Murphy bed advice?
March 31, 2013 6:12 PM   Subscribe

Any advice on buying a Murphy bed?

I'm considering a Murphy bed. But since what I am seeing online is fairly spendy I thought I'd better seek counsel.

so..Do you have one? Where did you get it? Would you buy it again? Any issues with the bed after installing?

Also, any experience with the hardware kits?

Thanks!
posted by ian1977 to Home & Garden (8 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: I lived in an apartment with a Murphy bed that swung around a corner and then folded down. It was a bit creepy because I ended up sleeping with an open, empty closet behind my head. I couldn't control where the bed went in the room, and it was rather oddly placed. The foot of the bed didn't actually rest on the ground, which was amusing but sometimes annoying as the bed could bounce a bit.

I ended up buying a futon and using that instead, leaving the Murphy bed in the closet.
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:35 PM on March 31, 2013


Got one from Costco on sale for $1000 (delivery included - mattress not included). It took a few hours to install and guests have been happy to use it.
posted by aroberge at 6:38 PM on March 31, 2013


This is more or less what my bed looked like. A more conventional Murphy bed wouldn't end up with the weird closet behind the sleeper.
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:41 PM on March 31, 2013


Best answer: I had an apartment with an old Murphy bed and really disliked it. In addition to the weird open-closet thing that the corpse in the library mentions, I found it to be the opposite of convenient. I couldn't use the Murphy bed closet for storage, and I couldn't store anything under my bed if I wanted to ever put it away. And if I did put it away, it's not like I could have put anything in its place, because I'd just have to take it out again.

For context, this was a studio apartment, and I was the person using the bed. If you're getting a Murphy bed for guests, you probably won't have the same complaints.
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:26 PM on March 31, 2013


Best answer: I would definitely suggest getting the kind of murphy bed that is a stand-alone piece of furniture, and which, when folded up, looks a bit like a wide, shallow armoire.

That's the kind I have, and while I didn't pay for it or install it, it's easy to use, perfectly good to sleep on, and has no "weird open closet" issues.

As a counterpoint, Metroid Baby is right that it's not an ideal space saver, because you can't really store things under the bed, and it's not like you can have a whole room's worth of furniture in the room in addition to a murphy bed. It can be useful for other things, though. I like mine because I can stow my bed away to do projects or give my dog more space to romp, or to obscure the fact that you can see my bed from the front door and vice versa. But it's not a perfect solution.
posted by Sara C. at 8:49 PM on March 31, 2013 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I was going to build a Murphy bed in our guestroom/study, but before doing so, I did a bit of thinking. (Please note, we only use the bed occasionally for guests, not every night...that's an important consideration.)

Anyhow, my thinking led to the fact that in Murphy's time, there were no high quality inflatable mattresses. Murphy had to get rid of a fixed-size mattress, and he decided it store it vertically.

So I scrapped the Murphy bed idea for a corner couch that I built out of plywood, which I can convert to a very comfortable queen-size bed (for guests), using a high quality inflatable mattress.

If you need something for every night, that must be gone in the day, then my solution is most likely NOT for you.
posted by mbarryf at 6:37 AM on April 1, 2013


we only use the bed occasionally for guests, not every night...that's an important consideration

On the chance that you're considering a murphy bed for everyday use, definitely get one that uses a standard mattress, and wherein the mattress can be removed or replaced just like a regular bed.
posted by Sara C. at 10:03 AM on April 1, 2013


Response by poster: Thanks everyone!
posted by ian1977 at 7:51 PM on April 2, 2013


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