Installing a wall bed (aka Murphy Bed) is the biggest impact you can make to your square footage. I’ve purchased and installed three wall beds in three different apartments and here’s what I’ve learned along the way.

Benefits of a wall bed

More space

Wall beds free up an incredible amount of space. For example, a queen size bed takes up 35 square feet. In my 400 square foot apartment, that’s almost 10% of my whole space. Not to mention, it’s prime real estate, especially when you consider that fact that your bed goes unused for most of the day. Meanwhile all your other furniture goes unused while you’re sleeping!

And by the way, wall beds aren’t just for studios! Even if you have a one bedroom, converting your bedroom into a office, yoga studio, or project space by day can make your home feel twice as big.

Keep your Mattress

Wall beds use a regular mattress and the mattresses are sold separately. Most wall beds I’ve seen take any standard mattress size—twin up to king! That said, some have a thickness limit so be sure to check for that. Because wall beds use a regular mattress (unlike a pull-out couch) it’s as comfortable as a regular bed. We opted for the Green Mattress by Avocado. We opted for a queen mattress without the pillow top and have found it to be very comfortable and breathable.

About the Green Mattress: Natural mattress features GOLS organic certified latex, GOTS organic certified wool, GOTS organic certified cotton and up to 1,414 pocketed support coils. No polyester, polyurethane foams or toxic fire retardants are used.

Easy to put up and down

While elderly and young people shouldn’t operate a wall bed, able-bodied adults can operate them easily. Springs can be added or removed to adjust the tension and effort required to put the bed up and down. When you’re ready to put the bed up, just remove the pillows and clip the mattress strap. Then lift to stow the bed, tuck the pillows, and close the doors.

Takes less time than you think

Once you get the hang of it, putting the bed up and down takes just two minutes!

You feel accomplished in the morning

I never used to make my bed. My mantra was, “why make it if I’m just going to mess it up again?” But the extra square footage entices me to make the bed each morning and once I do, I feel a small sense of accomplishment. Once the bed is up, I feel more energetic and motivated to get started with my day.

Where to buy a wall bed

Top choice

Our favorite so far is the Next Bed from Murphy Bed Depot (I’m not getting paid to say that, it’s actually our favorite). Here’s why it’s the best wall bed we’ve had so far:

The mechanism for the mattress is separate from the enclosure, meaning if you move and the enclosure gets damaged, you don’t have to get a whole new mechanism. Cheaper and greener!
There’s plenty of room for your mattress, blankets, and pillows. Other beds I’ve had couldn’t handle a big blanket in the winter and didn’t have a place for pillows.
Tucking the blanket is easier because there is no lip on the mattress frame. Other beds I’ve had had a lip around where the mattress laid on the slats making it hard to tuck in the blankets.

Show rooms

If you prefer to see wall beds in person before purchasing, you can find a showroom near you. Here are the two I’ve been to:

San Francisco Bay Area: SF Murphy Beds / Wall Beds n More in the Design District
New York City: Murphy Bed Express at 19th St & 8th Ave

The cost to buy a wall bed

Total cost of the next bed

For our most recent wall bed, the cost breakdown looked like this:

The Next Bed Wall Mounted Murphy Bed Frame $489
The St Augustine Next Bed Cabinet $1,199
Bed size - Queen $250
Bed cabinet depth - 20 inches $100
Installation $500

TOTAL: $2,538

Return on Investment

Getting a wall bed is definitely a big purchase, especially for renters. One thing to consider, however, is how much more you would spend on rent to have an extra bedroom. For example, in our building upgrading from a studio to a one bedroom would cost $800 per month, or $9,600 per year. If on average, you get three years of use out of your wall bed, your $2,538 investment into making your studio livable could save you $26,262 in extra rent over the three years. In my case, the wall bed paid for itself in 3.2 months ($2,538 divided by $800).

