I was talking to a friend recently, and they had an intriguing question. We were on the topic of tiny houses (she has always been fascinated with them). With a tiny house, the goal is to have as much as possible in as small a space as possible. Now, this does not mean that you have as much ‘stuff’ in the house as possible, it is more about functionality. You want to have everything your family needs to live, but only have a physical footprint of 300 square feet (give or take).
With that in mind, her question was about the bedroom. She asked ‘can you have a bedroom which is not only a bedroom?’. Now, I love my own space, and I am all for having a separate space for my bedroom and everything else in my house. But, it got me thinking. What are your options when it comes to having a bed thrown into another room?
Are there tiny beds?
I looked online for a while and found that there are beds which are specifically made for tiny houses. These beds are smaller than regular beds but still big enough to accommodate one or two people. The only problem is that they are still there. They are still in the middle of the room, and that makes it hard to work around. There are options for loft beds which place them near the ceiling, but something was nagging at me. I saw an old movie once where the bed folded up into the wall. I wondered, do they still make those?
Fold-up beds
Well, it turns out that they do. There are a few companies which are manufacturing fold-up beds, with really good mattresses. Murphy is one such company. They create beds which can be folded up into the wall when you are not using them. The first thought which popped into my head was, great I won’t have to make my bed anymore. My second thought was along the same lines, but my third thought was about how much space they would save.
Now, Murphy beds are not designed for tiny homes. They are full-size beds which fold up into the wall and may be too big for a tiny home, but for a regular home, they can be a real space saver. Where they really come into their own is in small apartments. You can turn a single room apartment into bedroom, living room, and kitchen, all at the same time. Simply fold up your bed, and it is out of sight and mind. If you are cooking in your kitchen or hanging out in your living room, you will not even know the bed is there.
How can you maximize the space your save?
I scrolled through pictures of Murphy beds in apartments, and there were some really creative ways to add a fold-up bed to a room. If you want the basic option, then you can fold up the bed and hold it against the wall. If you really want a seamless transition, then have it fold into the wall. If you want to go the extra mile, have it become part of the wall.
A great option is to have it fold sideways, and have shelves and storage above. One really nice idea is to store books on shelves above the bed. A perfect place to read and sleep when the bed is down and looks great when the bed is up. Another option is to add the same pattern to the underside of the bed as is on the wall. You can also add cupboard doors to close behind the bed after you lift it up.
A real space saver?
A fold-up bed, like the ones Murphy make, can really save you space. If you are tight in space, then they are perfect, but even if you are not, they are great. Imagine a child’s room where the bed folds up for them to have space to play.
