Why We Stopped Selling Wall Beds (And What We Recommend Instead)

GUIDES · SMALL SPACE LIVING

We used to make wall beds. We stopped, because for almost everyone a good sofa bed does the job better. Here is why, and what we would recommend instead.

If you have landed here looking for a wall bed, you are in good company. People still search for Murphy beds, fold-down beds and wall beds with a desk every day, and we used to make them. We don't any more. This page explains why, honestly, and what we think you should look at instead.

The Short Answer

A wall bed gives you a bed at night and a cupboard during the day. A sofa bed gives you a bed at night and a sofa during the day. In a small flat, the sofa is the thing you actually use. So we put everything into making sofa beds that are an amazing bed first, then a sofa.

It Has to Be Fixed to a Wall

A wall bed is only safe when it is bolted to a wall that can take the load. That means a solid wall, a fitter, and holes you can't hide. It also means it stays where it is. If you rent, that is often a non-starter. If you move, it is a job to take down and a job to put up again, assuming the new flat has the right wall in the right place.

And once it is up, it needs looking after. The fixings take the weight of the bed every time it comes down, so they need checking regularly to make sure they are still safe. That is one more job most people don't know about when they buy one.

A sofa bed just sits on the floor. You can move it to another room, take it with you when you move, and nobody needs to drill anything.

It Needs More Space Than You Think

A wall bed saves floor space on paper. In practice it needs a clear run of floor in front of it every time it comes down, the full length of the bed. Anything in that space has to move first. And the cabinet is on the wall all the time, floor to ceiling, whether the bed is in use or not.

A sofa bed opens into the space its seat already takes up, plus the length of the bed. When it is closed, it is a sofa you would choose anyway.

Most People Stop Folding It Away

This is the one nobody tells you. To fold a wall bed away, the bedding has to be strapped in or taken off, and anything on the floor in front has to be cleared. After a week or two, a lot of people simply leave it down. The room becomes a bedroom again, just with a very expensive cupboard on the wall.

With a Furl sofa bed there is nothing to clear and nothing on the wall. Pull the strap forward and the whole sofa unfurls into a bed in about three seconds flat. Close it in the morning and you have your living room back.

A Sofa Bed Does Both Jobs

The old complaint about sofa beds was the thin mattress and the bar across your back. That is the problem we set out to fix. Our sofa beds have a proper mattress, up to 18cm deep, and on the Cambio every size is 200cm long, the length of a king or super king. It is the same thickness of mattress our wall beds had. They are designed to be your main bed for everyday use if you need them to be.

The Cambio comes in five sizes, from a love seat that opens to a single up to a super king. They are delivered in sections, so narrow stairs and tight doorways aren't a problem, and our own team builds them in your room.

So you get what you wanted from a wall bed, a proper bed in a room that has to do other things, without the drilling, the cupboard, the maintenance or the daily faff. You'll sleep longer and better, and you'll have much happier guests.

What We Recommend Instead

If you were looking at a wall bed for a small flat, a studio or a spare room that is also an office, start with our sofa beds. Two good places to begin:

Cambio: our best value sofa bed, with the same 18cm mattress as the rest of the range, in five sizes from a love seat to a super king.

Metro: our best all-rounder, with slim or ultra-slim arms, so you get the most bed for the width of the sofa.

Not sure what will fit? Our sofa bed sizes guide gives the real dimensions, open and closed.

Come and Try Them

The best way to know is to lie on one. Our showrooms are in NW6 and on the King's Road. They are open seven days a week and you don't need to make an appointment, although you can if you want.

Questions People Ask

Does Furl still sell wall beds or Murphy beds?
No. We stopped making wall beds because, for almost every home we saw, a good sofa bed did the job better. We now focus on sofa beds and storage beds.

Is a sofa bed as comfortable as a wall bed?
Yes. Our sofa beds have the same thickness of mattress our wall beds had, up to 18cm deep, and the Cambio is 200cm long in every size, the same length as a king or super king. You give up nothing on comfort, and you gain a sofa.

Can I use a sofa bed as my main bed?
Yes. Our sofa beds are designed to be your main bed for everyday use if you need them to be.

Do I need a solid wall for a sofa bed?
No. A sofa bed stands on the floor. Nothing is fixed to the wall, so it works in rented flats and comes with you when you move.

I have already got a Furl wall bed. Can you still help?
Get in touch with our team and we will help where we can.