Put another way, it takes about 3 minutes to make the bed and put it up each morning, which multiplied by 30 days a month, is 105 minutes. Upgrading to a one-bedroom would be $800 per month. $800 divided 105 minutes = $7.61/per minute. Times 60 minutes = $457 per hour. I make pretty good money in my day job, but not THAT much. So with that math I’m very happy to put the bed up each morning 🤑

You can explore this idea of calculating the costs of different sized apartments in this article:

Outsource the jobs of a bigger apartment — Don’t Get a Bigger Apartment, Outsource Instead

When you tell yourself you need a bigger apartment, what you should be asking instead is: what does a bigger apartment get me? How much would it cost to get those things only when I need them?

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Considerations when buying

Measure your mattress

Check the size and and measure the thickness of your mattress. Typically 13 inches is the thickness limit, but it depends on the model of your wall bed.

Measure your space

Measure your space vertically to make sure the bed will have room to come down. A common pitfall is a ceiling light or fan getting bumped when you put the bed up.

Understand hardware types

Floor-mounted or wall-mounted indicates where the wall bed will be secured. The most common is wall-mounted.

Air springs (pistons) vs. metal springs

Air springs: are more complicated to replace
Metal springs: the more there are the lighter the bed will be to put away, but the lighter it is, the more tension there is on the wall or floor where it’s mounted.

Stowing the bed

How easily you can tuck in the blanket? Some have a lip that the mattress drops into and it makes tucking challenging.
Will there be room for thicker blankets in the winter?
Where will you store the pillows?

Design choices

There are many choices for material and finish. Particle board is the cheapest and looks fine, but keep in mind it’s for a one time install only. If you plan on moving it, invest in hardwood.

Built in shelving and lighting
Headboard
Finish
Knobs

I chose the Leticia Knob from Anthropologie.

Installing your wall bed

Informing your landlord

To tell or not to tell, that is the question! In our 240 square foot studio, the landlord encouraged wall beds. In the other two apartments, we quietly installed the wall bed without issue.

Hire a professional for installation

As you can see, there are a lot of pieces and it’s a two-person job. These two contractors install wall beds often and it took them 3 hours of non-stop work. I highly recommend paying a professional to install it right the first time. The supplier usually can recommend a contractor for your area. You can vet them a bit by asking how many wall beds they’ve installed and what types of wall materials they’re familiar with. When you schedule the installation, be sure to let them know what kind of wall you have (dry wall, plaster, concrete etc.).

If you live locally in the NYC area, the contractor we used is JS Installations and they did a fantastic job!

Be present during the installation

I also highly recommend that you be present during install. As you can see, I was home getting work done squeezed between the mattress and the window and I took a call in the hallway.

There are a few critical choices to make that are hard to decide on ahead of time. Mainly, where exactly the wall bed will be placed, keeping in mind the space for getting in and out of bed and any outlets that might be blocked. Yes, you can measure and have a plan, but for a piece this big, it might look different than you visualized and it’s best to get it right the first time.

During the installation

If your power outlet is going to be blocked, it’s possible the contractor can cut a whole in your bed frame to allow access for the plug.
It’s likely your contractor will ask to remove the baseboard. This is so the wall bed can be mounted flush to the wall rather than over the baseboard. If they don’t bring it up, you should. You can store the unused baseboard discreetly on top of the bed and then replace it when you move out.
For wall beds with adjustable springs, you should test out the different number of springs with the installation contractor to find what’s most comfortable for you. Keep in mind the easier it is, the more tension that’s on the wall.

Using (and loving!) your wall bed

Putting it up

Remove the pillows and make your bed (mine tuck into the frame).
Clip the mattress strap to keep the mattress in place when you pull it back down.
Use proper form—straight back, bent knees, and butt out!
Close the doors.

Putting it down

Open the doors and make sure the space is completely clear—you don’t want to be holding up the bed off the floor and trying to move a chair at the same time.
Using both hands, pull the bed away from the wall and lower it to the floor.
Be sure the legs are down to support the bed (some wall beds fold out on their own, others you do yourself).
Unclip the mattress and replace your pillows.

When you move

The best case scenario is that you sell it to the next tenant. We’ve pulled this off for both of the apartments we’ve left. Otherwise, hire someone to uninstall it (preferable the same person who installed it) and replace the baseboard. Lastly, do a bit of patch and paint and no one will be the wiser!

Getting a wall bed is an upfront investment in time and cost, but having the extra space is totally worth it!

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Everything There Is to Know About Wall Beds