10 Different Murphy Beds to Maximise the Use of Small Spaces: Best wall-beds with minimal footprint
Inspired by an episode of tiny house nation, we take a look ten Murphy beds and Murphy sofa beds to make the most of small bedrooms. If you are looking for inspiration, check out these clever options.
These Murphy beds are not only double beds at night but can be stored away or turned into a sofa, reducing the footprint needed for a full size bed. Two configurations are available, vertical which is more common or horizontal. Vertical Murphy beds are taller and require more headroom. Horizontal Murphy beds are wider and shorter perfect for small spaces with restricted headroom.
Some units are designed with storage cabinets on either sides. When closed, the bottom side of the bed are also designed to look like wardrobe doors concealing the fact that these are full size beds. Others are designed with hanging shelves and deployable work desk when closed. This allows it to be more than just a foldable bed.
Advanced bed frame, clever folding mechanisms and sturdy legs meant today’s purpose built murphy beds are reliable and dependable. For an even more compact design, choose one with foldable mattress. These are usually supplied with the frame. It would be sufficient as an occasional bed as such a mattress is sufficient but doesn’t offer the level of comfort you would get from a full size mattress.
10 Different Murphy Beds and Murphy Sofa Beds to Maximise the Use of Small Spaces
Unlike custom made Murphy beds featured in the show, these are ready made Murphy beds from the shops or online retailers. In this article, we explain the different Murphy bed and sofa bed configurations and list some fine examples we found.
- Murphy Vertical Beds
- Murphy Vertical Beds with Cabinets
- Murphy Horizontal Beds
- Murphy Horizontal Beds with Cabinets
- Murphy Compact Beds with Foldable Mattress
- Murphy Vertical Sofa Beds
- Murphy Vertical Sofa Beds with Cabinets
- Murphy Vertical L-Shaped Sofa Beds
- Murphy Vertical L-Shaped Sofa Beds with Cabinets
- Murphy Horizontal In-line Bed Sofa
In some cases, the Murphy Beds be it horizontal or vertical with cabinets are modular in design. These are simply Murphy beds with cabinet units attached to its sides. Same goes to Murphy Sofa Beds be it horizontal or vertical in orientation. These can be free standing or designed with cabinets on either sides.
1. Murphy Vertical Beds
First of all, the most common Murphy beds are those that drop vertically. They support full size mattress for a comfortable night’s sleep. Clever hinge, support and stand allows the bed to deploy with minimal effort. If you are short of space or just wish the guest bedroom could be so more than just a bedroom, the Murphy bed is for you. When closed, it appears to be a cabinet. As it stands up, it will require a bit more clearance from floor to underside. The Fianna Murphy Bed below is a fine example of a vertical Murphy bed. This bed needs a clearance of 9.75 feet. You also get a choice of sizes to accommodate a queen size or double size mattress.
2. Murphy Vertical Beds with Cabinets
Next you have the Murphy beds that deploy vertically often have expansion options to include cabinets on either sides. These can be open or closed shelves, slide out side tables, or full size wardrobes. This is perfect to complete the faux cabinet look which is the bed when folded up. This also means that both the Murphy bed and cabinet are co-ordinated in terms of design and colour bringing the bedroom furniture together. The first two photos, the Alejandra Daybed are our favourite in our examples of Murphy beds with cabinets. The next two pairs Walley Murphy Platform Bed and Jordan Storage Murphy Bed are based on the same bed but with different cabinet configurations. Wally Murphy Platform Bed comes with a combination of open shelves and drawers. In contrast, the Jordan Storage Murphy Bed only comes with open shelves.
3. Murphy Horizontal Beds
Then there is the Horizontal Murphy beds are great for long rooms or bedrooms which are rectangular in shape. A double bed Murphy works best in small narrow spaces. When closed it takes up little space. This can be great for the living room, play room, study or guest bedroom turning them into dual use. The Van Wyck Murphy Bed below is a good example of a Murphy Horizontal Bed.
