In Britain, the accepted sizes for mattresses throughout the industry are set out as in the table below. These are the sizes for mattresses or traditional divan bases. Remember that if you decide on a bedstead, the overall sizes of the bedstead will be a bit larger to accommodate the mattress. This is to allow for the thickness of the bedstead legs and frame. As a general guide add on 5cms all round - this is 10cms in overall length of the mattress and 10cms in overall width of the mattress. However remember that 10cms is only a guide, as the thickness of frames varies.

However there are no uniform or universal standards of sizes or names for bed sizes that have to be used in law: the terms that are used are descriptive and there is no guarantee that the term King, for example, will be applied to exactly the same size product by different manufacturers. Metric sizes are not exactly the same as imperial sizes either.  The above list shows the most common sizes available.

Bed Sizes:  The illustrations below show the measurements of each 'bed' size, however please remember that the Size is Mattress size and may differ from the overall dimensions of the bed. 

All measurements are approximate.

Below illustrates the base drawer options for divan beds - note for single beds the drawers may be to either  side.