queen	Queen + desk + dresser	King	King + desk + dresser
9×10	90	Side to wall	No	No	No
9×11	99	Side to wall	No	Side to wall	No
10×10	100	Fits	Side to wall	Side to wall	No
10×11	110	Fits	Side to wall	Fits	No
10×12	120	Fits	Fits	Fits	Side to wall
11×11	121	Fits	Side to wall	Fits	No
11×12	132	Fits	Fits	Fits	Fits
12×12	144	Fits	Fits	Fits	Fits

“Fits” means both sides of the bed open with 24″ walkways. “Side to wall” means it fits only with one side of the bed against a wall. Tested with a 30″ door near a corner of a long wall, a 48″ window opposite, a 48×24″ desk and a 32×18″ dresser.

How to use the library

Find your size. Rooms are rarely exact; if yours is 10′ 4″ × 11′ 9″, read the 10×11 page and expect a little more room.
Check the door and closet. Each page says what changed when we moved the door or added a closet.
Solve your exact room. Different door, window or furniture sizes? The Bedroom Solver takes your measurements and checks the same clearances.

The clearances we checked

These are the numbers behind every verdict on this page. The first is our standard setting; the second is the roomier one.

24″ · 30″

Beside and at the foot of the bed

30″ · 36″

To pull out a desk chair

34″ · 40″

In front of a dresser

full arc

Door swing, kept clear

24″ · 30″

Walking route from the door

The dresser number is a 16″ drawer pulled all the way out plus room to stand in front of it. The walking route is checked on a grid, so a layout fails if any piece of furniture can only be reached by squeezing.

Measure this first

Wall to wall in two places: rooms are rarely perfectly square.
Door width, and which way the door swings.
Where the closet is, and how its doors open.
Window sill height, and any radiator or heater below it.
Your bed frame’s outside size, not just the mattress.

Questions people ask

What’s the smallest bedroom for a queen bed?

In our tests, 10×10 with both sides of the bed open (one layout), or 9×10 with one side against a wall. With 22″ paths instead of 24″, a 9×11 also takes a queen on its own.

What’s the smallest bedroom for a king bed?

On its own, 10×11 (one layout). With a desk and a dresser and both sides open, 11×12. In a 10×12, a king takes a desk and a dresser only with one side against the wall.

What size bedroom fits a queen, desk and dresser?

10×12 is the smallest size we tested that fits all three with both sides of the bed open. In a 10×10, 10×11 or 11×11, one side of the bed has to go against the wall.

Why does an 11×11 fit less than a 10×12?

A bed is a rectangle. In a 10×12, the queen sits on the 10-foot wall and leaves 60″ past its foot: room for a desk and its chair. In an 11×11, it leaves 48″, which isn’t enough.

Solve your exact room

The Bedroom Solver takes your room, door, window and furniture, and finds the layouts that pass every clearance check.

Open the Bedroom Solver

Sources

ADA Standards, 806.2.3 Sleeping areas and 305.3 Clear floor space (U.S. Access Board)
Minimum dimensions in the IRC (Fine Homebuilding)
IRC R310 emergency escape openings (Linn County, Iowa)
Standard door width and height (Milgard)
Mattress sizes and dimensions (Amerisleep)