One would think that there’s only so much one could do with a cramped studio apartment. In reality, it only takes one wall bed to unlock a bunch of possibilities. This article discusses the different types of Murphy beds and how one can use them to give one’s studio apartment a proper makeover.
Studio apartments or studio flats are basically one-room, one-bathroom apartments that act as one’s kitchen, dining room, bedroom, and entertainment area at the same time. Because these apartments only have one room, they’re cheaper than traditional apartments. One drawback to these modern apartments is the limited space but this can easily be circumvented with clever furniture and storage solutions. One popular solution to this dilemma is the Murphy bed.
What You Need to Know About the Murphy Bed
Murphy beds were created in the 1990s by William Lawrence Murphy. Also known as wall beds, they’re pretty much like your regular bed, except that they’re hinged at one end to attach to a wall. When it’s not in use, the wall bed is kept hidden in its frame or even in a wall. When it’s time for bed, all you’d need to do is to simply pull it from the unhinged end, set it down, and you’d have a full-sized bed ready for use.
Types of Murphy Beds
When Murphy created these beds, his intention was to be able to quickly convert his one-room apartment from a bedroom into a space where he can entertain his guests. He didn’t need to wow his guests with an extravagant setup so, naturally, the wall bed he created was made to be functional and look as simple as possible.
Today, wall beds go from simple ones to luxurious ones that have numerous other designs and functions other than just being beds.
With so many different designs today, the easiest way to differentiate these beds is by their orientation or configuration. Regardless whether they’re simple or luxurious, wall beds can only be either vertical wall beds or horizontal wall beds.
Vertical wall beds are those that are hinged from the top part or head of the bed and pulled down by the foot or the lower end of the bed. While they normally don’t take up much wall space, they take up more floor space than horizontally oriented wall beds.
Horizontal wall beds, in contrast, are hinged from either the left or right side of the bed and pulled down by the opposite side. Depending of the width of the bed itself, these beds don’t usually take up much floor space. They do, however, require enough wall space to accommodate the bed’s length.
Pros and Cons of Murphy Beds
Murphy beds are great for converting any space into a cozy sleeping area. And while they do have their benefits, they’re not for everyone.
Pros
- Compared to regular beds, wall beds take up less space. They’re even save more space than sofa beds.
- When not being used as beds, they can be used as other functional furniture pieces for one’s home. The most common example of this would be to use a Murphy bed as storage furniture, but certain configurations can allow these beds to be turned into desks or dining tables, too!
- Murphy beds can be set up and put away in a matter of seconds.
- Simple Murphy beds are affordable.
Cons
- Having to set up and keep a wall bed takes extra work and effort compared to just using a regular bed.
- Installing a wall bed in a temporary or rented space isn’t ideal as you’ll be forced to go through the effort of taking them down should you move out.
- Although wall beds are relatively safe, those of poor quality may pose some safety risks to its users. Even a good wall bed, if not installed, secured, or used properly, could collapse on its user and cause harm. A number of injuries or even deaths by wall bed have been reported since its creation.
- Wall beds, due to the way they are used, are more susceptible to repairs than regular beds are.
Transforming Studio Apartments with Murphy Beds
Wall beds are so versatile that they can be incorporated in many studio apartment designs to allow for a quick and easy room transformation. Here are some design ideas that show off just how versatile these wall beds are:
Home Office
If you work from home or offer professional services, switching your regular bed to a wall bed will allow you to transform your space into a home office.
Your wall bed, when not in use, can be concealed by a bookcase in which you can keep your books and journals along with other things you use for work.
In the same way, you may opt to conceal your wall bed with a book shelf with built-in protectors that keep your books from falling off when you switch from shelf to bed.
If you’re really pressed for space, you can get a horizontal wall bed and set it to turn into a desk when not in use.
Hobby Room
Rooms dedicated to the arts would require a lot of storage space. Painters would need a place to store their paints and musicians need space to safely store their instruments.
Murphy beds can be set to provide its users with tons of storage space. Even when used as a bed, they can come with drawers and shelves. When stored, they can be concealed in a usable cabinet, giving users much needed storage space.
Gaming and Entertainment Area
Gamers, movie buffs, and music lovers can dedicate their entire studio apartments to their interests and still have a space to sleep if they use a Murphy bed.
More luxurious Murphy beds can come with extravagant upgrades like built-in sound systems, which make them perfect for gaming rooms and entertainment rooms.
Murphy beds that change into storage furniture pieces are also great for these rooms as they provide storage space for the user’s games, records, and DVDs.
