Space Age Closets designs and installs custom Murphy beds for houses, condos and cottages across Toronto and the GTA, and the honest answer to “why do I need one” comes down to a simple trade: you keep a real, full-size bed in the room, and you get back the floor it would otherwise occupy for the twenty-plus hours a day nobody is sleeping in it. This post covers what you are actually getting when you buy one, the mattress, the mechanism, the cabinetry, so you can judge whether that trade makes sense in your home.
The Bed Is the Biggest Thing You Own
Measure the furniture in any bedroom and the bed wins by a wide margin, a queen with clearance around it claims more floor than everything else in the room combined. A Murphy bed folds that entire footprint up against the wall, where the closed cabinet projects into the room about as far as a bookcase. The room does not become a bedroom that also stores exercise gear and a desk; it becomes a den, gym or office that can produce a proper bed in under a minute. In a city where every square foot is spoken for, that is the whole argument in one sentence.
A Real Mattress, and It Is Yours to Choose
This is the point buyers are most surprised by: a proper Murphy bed takes a standard mattress. Ours accept any regular mattress up to ten inches thick, and upgrading to extended legs allows up to twelve inches, so you shop for comfort the same way you would for any bed, or keep the mattress you already love. Be wary of anyone insisting you need a “special” mattress made only for their wall bed; a well-made Murphy mechanism simply does not require one. Guests sleep on an actual bed, not a folding frame pushing through a thin pad, which is why the spare-room excuse “we’ll just get a sofa bed” rarely survives one night’s comparison.
Hardware That Outlasts the Novelty
A Murphy bed is a moving piece of furniture you will operate thousands of times, so the lifting mechanism matters more than anything you can see. The Canadian-made hardware we install has been in production for decades and is backed by a long manufacturer warranty; its counterbalanced springs are matched to the weight of the bed and mattress, which is what makes opening and closing a light, controlled, one-person motion instead of a wrestling match. The cabinet anchors to the wall structure, so the bed operates smoothly and safely year after year, with no drama and no slow sag.
It Should Look Like It Was Always There
The fold-away beds people remember from old movies were machinery. A modern one is cabinetry: door styles, colours and finishes chosen to match the room, from clean contemporary flat panels to warm classic profiles. Closed, it reads as a fitted wardrobe or feature wall, not as a bed in hiding. The best installations go further and build the bed into a full storage wall, shelving for books, closed cabinets, even a fold-down desk, so the piece earns its wall space all day long. We often flank ours with matching custom wall units, everything custom-built to measure and installed by our own team.
From Downtown Condo to the Cottage
The reasons shift with the address. In a Toronto condo, the Murphy bed buys back living space every single day. In a family house, it turns a basement, den or spare room into guest quarters that do not sit idle fifty weeks a year. And at the cottage, it may be the single best sleeping-capacity upgrade available: one bunkie or living room wall can sleep an extra couple on a real mattress, without adding a single square foot of building. Wherever it lands, the design questions are the same, and our custom Murphy beds and wall beds in Toronto page shows the range of what we build, from bed-only cabinets to full storage walls.
Murphy Bed Ownership Questions, Answered
What mattress fits a Murphy bed?
Any standard mattress up to ten inches thick, spring or foam, and extended legs raise the allowance to twelve inches. You choose the size and firmness exactly as you would for a regular bed frame. No proprietary or “wall bed only” mattress is required, whatever a sales pitch may claim.
Is a Murphy bed easy to open and close every day?
Yes, that is exactly what the counterbalanced mechanism is for. The springs are matched to the weight of the bed and mattress, so one person can lower or raise it in a smooth, controlled motion in seconds. If a wall bed feels like heavy lifting, the mechanism is wrong or badly adjusted, not the concept.
Can bedding stay on a Murphy bed when it folds up?
Yes. Retaining straps hold the mattress, fitted sheet, duvet and flat pillows in place as the bed tilts up, so making it in the morning means straightening the covers and lifting. Only loose extras like decorative cushions need to come off. That convenience is a big part of why owners actually use the bed daily.
Will a Murphy bed damage my wall or floor?
Not when it is installed correctly. The cabinet is anchored into the wall structure and carries the operating loads the way it was engineered to, and the closed unit sits flat like any built-in. Floors are untouched in normal use, which also makes a wall bed kinder to a room than dragging a sofa bed frame open and shut.
Is a Murphy bed a good idea for a cottage?
One of the best. Cottage sleeping space runs out before cottage floor space does, and a wall bed lets a living room or bunkie sleep an extra couple on a real mattress, then disappear for the day’s traffic of wet towels and board games. Folded up, the mattress is also kept off the floor and away from mice and damp.
Wondering where a Murphy bed would fit in your home? Call Space Age Closets at (647) 394-7557 to book a free in-home design consultation anywhere in Toronto and the GTA.
