Guides / How-to

How to Install a Murphy Bed

A wall bed is the only furniture in this niche that becomes part of the building. The install is not difficult so much as unforgiving - the order matters, and two of the steps are not optional.

The short answer

Every wall bed install comes down to the same sequence: confirm the six room measurements, locate and mark real structure, inventory the kit, build the cabinet flat on the floor, anchor it to the wall - and to the floor where the maker requires it - then fit the mechanism, then fit a mattress inside the published window and strap it, then balance-test the bed empty with two people. Bestar's dual-mount queens anchor to studs and the floor; AMERLIFE requires a solid wall and supplies five anti-tip brackets. The mattress window is not advice: Bestar states 8 to 12 inches and 60 to 90 lb, with no box spring and no futon mattresses.

A sofa bed is furniture you put in a room. A wall bed is furniture you attach to the building, and that one difference is the whole of this page. Get the order wrong and you discover the problem after the cabinet is up: the studs are not where you assumed, the baseboard is in the way, the mattress you own is 14 inches thick, or the bed will not stay closed because nothing is balanced against anything yet.

Two steps below are not optional under any circumstances - anchoring into real structure, and keeping the mattress inside the manufacturer’s published window. A wall bed stores energy by design in order to lift a queen mattress with one hand, and both of those steps are what keeps that energy pointed where the maker intended.

The anchor rule, and why it has no exceptions

A wall bed is counterbalanced so that a queen mattress can be lifted with one hand. That balance means the cabinet is permanently resisting a load that wants to pull it away from the wall at the top and push it down at the bottom, and it does that through its anchors.

Which is why the published requirements in this category are unusually blunt for furniture. Bestar’s dual-mount system anchors to the wall structure and the floor, with instructions that involve removing the baseboard and finding studs or masonry. AMERLIFE’s bed is far lighter to install, and AMERLIFE is still explicit that it must go on a solid wall, with five anti-tip brackets supplied.

What each system requires, as published

Bestar Claremont 80W: Anchors to studs AND floor · 64.23 in. cabinet height · two-person assembly · 10-year warranty
Bestar mattress window: Standard queen 8 to 12 in., 60 to 90 lb · no box spring, no futons
AMERLIFE vertical queen: Must be anchored to the wall; screws supplied for wood and metal studs · flat-packed
AMERLIFE mattress window: 8 to 12 in. thick; weight not stated by the manufacturer
Easy DIY Murphy Bed kit: Gas-piston hardware holding 700+ lb · you build the cabinet · vertical or horizontal
Easy DIY Murphy Bed mattress: 10 in. recommended, up to 11 in. usable
Clearance around the open bed: Our allowance: 30 to 36 in.

Two consequences worth stating. First, if the lease forbids holes, no amount of careful installation makes a true wall bed possible - the answer is a freestanding cabinet bed, and that field is the best renter-friendly Murphy beds. Second, Bestar’s stated 1,000 lb capacity including the mattress is a figure for a bed anchored as specified; it is not a property of the bed sitting against a wall unfixed. The capacity comparison across the category is in how much weight a Murphy bed can hold.

The three jobs worth handing to someone else

This is a competent-DIY job rather than a trade job, with three exceptions where we would pay somebody.

A masonry or concrete wall. Different fixings, different tooling, and a mistake in masonry is not reversible with filler. If the wall is solid rather than framed, get the anchoring done by someone who drills masonry routinely.

A floor you cannot drill. Dual-mount beds want floor anchors. Over underfloor heating, a concrete slab with unknown services, or a leasehold floor you have been told not to touch, that is a conversation before it is a drill bit.

Anything that has to be carried up a turn. Bestar’s queens are a two-person assembly and the panels are large. A flat-packed bed is the easier delivery by a wide margin - and if the route is genuinely bad, a kit build is easier still, because the cabinet material is cut to size in the room. The stairwell version of this problem is worked through in the best sleeper sofas for a basement, and the kit route is the best DIY Murphy bed kits.

What no manufacturer publishes

Nobody in this category publishes a public installation manual, a torque figure for their fixings or a cycle rating for their mechanism, so none of those numbers appears on this site. The instructions in your box are the authority for your bed. This page is the order to do things in and the two requirements that are never negotiable.

After the install

Re-tighten every accessible fixing after about a month and then annually. A wall bed’s rigidity is entirely in its bolts, and the first few dozen cycles are when a correctly built cabinet settles.

If something starts to go wrong later, the diagnosis order is not the install order - weigh the mattress first, then check the anchors, then look for something fouling the fold, and only then consider tension. That sequence is how to fix a Murphy bed. The mechanism explanation, if you want to understand what you have just bolted together, is how Murphy beds work, and the pre-purchase measuring sequence referenced in step one is how to measure for a Murphy bed.

