You’ve just moved into a new house. It’s a great place but you don’t have much room in the bedrooms to speak of. Your bed takes up most of yours and that’s before you move in your dresser and other furniture.
You should consider trading up for a murphy bed. If you’re not familiar with what they are, it’s a bed that stays stored away in the wall until it’s time to sleep. There are many different versions of them out there that you can choose from.
It can be difficult to find the best murphy bed for you. To help you out, here’s a quick buying guide.
- Lift Mechanisms
You’ll be opening and closing your murphy bed every night. It needs to be easy for you to do or else bedtime will be tedious. Your options are a position lift or a spring lift.
Piston Lift
You don’t want the whole neighborhood to know you’re going to bed. You won’t have to worry about this if your murphy bed works off a piston lift. It’s quietest of the two.
It’s also the most durable. It will last for quite a while and most of them come with a warranty.
Spring Lift
Spring lifts are a bit noisy so you may want to put it down before everyone else in the house decides to go to bed. While they can last a while, you’ll have to tighten them every five years or so.
- Vertical or Horizontal
Murphy beds can be opened in two different ways. Vertically or horizontally. There are pros and cons to both of them.
Every murphy bed was originally designed to open vertically. It’s a good option if the room the bed is in has a high ceiling. The bed also won’t take up as much floor space when it’s opened this way.
Horizontal beds will take up a little more space when they’re opened but they are the best option for tight spaces with low ceilings.
- Free-Standing Bed
If you’re renting an apartment or home, chances are your landlord will have something to say about you installing stuff in the walls. They want it to look the same when you leave as it did when you arrived.
In these situations, you can go with a free-standing murphy bed. These require no fastening or mounting of any kind.
They look like regular pieces of furniture until bedtime. For example, a desk that can flip into a bed.
- Built-In Murphy Bed
Built-in murphy beds are built into the wall or behind pieces of furniture. Think a sofa attached to the wall that turns into a bed. The only downside to these models is that they’re a permanent fixture of the home.
If you have to move for any reason you won’t be able to take the bed with you. If you know you’re going to be staying in your home for a long while, you can view these options.
- Murphy Bunk Beds
Kids need all the space to run around and play that they can get. If you have two children who share a room, you can maximize their space by getting them pull-out murphy bunk beds.
They can stay pushed in during the day so they can play and pulled out at night so they can sleep.
- Materials
Now that you know what styles of murphy bed you can get, let’s go over materials for the frame. The original models used metal frames, but there are more options nowadays.
Solid Wood
Solid wood is the most common material used in all beds, including murphy beds. It’s sturdy so you can count on it holding up for a while.
The only thing you need to look out for is warping. Even the most solid wood may start to warp over time.
Plywood
Plywood beds are made from several layers of wood. It won’t warp like hardwood, but they have knots. These knots can make the bed vulnerable to several structural weaknesses.
Particleboard
Particleboard is made from bits of compressed wood. It’s hard to tell though because it looks and feels like regular old wood.
This is a cheaper option, but you may find yourself needing to buy a new bed later. Particleboard isn’t as sturdy as some of the other materials we’ve mentioned.
MDF
Like particleboard, MDF is made from bits of chopped up wood. It’s chopped up into finer pieces, so it makes it a little denser and a lot stronger. You won’t have to worry as much about replacing it down the line.
- Price
Murphy beds are a bit more expensive than your standard bed and bedframe. You could end up paying $3,000 or so for a queen-size.
It’s safe to say that when you’re buying a bed (or any other big-ticket item) you should ask about a warranty. Warranties on murphy beds range between 30 days and a lifetime.
Buying the Best Murphy Bed for a Great Night Sleep
Does your room not have enough space for a queen-sized bed? A murphy bed is your solution.
We hope you’re able to use this guide to find the best murphy bed so you don’t have to compromise comfort for space. By the way, if you are looking to move to a new home at an affordable price, make sure you check out this post on how to compare moving services.
Need more space-saving ideas? Check out our blog daily for more great homeowner tips.
I love that murphy beds are making a trendy comeback these last few years!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com