Five Space-Saving Alternatives to a Murphy Bed

Mark Twain's classic advice to buy land, they're not making it anymore" is evergreen, but for a lot of modern folks there's a variation that hits home: Buy a house with more rooms, because it's hard to add them later. About 18% of homeowners feel their home is too small, which often leads to hybrid spaces-rooms that have to do double (or triple!) duty as a guest room and an office, storage area, playroom, or some other purpose.

If you find yourself needing to use a guest room or bedroom for a secondary purpose, setting up the space can be a challenge-having a bed in the middle of your office can feel crowded (and make those Zoom calls kind of awkward), for example. The classic solution to a hybrid bedroom space is a Murphy bed that folds out from the wall. The built-in nature of the Murphy bed offers clean lines and a quick transformation when you need the bed-but Murphy beds don't work for every space. If you need a bed that goes away but a Murphy bed doesn't solve your problem, here are some alternatives.

Ceiling beds

Perfect for: When you need every inch of floor space.

Murphy beds fold up into the wall, freeing up floor space when you need it-but if your guest room or hybrid bedroom is a very small space, even that might not be workable. If you need every bit of space in there, a bed that rises up to the ceiling might be a better choice, because it clears all the floor space for other uses until you need the bed, which then lowers into place.

These kinds of beds are hard to find in the United States, however. Ori creates slick, app-controlled beds that float up to the ceiling, but you can usually only find them in custom-designed apartments and can't easily buy them individually. Bedaway makes terrific ceiling beds, but doesn't have any resellers in the U.S. But you can find these kinds of beds if you look for them, and it might be worth it if you have a tiny space.

Bean bag bed

Perfect for: Kids' playrooms.

If the hybrid space you need to double as a bedroom is where the kiddos go to burn off their excess energy, a bean bag chair is a perfect piece of furniture. With no sharp edges and a pliable nature, the bean bag is perfect for kids to lounge in, jump on, and use any way they see fit. A bean bag bed is an awesome alternative for these kinds of spaces, because it does all the bean baggy stuff admirably, and then disgorges a perfectly nice bed any time you need it. It's ideal for creating a guest bedroom without losing that critical kids' space.

Cabinet bed

Perfect for: When a built-in is a bad idea.

Sometimes a Murphy bed is the right idea, but you may not want to make a permanent change to the space (or can't if you're renting). In those situations, a cabinet bed-essentially a freestanding Murphy bed as a piece of movable furniture-is the right way to go. These beds double as useful storage when not in use, and can be transported to a new house if you move, without risking your security deposit.

Horizontal Murphy

Perfect for: When you have low ceilings, like in a basement.

If you like the idea of a Murphy bed or a cabinet bed but you don't have the ceiling height for a traditional one (often the case in finished basements), a horizontally oriented twin-size Murphy or cabinet bed can save the day. Because these beds slide out sideways they only need a few feet of vertical clearance, so even your basement with the seven-foot ceilings will work.

Loft bed

Perfect for: When you don't want to transform every evening.

One drawback of any retractable or hidden bed is the labor involved in deploying them. Pulling a bed down might not seem like a lot of work, but if you have to do it every single day it can become tedious, especially if you have to re-arrange and clear out the room every time you do it. A lofted bed is a good compromise in those situations-it's a permanent bed, so there's no need to pull it out and put it up, but it preserves the floor space below for any other use.