A Murphy bed is a bed that folds vertically or horizontally into a wall unit or cabinet when it is not in use, freeing the floor space it would otherwise occupy. It is also known as a wall bed, fold down bed or pull down bed. The mattress stays attached to the frame, held in place by straps or a retaining bar, and the whole assembly pivots on a hinge mechanism counterbalanced by springs or gas pistons.
The name comes from an early twentieth century patent for a folding wall bed. The principle has not changed: what has improved is the lifting mechanism, which on modern designs is smooth enough to operate with one hand.
Two systems dominate. Piston lift designs use gas struts, similar to those on a car boot, and give a light, controlled movement that is easy to adjust for different mattress weights. Spring mechanisms use tensioned coils and are usually more affordable, though they can require more force at the start of the lift and may need periodic tensioning.
Either way, the unit must be fixed securely. Most wall beds anchor into the wall, the floor, or both. This is not optional: the leverage generated when a bed swings down is significant, and a freestanding cabinet without fixing is unsafe. In a rented property, check what fixings you are permitted to make before committing.
Orientation matters too. Vertical designs fold along the head end and project further into the room when open, needing more depth. Horizontal designs fold along one long side, sitting lower and wider on the wall, which suits rooms with limited depth or a low ceiling under a sloping roof.
British housing stock includes a large number of flats, converted properties and small third bedrooms. A Murphy bed answers a specific problem in those spaces: a room that has to serve two functions at once. A home office that occasionally hosts guests, a studio flat where the sleeping area is the living area, or a small box room used for hobbies most of the year.
The gain is not marginal. A double bed occupies roughly 2.5 square metres of floor before walkways are added. Reclaiming that during the day changes what the room can do. A desk can sit where the bed lands, provided it is light enough to move, or the floor can simply stay clear for exercise, storage access or children playing.
The trade off is depth. A closed wall bed unit typically projects between 35cm and 45cm from the wall, which is comparable to a shallow wardrobe. That depth is permanent, so a Murphy bed makes most sense where the reclaimed floor area is worth more than the wall depth given up.
Measure the open footprint first, not the closed one. A vertical double wall bed projects around 210cm from the wall when down, plus a small clearance to operate the mechanism. Anything permanently sitting in that zone has to be movable: a lightweight coffee table, a nesting side table, or a rug that can stay put.
Ceiling height affects vertical designs, since the unit is tall when closed. Under a sloping ceiling, a horizontal fold is usually the workable option. Check radiator positions as well, because a wall bed cannot be fixed over one, and skirting boards may need a small scribe or spacer for the unit to sit flush.
Lighting deserves early thought. Once the bed is down it often covers a socket, so wall lights positioned above the open mattress line, or a plug point placed to one side, keep bedside lighting practical. Our modern wall lights UK sale selection includes slim designs suited to that position.
The point of a wall bed is flexibility, so the surrounding furniture should be movable or dual purpose. Nesting tables slide out of the way in seconds and stack neatly against a wall. Our modern nest of tables UK sale range works well in rooms where the layout changes daily.
Seating with storage inside earns its place twice over: somewhere to sit during the day and somewhere to keep bedding when the bed is up. Foot stools and storage benches from our modern foot stools UK sale selection do that job without adding visual bulk.
For a studio or open plan space, a low sideboard along the opposite wall gives storage without blocking the bed’s swing zone. Our modern sideboards UK sale range includes shallow depths that suit narrow rooms.
Not every mattress suits a wall bed. Weight limits are specified by the mechanism, and an unusually heavy mattress will unbalance the lift. Depth is limited too, commonly to around 25cm, because a deeper mattress will not sit within the cabinet when folded.
Foam and hybrid mattresses generally cope better than traditional sprung ones with being stored on edge, since they are lighter and hold their shape. Whatever the type, the mattress needs securing with the supplied strap so it does not shift during the fold. Airing matters as well: leaving the bed down for a while each week helps moisture escape, which is worth doing in any UK bedroom but especially in a mattress that spends most of its time enclosed.
It suits rooms with a genuine dual function and a wall long enough to take the unit. It is less compelling in a dedicated bedroom, where a conventional frame with drawer or ottoman storage gives the same practicality with none of the daily operation. It is also worth weighing against alternatives: a sofa bed keeps seating available all day, and a compact single frame may simply solve the problem in a box room.
If you are comparing options, our modern sofa beds UK sale selection covers the seating led approach, while the full modern beds UK sale range shows what conventional frames offer in smaller sizes. You can shop modern furniture UK with free delivery to most UK mainland postcodes at Furniture in Fashion.
The wall behind a Murphy bed does more work than any other part of the installation, so it pays to identify what you are fixing into before you buy. Solid masonry, common in Victorian and Edwardian properties and in ground floor walls generally, is the most straightforward: heavy duty frame fixings or resin anchors give a very secure result.
Timber stud partitions, typical of internal walls in modern builds and loft conversions, need the fixings to land in the studs rather than the plasterboard between them. Studs usually sit at 400mm or 600mm centres, so locate them with a detector and plan the cabinet position around them rather than the other way round. Fixing into plasterboard alone, even with heavy duty anchors, is not adequate for the leverage a wall bed generates.
Dot and dab walls, where plasterboard is stuck to blockwork with adhesive, are the trickiest, because there is a void of 10mm to 25mm behind the board. Fixings must reach through into the blockwork and be long enough to grip properly. Where the wall type is uncertain, or where you are dealing with a party wall, a floor fixed installation removes the doubt entirely.
Depth gets all the attention, but the arc the bed travels through as it lowers is the constraint people miss. A vertical wall bed sweeps upward and outward as it closes, and the highest point of that arc is above the top of the closed cabinet.
As a rough guide, a vertical unit around 210cm tall needs a little extra clearance above for the movement, so a standard 2.4m ceiling is comfortable while a 2.2m ceiling in a converted space may not be. Coving, a boxed in beam, or a downlight positioned close to the wall can all interrupt the arc even where the raw ceiling height is sufficient.
Under a sloping ceiling the arc becomes the deciding factor. Horizontal wall beds, which fold along one long edge and stand around 110cm to 130cm tall when closed, are usually the only workable choice in a room with a low eaves line, and they suit attic bedrooms and dormer rooms well.
A wall bed only earns its keep if closing it is quick, and bedding is what determines that. The mattress stays strapped in place, so sheets, a duvet and one or two pillows can be left made up and lifted with the bed. Anything more than that has to come off each time, which is exactly the friction that leads to a wall bed being left down permanently.
Keep the layers simple: a fitted sheet, a duvet in a cover, and pillows that sit within the retaining strap. Heavy throws, bolsters and stacks of cushions all need storing separately, so a nearby ottoman or a shelf inside the cabinet surround is worth planning in from the start.
The retaining strap itself needs checking periodically, as does the tension on the mechanism. A bed that has become heavy to lift or that no longer holds closed usually needs adjustment rather than replacement, and most manufacturers supply an adjustment key with the unit. Keep it somewhere you will find it again.
Yes. Murphy bed, wall bed, fold down bed and pull down bed all describe the same format: a bed that folds into a cabinet or wall unit.
Typically 35cm to 45cm from the wall, similar to a shallow wardrobe. Check the specific model, since headboard and mechanism design affect it.
Comfort comes from the mattress rather than the mechanism. A quality mattress within the weight and depth limits of the unit sleeps the same as one on a conventional frame.
Almost always yes, into the wall, the floor, or both. The fixing counteracts the leverage created as the bed folds down and is essential for safe use.
Usually yes. A retaining strap holds the mattress and bedding in place, though bulky duvets may need removing on shallower units.
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