One last thing that is easier to do now than later: if the closed cabinet is going to live in a room that has to look like a living room, the flanking cabinetry and the handle choice are far simpler to get right while the wall is already open. That is how to hide a Murphy bed.

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At a glance

The three systems these steps describe

Tap any row to jump to the full write-up. Scores are our own, from the rubric on how we choose — not customer ratings. They score each product across the whole site, so the order here reflects how well a pick answers this page’s question, which is not always the same as the highest score.

#	Product	Best for	Score	Price
01	Bestar Key West 69W Queen Murphy Bed The reference wall bed: a dual-mount queen that takes a real 60 by 80 mattress, on a dual-piston mechanism Bestar expects to be slept on every night.	A full-size guest bed in a small apartment	8.7	$1,403.02 · View on Amazon $1,599.99 12% off #ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026
02	AMERLIFE Queen Murphy Bed with LED and Charging Station 16.1 inches deep closed — the shallowest wall bed on this site — on a gas-lift system, with five anti-tip brackets and a charging station in the cabinet.	The shallowest closed depth	8.2	$649.99 · View on Amazon $758.99 14% off #ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026
03	Easy DIY Murphy Bed Queen Vertical Hardware Kit Gas pistons, auto-locking pivot plates, folding legs and three guidebooks, rated to hold 700 lb, so you build the cabinet to the room rather than the other way round.	Building to an awkward alcove	7.9	$207.00 · View on Amazon #ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

How we picked

The three picks are the systems whose published requirements this page is built from: the dual-mount cabinet bed with the fullest published specification and warranty, the flat-packed manual-fold bed with the lightest anchoring requirement, and the hardware kit, because an owner installing any wall bed is installing a hardware kit whether they bought one separately or not. Every requirement quoted is from the manufacturer's live listing on the date recorded in its spec block. This page is an order of operations, not a substitute for the instructions in the box: no manufacturer in this category publishes a public installation manual, so where the published information stops, this page stops.

A full-size guest bed in a small apartment

Bestar Key West 69W Queen Murphy Bed

Bestar

The reference wall bed: a dual-mount queen that takes a real 60 by 80 mattress, on a dual-piston mechanism Bestar expects to be slept on every night.

What it's bad at

Dual-mount means it anchors to both the floor and the wall, and Bestar says a professional or qualified person should install it. That is why it is stable, and it is also why most leases make it a conversation with the landlord. 354 lb.

Our score — 8.7 / 10

Footprint10

Mattress10

Mechanism9

Renter fit3

Value7

$1,403.02 · View on Amazon

$1,599.99 12% off

#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Specifications

Folded footprint: 68.5 in. W x 68.5 in. D x 88.05 in. H as listed
Open footprint: NOT STATED BY MANUFACTURER
Clearance in front: Bestar publishes no extension figure for this model. Plan on roughly the mattress length from the wall plus a walkway, and measure before ordering.
Doorway minimum: NOT STATED BY MANUFACTURER
Sleep surface: 60 x 80 in. — a true queen
Mattress: Your own: 8 to 12 in. thick, 60 to 90 lb, 60 x 80 in. No futons, no box spring.
Fold mechanism: Dual-mount wall bed mechanism with a dual piston system, anchored to floor and wall
Weight capacity: NOT STATED BY MANUFACTURER
Assembly: Required, two people, and Bestar specifies a professional or qualified installer. 354 lb. Flexible slat mattress support.
Renter-safe?: No — anchors into the wall structure and the floor
Price: $1,403.02 · View on Amazon
$1,599.99 12% off
#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Source: Amazon.com product listing, read via the Amazon Creators API, recorded 16 Oct 2026. Any field the listing does not state is marked as such rather than estimated.

The shallowest closed depth

AMERLIFE Queen Murphy Bed with LED and Charging Station

AMERLIFE

16.1 inches deep closed — the shallowest wall bed on this site — on a gas-lift system, with five anti-tip brackets and a charging station in the cabinet.

What it's bad at

AMERLIFE requires a solid wall; it explicitly will not go on a hollow partition. That rules out a lot of modern apartments before you have measured anything, and 231 lb means the decision is final.

Our score — 8.2 / 10

Footprint10

Mattress8

Mechanism8

Renter fit4

Value9

$649.99 · View on Amazon

$758.99 14% off

#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Specifications

Folded footprint: 66.1 in. W x 16.1 in. D x 91.3 in. H
Open footprint: NOT STATED BY MANUFACTURER
Clearance in front: No extension figure is published. Plan on roughly the mattress length from the wall plus a walkway, and measure before ordering.
Doorway minimum: Ships in two boxes
Sleep surface: Standard queen, per the listing
Mattress: Your own: 8 to 12 in. thick, per the listing. Not included.
Fold mechanism: Gas-lift wall bed with gas struts, LED light strip and a charging station
Weight capacity: NOT STATED BY MANUFACTURER
Assembly: Required, about two hours with two people. 231 lb. Five anti-tip brackets. Must be fixed to a solid wall — hollow walls are excluded by the manufacturer.
Renter-safe?: No — must be installed on a solid wall
Price: $649.99 · View on Amazon
$758.99 14% off
#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Source: Amazon.com product listing, read via the Amazon Creators API, recorded 16 Oct 2026. Any field the listing does not state is marked as such rather than estimated.

