Murphy beds—also called wall beds, foldaway beds, or pull-out beds—have served as a space-saving solution for over a century. They allow a single room to serve multiple purposes, transforming a living area into a bedroom or a home office into a guest room without permanent trade-offs. The name comes from William Lawrence Murphy, who made the design widely known in the early 1900s, though he wasn’t the original inventor. Murphy initially wanted to call it “The Disappearing Bed,” but his surname became the lasting term.
These beds thrive in tight spaces where every square foot matters. In Small Grand Apartment by tsai Design, architects integrated one into an arched timber unit with a full-height mirror, using the underside as the bed’s base. A 29-square-meter home in São Paulo takes a similar approach, combining kitchen, dining, living, and sleeping areas through custom furniture. Architects Samuel Garcia and Delia Sloneanu explained their goal: “The design concept was to use custom furniture in order to create an open space. For this we teamed up with a product designer that helped us to conceive a set of slide and fold furniture pieces that can be used for multiple purposes but can also be hidden away when not in use.”
Where to hide a bed when space is scarce
In small apartments, a Murphy bed can determine whether a home feels functional or cramped. A 34-square-meter house in West Sussex features a two-meter-wide desk that converts into a twin bed with a single pull. The surface doesn’t need clearing—it folds down as-is. Elsewhere, an Italian architect designed a fold-out mattress behind a couch, adding sleeping space to a 49-square-meter seaside retreat without sacrificing living area.
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Such designs solve more than just spatial challenges. They eliminate the hassle of last-minute guest accommodations. Instead of dedicating an entire room to occasional visitors, a Murphy bed provides a comfortable solution that vanishes when unused. The compromise is minor: a few minutes of setup and no permanent loss of floor space.
Design has caught up with function
Early Murphy beds were purely practical, but today’s models go way further than just being a functional solution for small footprints; they also come in a variety of stylish designs that can discreetly blend with your home decor. The best designs make the bed nearly undetectable when stowed, preserving the room’s primary use.
As urban living spaces shrink, demand for Murphy beds rises. They’re no longer a last resort but a deliberate choice for homeowners who value flexibility and style. Whether concealed in a wardrobe, disguised as a desk, or hidden behind a mirror, these beds show that small spaces need not limit possibilities.
