Who Actually Needs a Murphy Bed?
If you've ever wondered whether a Murphy bed is actually worth the effort, it usually comes down to one thing: how many jobs you're asking a single room to do. It's rarely a decision made on floor space alone - it's about what that room could be doing for you the other 350 days of the year. Here are the households we hear from most often, and why a Murphy bed tends to solve the problem better than the usual workarounds.
The guest room that sits empty most of the year
A guest room used ten or fifteen nights a year still gets furnished, heated and dusted the other 350 days, with a static bed taking up the floor the whole time. Fold that bed away and the room becomes an office, a craft space or a reading nook for the rest of the year, then converts back to a proper guest bedroom in under a minute when family or friends turn up. It's the single most common reason customers get in touch with us.
The studio or one-bedroom apartment
In a studio, the bed is often the single biggest obstacle to the room feeling like anything other than a bedroom. A Murphy bed folds flat against the wall and hands the whole floor back, which matters a lot more in 35 square metres than it does in a house with room to spare. For renters and owners alike in compact apartments, it's often the one upgrade that changes how the whole space feels to live in.
The home office that's really just a corner of a bedroom
Working from home without a spare room usually means a desk squeezed against the wall next to the bed, which never quite feels like a proper workspace - always a reminder that you're working out of your bedroom rather than an office. Fold the bed away during the day and that corner becomes a real office, with the desk as the visual focus of the room instead of the bed.
Multi-generational and growing households
As families grow or parents move in for a period, the pressure on bedroom space tends to hit fast and doesn't always justify a permanent renovation. A Murphy bed lets an existing room - a den, a home gym, a teenager's study - flex into a bedroom when it's needed, without committing that space permanently to one function. It's a practical middle ground between "we need another bedroom" and a full extension.
Our DIY kits include the folding mechanism, hinges, gas struts and mounting hardware - you supply the timber and build the cabinet to your own size. Most customers complete theirs in a weekend, and the same kit works whether the space in question is a guest room, a studio, an office corner or a room that needs to flex for family. Browse our range of Murphy bed kits to find the right size for your space, with shipping across New Zealand, Australia and the UK.