The Modern Murphy Bed Renaissance
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Design—and fashion—are circular in nature. Trends come, and go, and then come again.
So it is with the Murphy Bed, that bane of 1970s studio apartments. After a 30 year hiatus we are in the midst of a revival of beds that fold down from a wall. Except now a Murphy Bed is as likely to fold down from a ceiling or emerge from the back of a desk. And instead of the ugly wall monstrosity that reveals a lumpy mattress, today’s Murphy Beds are sleek, elegant and comfortable.
The difference between modern Murphy Beds and those of yesteryear has lead at least one website to call for these hidden beds to be called something else. “Flying beds” it suggests. Whatever moniker you want to use for them, here are some designs that caught Spot Cool Stuff’s eye:
Twirl Bed
Like a secrete door in some eccentric mansion, this bed spins out from behind a book case. The Twirl Bed is only 22 inches (56 cm) deep. And nine of those inches are reserved for the shelves! There’s an optional table that folds down from the middle of the shelf system. Available in twin and queen mattress sizes.
“The Tale” Computer Bed
Looking at this modern-minimalist computer desk and you’ll never know that it doubles as a bed. The twin mattress (no other sizes available) folds via gas pistons that dampen the weight as the bed is pulled down and assists with the lifting as you bring it up. We love how the bed can be folded up and down without clearing the items from the desk. Comes in six colors including walnut, cherry and maple.
Poppi
This bed emerges length-wise from underneath a shelf. When the bed is folded up the space it would occupies is home to a storage unit with two drawers and several shelves. Slide the whole storage unit via it’s railing rollers to snug fit under the desk and—viola—there’s no space for your bed.
Elevator Bed
How cool is this: A bed that emerges down from the ceiling!
This bed is designed to allow some to sleep on it at any height—you can lower it all the way to the floor or use it half way down, bunk bed-like. The installation, of course, is a tricky and expensive business. More installations of the Elevator Bed require adding substantial ceiling and wall reinforcements to your house.
The raising and lowering of the bed happens electronically. The mechanism for it can lift up to 900 pounds and is operated by remote control. If you are worried about accidentally smushing your overnight guests (or if you intend to) you’ll be happy (or sad) to know that the remote control includes a two-finger lock; also the bed will not move if it is holding more than 20 pounds (9kg) its empty weight.
Mr. Hide Sofa Bed
There are lots of sofas that fold open to make a bed. But how many sofas can fold out into a bunk bed with three mattresses? Only one that we know of: Mr Hide. It even includes a ladder. Available in four luscious colors: cream, sky blue, dark green and Bordeaux.
Dresser Cabinet Bed
If you’ve clicked through the “learn more” links for the above beds you’ll know that most are incredibly expensive (eg. $5,000+). Most also require time or great expense to install. If you needs, or budget, is more modest this handsome cabinet bed may do the trick. The drawer and door handles of this cabinet are for show only. They do, however, look realistic and hide any hint that there’s a bed inside.
Pet Foldaway
The Modern Murphy Bed Renaissance has not forgotten your pets. This affordable, attractive buffet cabinet encases a fold down bed for Fido. Available in a black and mahogany finish.
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The Shagalicious Sphere Bed
Throne Toilets & Coffin Beds – and other odd items sold on Amazon
Cool Websites For Home Remodeling & Redecoration
Our comments section is not hidden away. Leave your thoughts, easy for all to find, below:
January 23rd, 2013at 5:17 am(#)
we design, manufacture and distribute globally a fairly wide range of our own wall beds, with our USA partners. We will be happy to direct anyone interested in them to the nearest distributor, weherever you are. We have designs aimed at very small rooms, at cabinet makers wanting to extend their range of product use, hotels and projects and also DIY options which can be drop shipped.
If you are a distributor interested in a line like this please feel free to let us know. Contact details are on our website.
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November 7th, 2012at 6:06 am(#)
That twirl bed looks interesting! By the way, I like the moniker- flying bed. There is no perfect “moniker” describing those beds other than that.
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October 25th, 2012at 12:31 pm(#)
WOW! These are some cool nice bed. We are actually in the lookout for some murphy wall bed and we hope to get them soon.
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May 12th, 2010at 8:22 am(#)
WOW!!!! cool Nice ideas you provided in your post
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