Murphy Beds / Roundup

The Best Horizontal Murphy Beds

Turn the bed sideways and the ceiling requirement collapses. What you need instead is seven feet of uninterrupted wall.

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At a glance

Quick picks

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 Claremont 80W Queen Horizontal Murphy Bed The queen turned sideways: 64.23 inches tall instead of 88, and the only wall bed here that publishes both numbers — 19.53 inches deep closed, extending 69.43 inches from the back.	Low ceilings and under-window walls	7.9	Check price on Amazon #ad how we earn · no live price right now
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	Night & Day Furniture Murphy Cube Cabinet Bed (Queen) A queen bed inside a solid hardwood credenza that bolts to nothing. Closed it is 26.4 inches deep and about ten square feet of floor, and the mattress is in the box.	Renters who want a queen and cannot drill	8.6	$1,897.00 · View on Amazon #ad how we earn · price as of November 14, 2026
04	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

Horizontal wall beds are a narrow category, so this page is ranked on the two figures that decide whether one fits — closed height and the wall run required — with the vertical equivalent and a cabinet bed included as the honest alternatives when neither works. Where a manufacturer does not publish an open extension for the horizontal model, the spec block says so; a horizontal queen's projection cannot be inferred from the vertical figure.

01Top pickLow ceilings and under-window walls

Bestar Claremont 80W Queen Horizontal Murphy Bed

Bestar

The queen turned sideways: 64.23 inches tall instead of 88, and the only wall bed here that publishes both numbers — 19.53 inches deep closed, extending 69.43 inches from the back.

What it's bad at

Sideways means wide. At 84.41 inches it needs seven feet of uninterrupted wall, and Bestar requires the baseboard removed and the floor drilled, which makes it a landlord conversation.

Our score — 7.9 / 10

Footprint9

Mattress9

Mechanism9

Renter fit3

Value7

Check price on Amazon →

#ad how we earn · no live price right now

Specifications

Folded footprint: 84.41 in. W x 19.53 in. D x 64.23 in. H
Open footprint: Extends 69.43 in. from the back wall; 84.41 in. wide
Clearance in front: Gains 49.9 in. of depth when opened (19.53 in. to 69.43 in.). Bestar states no separate walkway figure.
Doorway minimum: NOT STATED BY MANUFACTURER
Sleep surface: 60 x 80 in. — a true queen
Mattress: Your own: 8 to 10 in. thick, 35 to 70 lb, 60 x 80 in. No futons, no box spring.
Fold mechanism: Dual-piston system with a locking mechanism that prevents accidental closing in use
Weight capacity: 1,000 lb on a breathable mesh base. Top shelf 60 lb, inside shelf 5 lb.
Assembly: Required, two people, professional installation specified. 273 lb. Needs wood studs or masonry, baseboard removal and drilling into the floor. 10-year warranty on the bed, 1 year on the mechanism.
Renter-safe?: No — secures to the wall and the floor and needs the baseboard removed
Price: Check price on Amazon
#ad how we earn · no live price right now

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.

02The 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.

03Renters who want a queen and cannot drill

Night & Day Furniture Murphy Cube Cabinet Bed (Queen)

Night & Day Furniture

A queen bed inside a solid hardwood credenza that bolts to nothing. Closed it is 26.4 inches deep and about ten square feet of floor, and the mattress is in the box.

What it's bad at

172 lb assembled and it does not come apart again. Getting it into a third-floor walk-up is the whole problem with this category.

Our score — 8.6 / 10

Footprint8

Mattress8

Mechanism9

Renter fit10

Value7

$1,897.00 · View on Amazon

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

Specifications

Folded footprint: 64.1 in. W x 26.4 in. D x 36.6 in. H — about 10 sq ft of floor
Open footprint: 64.1 in. W x 80.3 in. D x 25.7 in. H
Clearance in front: Gains 53.9 in. of depth when opened (26.4 in. to 80.3 in.). No walkway figure stated by the manufacturer.
Doorway minimum: Arrives flat packed, so any standard doorway
Sleep surface: 80.3 in. long; a queen sleeping surface per the manufacturer
Mattress: Included cabinet-bed-specific 6 in. tri-fold gel memory foam mattress
Fold mechanism: Front panel folds down, mattress tri-folds out on a sliding platform
Weight capacity: NOT STATED BY MANUFACTURER
Assembly: Flat packed, ready to assemble, with instructions and video links. 172 lb. 10-year cabinet warranty, 3-year mattress warranty.
Renter-safe?: Yes — freestanding, explicitly does not need anchoring to a wall
Price: $1,897.00 · 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.

04Building 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.

The standard vertical wall bed needs about 7 ft 5 in to 7 ft 8 in of ceiling — about 88 inches of cabinet on a Bestar Key West, up to 92 on a Versatile. A large number of apartments, basements, converted attics and rooms with a bulkhead or a ceiling fan come in under that.

A horizontal wall bed solves it by rotating the bed ninety degrees. A Claremont 80W horizontal queen is 64 inches tall closed instead of 83 — a difference of nineteen inches, which is usually enough to turn a no into a yes. The cost is width: 84 inches of wall instead of 64, and it has to be uninterrupted.

This page is about queens, which is where the height problem is worst. At twin size the horizontal cabinets drop to about 47 inches tall and the wall run falls to seven feet, and those are ranked separately in the best twin murphy beds.