An even cleverer way to make use of space is to choose a horizontal Murphy bed that comes with integrated work desk. The horizontal Murphy bed looks like an upright piano when closed and carries a work top that is kept horizontal all all times. This allows you to leave your work on the table, open the bed without things slipping of the work desk. When you are done, close the bed again to turn the unit back into your work desk with everything on the desk just as you’ve left it. See Melbourne Full Wall Bed below.
4. Murphy Horizontal Beds with Cabinets
In addition to the Horizontal Murphy Bed, two a few cabinet units in and you have a horizontal Murphy Beds with Cabinets. Rather, these are simply an extension of the horizontal in-line Murphy beds with added storage and cabinets. Again, these can be open or closed shelves. They are typically mounted on top of the bed storage to keep the footprint at a minimum. Given that they are high up, you would only use them to store occasionally used items. Otherwise, be sure to have small steps handy to take items down from the cabinet safely. See Adaline Folding Bed below as an example.
5. Murphy Compact Beds with Foldable Mattress
So far all the Murphy Beds we have seen uses full size mattresses. In contrast, there is a version of the Murphy Bed that uses foldable mattress to keep the entire Murphy Bed unit super compact. When closed, it is no bigger than a standalone drawer unit. In fact, it even comes with all the fittings, facia design and working handles to give you the impression that it is a storage drawer unit. When open, you will of course need to unfold the mattress over the frame. These are supplied with the compact Murphy Bed for design reasons so you will have no choice but to use the mattress supplied. Foldable mattress will never be as comfortable as a full size mattress so only use this as an occasional bed for guests. Below are three fine examples of compact Murphy beds; the Aucoin, Kimsey and Violetta. All of these come complete with queen size foldable mattresses.
6. Murphy Vertical Sofa Beds
A vertical Murphy Sofa Bed is the most basic of Murphy Sofa Beds. It just your standard sofa bed with a full size mattress. There are no storage units or cabinets on the sides but just as well as it will fit most spaces given is minimum foot print. Close the Murphy bed and turn it into a couch or sofa maximising the use of the space. Do watch out for the height clearance though when choosing one for your room.
7. Murphy Vertical Sofa Beds with Cabinets
If you have more floor space, consider a Murphy Vertical Sofa Bed with Cabinets. Like a sofa bed, when closed the bed lends itself as a seating area. The Magik Sofa Wall Bed below does have an advantage over other vertical Murphy sofa beds. The sofa will deploy automatically when the bed is lifted up the bed. There is no need to arrange the cushions. When The bed frame is dropped down, it even has storage for extra seat cushions or pillows. Note that on either side of the Murphy bed are storage cabinets that also double as side tables with slide out shelves.
Another vertical Murphy sofa bed is the Comfort Sofa Wall Bed below. Not only do you get a vertical Murphy Bed with storage cabinets but a full size self deploying sofa. There is even hidden storage on one side that doubles as a small side table for books.
8. Murphy Vertical L-Shaped Sofa Beds
A step up from an L-shaped sofa bed is an L-shaped sofa with a full size mattress. Not your regular roll out or fold flat sofa bed, it uses a Murphy bed fold down mechanism to support and store a full size queen mattress behind the sofa. When needed, simply remove the back rest and drop the bed over the sofa. The legs will automatically pop out to support the bed, in this case, it doubles as a shelf. The only awkward thing about this Murphy vertical L-shaped sofa bed that sleeps double is one of you will have to climb over the sofa to get into bed.
9. Murphy Vertical L-Shaped Sofa Beds with Cabinets
Just like the vertical Murphy Bed with L-shaped Sofa except this comes with co-ordinated cabinets. The white suite, the Adagio L-shaped sofa Murphy bed comes with companion cabinets and shelves in matching design.
This next L-shaped sofa vertical Murphy bed uses distinct colour schemes between the sofa and fold away bed making them look like two separate pieces of furniture. It isn’t until you deploy the Murphy Bed that you realise they are one.
10. Murphy Horizontal In-line Bed Sofa with Cabinets
Finally, we have a horizontally oriented Murphy Bed on top of a sofa. When deployed, the sofa will stay under the in-line bed but you are going to have to remove the back cushions first. These horizontal Murphy sofa beds are also accompanied by cabinets. Both the cabinets and sofa are unique. The idea is to make you think that they are two separate furnitures.
