Murphy Beds for Condos: What to Know Before You Buy

• Measure the open bed, not the closed cabinet. A queen mattress alone is 80 inches long, and the frame and cabinet add depth.
• A Murphy bed has to be anchored to the wall. Condo walls vary, and each type takes different hardware.
• Ask your association in writing what it needs from you and your installer before you set a date.
• Treat the cabinet as storage, too. Side towers, shelves and drawers can replace a dresser or a bookcase.

A Murphy bed takes up little room when it's closed. Open, it covers as much floor as any bed of the same size. A standard queen mattress measures 60 by 80 inches, according to the Sleep Foundation, so a queen that folds down from the wall reaches more than 80 inches into the room once you add the depth of the cabinet.

Then add room to walk around the bed, open the door and reach the closet. Before you pick a model, measure and write down:

• The clear floor depth from the wall to the nearest obstacle you're keeping: furniture, a door swing, a balcony slider.
• The ceiling height, including any soffit, beam or crown molding along that wall.
• What's on the wall now: outlets, switches, a thermostat, an AC return, a window.
• What's on the ceiling near the wall: smoke detectors, sprinkler heads, light fixtures.

Every time a Murphy bed opens, its weight pivots out from the cabinet, so the cabinet has to be fastened to the wall where it can't tip or pull loose. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled wall beds over this kind of failure. A 2022 recall covered beds that could break or detach from the wall and fall, after 146 reports that included 62 injuries. An August 2026 recall cited beds that fell during assembly when they weren't anchored to the wall.

Condo walls aren't all alike. Depending on the building and the wall, you may have poured concrete, concrete block, or metal or wood studs behind drywall. Each takes different anchors, so your installer should know which one they're drilling into. Two more condo points:

• A wall you share with a neighbor may come with rules about drilling or noise. Ask before you choose it.
• Some associations restrict drilling into concrete floors and ceilings. Ask before anything is anchored there.

Florida condominiums operate under Chapter 718 of the Florida Statutes along with each building's own declaration, bylaws and rules, so requirements differ from one building to the next. Read your documents, then ask your management office these questions and get the answers in writing:

1. Is a wall bed treated as furniture, or as an alteration that needs a written request and board approval?
2. What does the association need from the installer, such as a certificate of liability insurance, proof of workers' compensation coverage or a license?
3. On which days and at what hours is installation work allowed?
4. Do you need to reserve a service elevator or loading area, and where can the installer park?
5. Are there limits on drilling into shared walls, floors or ceilings?

Share the answers with your installer before you book a date. Installation usually follows a few weeks after you approve the design, which leaves time for paperwork.

Modern Murphy beds use piston lifts or springs to counterbalance the weight of the bed, which is what lets one person raise and lower it (Wikipedia). Whichever type you're looking at, ask:

• What mattress weight and thickness is the mechanism set up for? Choose the mattress with the bed, not after.
• Who will open and close it most often? If that's an older parent or an occasional guest, ask how much effort it takes.
• How is the bed held closed, and how does the support at the foot work when it's open?

As our unique spaces page puts it, a wall bed works as a storage unit most of the time, holding books, keepsakes, extra linens or whatever else you need to put away.

A few ways to use the space around the bed:

• Side towers with open shelves for books and display, or with doors to hide linens and pillows.
• Lower cabinets or drawers that take the place of a dresser.
• A finish and door style that match the room. Our finishes run from White and Antique White to Tahoe, Dakota and Licorice, with door styles such as Shaker, Flat Panel and Raised Panel; see colors and styles.
• If the room doubles as an office, ask about planning the wall bed and home office storage together.

The simplest way to settle the space and storage questions is to see the bed on your own wall. At a free in-home design consultation, your designer measures the room and builds a 3D design with you showing the bed, the storage around it, the finish and the hardware. You can change anything before you get a quote, there's no obligation, and the design makes the project easier to explain to your association. We serve 17 cities across Broward and southern Palm Beach County; see our service areas.

• U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Murphy Beds Recalled Due to Serious Impact and Crush Hazards; Manufactured by Cyme Tech, September 8, 2022. Accessed October 9, 2026.
• U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, GigaCloud Technology USA Recalls Merax Murphy Beds, August 13, 2026. Accessed October 9, 2026.
• Sleep Foundation, Queen Size Bed Dimensions, updated July 16, 2025. Accessed October 9, 2026.
• The Florida Legislature, Florida Statutes, Chapter 718: Condominiums. Accessed October 9, 2026.
• Wikipedia, Murphy bed. Accessed October 9, 2026.