The trade, in two numbers

Queen wall beds: vertical against horizontal, closed

Vertical queen (AMERLIFE): 66.1 in. W × 16.1 in. D × 91.3 in. H
Horizontal queen (Bestar Claremont 80W): 84.41 in. W × 19.53 in. D × 64.23 in. H
Vertical extension: Not stated by the manufacturer
Horizontal extension: 69.43 in. from the back wall
Mattress, vertical: 8 to 12 in. thick
Mattress, horizontal: 60 × 80 in., 8 to 10 in. thick, 35 to 70 lb

Twenty-seven inches lower, eighteen inches wider. That is the whole exchange, and which side you want depends entirely on which of the two your room is short of.

Note which way the honest gap runs here: it is the vertical bed that does not publish an open extension. Bestar states 69.43 inches for the horizontal, which is roughly the mattress width rather than its length, and it is the only extension figure anyone in this comparison gives us. For the vertical, plan on the 80-inch mattress length clear of the cabinet, measure the wall run, and confirm the projection with the seller before ordering.

The four rooms where horizontal is the only answer

Under a window. A 64-inch-tall cabinet fits under most windows where an 83-inch one does not. This is the classic horizontal use case and it is a genuinely nice result — the bed disappears into a window wall.

Sloped ceilings. Converted attics have height in the middle and none at the walls, which is exactly backwards for a vertical bed. A horizontal cabinet sits in the low zone.

Basements. Ducting, beams and a lower finished ceiling. 64 inches usually clears; 83 often does not.

Rooms with a ceiling fan on the only usable wall. Which sounds like a corner case and is extremely common.

Measure to the obstruction, not the ceiling

The relevant number is the height of the lowest thing above the cabinet position — a crown molding, a bulkhead, a sprinkler, a light. Not the ceiling in the middle of the room.

Seven feet of wall, uninterrupted

84 inches is seven feet, and it has to be seven feet with nothing in it. Most small rooms have exactly one wall that long, and it is often the one with the door on it or a radiator under it.

Measure the clear run at the height of the cabinet, not at floor level — baseboards, radiator covers and skirting all shrink the usable width. Then add a couple of inches at each end, because a cabinet wedged exactly wall-to-wall cannot be installed square.

If seven clear feet does not exist, you are back to a vertical bed with a ceiling problem or a cabinet bed, which is 64 inches wide and 36 to 39 inches tall and therefore has neither problem.

What a horizontal bed is like to use

Two real differences from a vertical bed, neither of them obvious from a listing.

You get in and out from the long side, which means access from the foot is gone. In a room where the bed comes down across a doorway, that changes which side of the bed is usable — worth sketching before you order.

And the mattress is held along its length rather than across its width when the bed is up, which is why the mattress weight limits matter as much as on a vertical bed. The horizontal Claremont 80W is the stricter of the two: 8 to 10 inches thick and 35 to 70 pounds, against 8 to 12 inches on the vertical AMERLIFE.

Mechanically the horizontal is the heavier install: a dual-piston system that secures to both the wall and the floor, with the baseboard removed and holes drilled into the floor. What that means for a renter is in the renter-friendly options, and how the mechanisms differ is in how do Murphy beds work.

Answers

Common questions

What is a horizontal Murphy bed?

A wall bed rotated ninety degrees, so it folds down sideways rather than lengthways. A Claremont 80W horizontal queen is 84 inches wide and 64 inches tall closed, against 64 wide and 83 tall for the vertical version of the same bed — nineteen inches lower and twenty inches wider.

Do horizontal Murphy beds need less ceiling height?

Yes, substantially. A vertical queen wall bed needs roughly 89 to 92 inches of ceiling; a horizontal queen is 64 inches tall closed, which clears almost any finished ceiling and fits under most windows. What it needs instead is 84 inches of uninterrupted wall.

How far does a horizontal Murphy bed stick out?

Bestar states 69.43 inches from the back wall for its horizontal Claremont 80W, which is the only extension figure any wall bed in this comparison publishes. A horizontal bed projects roughly the mattress width rather than its length, so it needs less floor than a vertical queen — but the vertical models here publish no figure at all, so confirm that one with the seller before ordering.

Is a horizontal Murphy bed as comfortable as a vertical one?

Close, but the horizontal is stricter: Bestar's Claremont 80W takes 8 to 10 inches and 35 to 70 pounds, where the vertical AMERLIFE takes 8 to 12 inches. The practical difference is access: on a horizontal you get in and out from the long side only, so if the bed comes down across a doorway, one side of it becomes unusable.

What fits in a room with a low ceiling and a short wall?

A cabinet bed. At around 64 inches wide and 36 to 39 inches tall closed it has neither the ceiling requirement of a vertical wall bed nor the wall-run requirement of a horizontal one, and it is freestanding.

Sources

Keep reading

Quick picks

Bestar Claremont 80W Queen Horizontal Murphy Bed

AMERLIFE Queen Murphy Bed with LED and Charging Station

Night & Day Furniture Murphy Cube Cabinet Bed (Queen)

Easy DIY Murphy Bed Queen Vertical Hardware Kit

The trade, in two numbers

The four rooms where horizontal is the only answer

Seven feet of wall, uninterrupted

What a horizontal bed is like to use

Common questions

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