Building to an awkward alcove

Easy DIY Murphy Bed Queen Vertical Hardware Kit

Easy DIY Murphy Bed

Gas pistons, auto-locking pivot plates, folding legs and three guidebooks, rated to hold 700 lb, so you build the cabinet to the room rather than the other way round.

What it's bad at

You are the cabinet maker. The kit is the cheap part — the maker budgets another $150 to $300 of plywood on top — and if you cannot build a square box to within a quarter inch, it will cost you more in wasted sheet goods than a finished bed would have.

Our score — 7.9 / 10

Footprint9

Mattress8

Mechanism8

Renter fit3

Value10

$207.00 · View on Amazon

#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Specifications

Folded footprint: Finished cabinet measures 86 7/8 in. H x 66 3/8 in. W as designed
Open footprint: Depends on your build; the kit is sized for a queen vertical wall bed
Clearance in front: Determined by your build. A vertical queen projects roughly the mattress length plus the cabinet depth.
Doorway minimum: Kit ships flat at 11 lb; the cabinet is built in place
Sleep surface: Your mattress — the kit does not include one
Mattress: Fits a queen mattress; see the listing's stated thickness and weight requirements
Fold mechanism: Gas piston lift system with patented 2-in-1 auto-locking stainless steel pivot plates, heavy-duty square tube folding legs and a quick-release mattress strap
Weight capacity: Holds 700+ lb per the manufacturer
Assembly: Substantial — you build the surrounding cabinet yourself. Three illustrated guidebooks included; a saw, drill, tape and clamps are needed. Made in North America. Lifetime warranty on the hardware.
Renter-safe?: No — a wall bed built this way is anchored to the structure
Price: $207.00 · View on Amazon
#ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026

Source: Amazon.com product listing, read via the Amazon Creators API, recorded 16 Oct 2026. Any field the listing does not state is marked as such rather than estimated.

Answers

Common questions

Can you install a Murphy bed yourself?

Usually yes, with two people and a competent-DIY level of skill - AMERLIFE's bed ships in two boxes and takes about two hours with two people, and Bestar states a two-person assembly. Three situations are worth handing over: a masonry or concrete wall, a floor you cannot drill, and a delivery route with a bad stair turn.

Does a Murphy bed have to be attached to the wall?

A true wall bed does, without exception. Bestar's dual-mount system anchors the cabinet to the wall structure and the floor, and its instructions involve removing the baseboard; AMERLIFE is explicit that its bed needs a solid wall and excludes hollow partitions. A fixing into plasterboard alone is not an anchor. If you cannot drill, the alternative is a freestanding cabinet bed - the Arason Creden-ZzZ states it needs no bolting at all.

What order do you install a Murphy bed in?

Confirm the room measurements, locate and mark real structure, inventory the kit, build the cabinet flat and square on the floor, stand it up and anchor it, then fit the mechanism, then fit a mattress inside the published window and strap it, then balance-test the bed empty. The mechanism goes in after the anchors because the cabinet has to be able to take the reaction load the moment the mechanism is tensioned.

What mattress can you put in a Murphy bed?

Only one inside the maker's published window, and weight matters as much as thickness. Bestar states a standard queen 8 to 12 inches and 60 to 90 lb, with no box spring and no futon mattresses. AMERLIFE states 8 to 12 inches with an 80 lb maximum, recommends memory foam, innerspring or hybrid, and advises against latex. Easy DIY Murphy Bed recommends 10 inches and says up to 11 is usable.

How do you know a Murphy bed is installed correctly?

Open and close it slowly and completely with nobody on it: a correctly set bed stays closed on its own and stays down on its own, with no binding across the travel. If it creeps down the mattress is probably over the weight window, and if it wants to lift it is probably under it. Adjust tension only with the bed empty, the instructions in hand and a second person in the room.

Do you need to re-tighten a Murphy bed after installing it?

Yes. Re-tighten every accessible fixing after about a month and then annually, because a wall bed's rigidity is entirely in its bolts and the first few dozen cycles are when the cabinet settles. No manufacturer in this category publishes a torque figure, so follow the instructions supplied with your bed rather than a number from a website.

Sources

Keep reading

The anchor rule, and why it has no exceptions

The three jobs worth handing to someone else

After the install

The three systems these steps describe

Bestar Key West 69W Queen Murphy Bed

AMERLIFE Queen Murphy Bed with LED and Charging Station

Easy DIY Murphy Bed Queen Vertical Hardware Kit

Common questions

Related on Fold & Futon