Ask the CL owner of the regency headboard if they could measure the width at the widest part of the headboard, which is where the headboard curves out on each side just below the top line. I am betting that it will give you a couple of inches of width on each side which will balance the difference between the 54" width of the full mattress and the 60" of the queen. You will also be able to disguise the difference a bit by how you place the pillow shams on the head of the bed.

I forgot to add ONE HUGE DETAIL!!! The mattress height from the top of the mattress to the floor is 29" with a steel frame that is 8" from the floor. Boxspring is 9", mattress is 12." So the bottom of the bottom of the mattress sits 8" from the floor. Most complete beds with a head and footboard are 10+" from the bottom of the boxspring. I would be adding at least two additionalinches to the bed height! That is my DILEMMA! This is what happens when I peruse the forum prior to having my morning coffee!!! Sorry I inadvertently left out this big detail. That is the reason I do not think I can use a foot-board. I don't want a step stool (or ladder -haha) to get into the bed! I know the style of bed I want, but the challenges lies in trying to find that bed with a frame that is less than 10" from the floor.

I've linked below my favourite bedroom set from a pine & oak shop near us - we purchased new livingroom furniture from them this past spring and plan on buying the bedroom set from them in a year or two (need to save some money first!). I just love this set because of the high headboard and low footboard - it's a queen shown in the pic but easily imagined with a king which is what we have and our bed is screaming for some height as it too looks really wide in our room. tess Here is a link that might be useful: bedroom set

Thanks so much for all the ideas! I'm a little skittish about anything DIY; I've seen the Pinterest tutorials but I've got a long list of projects that need to be done whereas this one seems like something I should shop for! @aprilneverends, I love all those ideas - if only I could afford one of those cool RH beds (of course if I could, I would probably have a house with ginormous rooms for kids and this wouldn't be a concern.) @lilysroom & @robo & @chibimini - you have me thinking hard about the right bed size. He's the tallest kid in his school and while that may taper off eventually it's a decent bet he'll be over 6' at minimum. So the length of a queen bed might be more sensible. We had one in there when it was a guest room (pre kid #2) and his other furniture is pretty slim so I'm sure I could fit one. We're putting hardwood floors upstairs in the next month, so my hope is try to coordinate this and minimize the amount of furniture the guys have to move as they install. This is his messy day-before-school starts room; the other wall has a very shallow, tall bookshelf: