Can you sleep on a Murphy bed every night?
The short answer
Yes. A Murphy bed is a real bed with a real mattress on a solid deck, and it is built and warranted for normal everyday use in a home.
- A standard mattress up to 12″ thick on a solid plywood deck: no fold-out mattress, no bar across your back.
- Plywood and steel connectors, built for the twisting a bed that opens every day puts on it.
- It’s only as good as the wall it’s fixed to: screwed to the studs, always.
- If it starts to feel heavy or light, adjust the balance; the assembly guide shows how.
- Covered by our lifetime limited warranty for normal residential use.
It’s a real bed
A Murphy bed isn’t a fold-out. It takes an ordinary mattress in its size, up to 12″ thick including any pillow top, lying on the bed’s own solid deck of 1/4″ plywood. No box spring, no slats to rattle, no metal bar under your back. A Queen takes a 60″ × 80″ mattress, the same as any Queen.
When it’s down, fold-down steel legs carry the foot of the bed, so the wall isn’t holding all of it. You sleep on it the way you sleep on any bed. The mattress matters as much as it does anywhere; What mattress works in a Murphy bed? covers it.
Built to open every day
A wall bed moves, so every time it opens it puts twisting and leverage on its panels. That’s why ours are real 3/4″ hardwood plywood, not particleboard: layered plywood holds a screw and resists bending far better. The boxes are joined with steel connectors, each a heavy steel screw that pulls its joint tight, so the cabinet doesn’t rack or work loose.
The part that lifts the bed is bought already engineered from a specialist maker rather than invented in our shop. The bed is counterbalanced, so it lifts and lowers easily with one hand and stays put open or closed.
Fixed to the wall, always
Every night of use depends on the cabinet being screwed to the wall framing, never to drywall alone. If you put it together yourself, follow your bed’s assembly guide and fix the cabinet to the studs before the bed is ever opened. What wall does a Murphy bed need? goes through wood studs, metal studs and masonry.
Small habits that keep it working
- Mind the balance. If the bed gets hard to pull down or wants to go back up, it has too much lift for the mattress on it; if it drops too fast or feels heavy to lift, too little. Both are adjusted as the balance step of the assembly guide shows. Small turns make big differences, so go a little at a time and keep both sides equal.
- Watch the gap round the face. When the bed is shut, the gap should be even. If one side is narrower, push the bottom of the cabinet on that side until they match.
- Keep the floor in front clear. The bed reaches out into the room when it comes down: 87″ for a vertical Queen.
- Change the mattress, check the balance. A much heavier or lighter mattress changes how the bed feels.
Open and close it a few times after any change. It should run smoothly and stop flush every time. If it doesn’t, call us at (423) 373-5566.
What the warranty covers
Every bed is covered by our Lifetime Limited Warranty for the original purchaser, under normal residential use: the lift mechanism, the moving hardware, the cabinetry and the factory finish, against defects in materials and workmanship, for as long as you own it. Sleeping on it every night is normal residential use. Commercial or rental use isn’t covered.
If you put the bed together yourself, the warranty on the materials and hardware stays the same; the assembly and installation are yours. The terms spell out the details.
Questions we get
Is a Murphy bed comfortable enough to sleep on every night?
It’s as comfortable as the mattress on it. A Murphy bed takes a standard mattress in its size, up to 12″ thick including any pillow top, on a solid plywood deck, with no fold-out frame or bar underneath.
Does every-night use wear out the mechanism?
The bed is built for it, and the lift mechanism and moving hardware are covered by our lifetime limited warranty under normal residential use. If it starts to feel heavy or light, adjust the balance as the assembly guide shows.
Is daily use covered by the warranty?
Yes. Everyday use in a home is normal residential use. Commercial or rental use is not covered.
The bed has started to feel heavy, or pulls itself shut. What do I do?
Adjust the balance as the balance step in your bed’s assembly guide shows, a little at a time and both sides equal. If that doesn’t settle it, call us at (423) 373-5566.
Ready to plan yours?
Every bed is priced live on its page, built to the measurements you give us.
