Hide & Seek: Genius Hide-Away Bed Solutions for Small Space Sleeping
Designers and amateur decorators always say that bedrooms are the spaces that get neglected most. After all, they’re never really on display when you have people over the way your kitchen, dining room and living room are, unless we’re talking overnight guests. But when space is tight, you must become strategic about your sleeping situations. Because you just might be sleeping where you entertain or entertaining where you sleep. So we looked to designers, bloggers and creative folk for some inspiration on how to be all stealthy and sneak a bed into a space. Even if you have room to spare, at least one of these hide-away beds will have you rethinking where you lay your head.
Above: First up is the daybed, which, if you ask me, is an underrated piece of furniture. It’s a chameleon; during waking hours, it’s all sofa, but at night, it totally transforms into a twin bed. That’s exactly why jewelry designer Meg Shackleton used this pretty white daybed in her guest room. The space looks like a living room until guests come over and need to use it as a bedroom, then voila. Add a blanket and a sleeping pillow, and you’re good to go. Daybeds are also great options for home offices, too. And yes, companies make fancy styles with decorative frames like Meg’s, but you could do this on the cheap with a twin bed in a regular bed frame. Just push the bed up against the wall horizontally and pile on the pillows.
Murphy beds get a bad rap, but if they’re done right, they don’t have to be all cheesy bachelor pad. Just take this Airbnb by the Oklahoma-based Bison Projects. The 300-square-foot space is tight, so the owners incorporated this drop-down queen mattress to save room. The key to making the murphy bed modern is to really think about what material you use to conceal the bed. Here the rustic wooden planks are a fun touch against the white walls and tie in nicely with the sliding bathroom door.
I feel like built-in bed nooks aren’t utilized nearly enough either. Who wouldn’t want to curl up with a book or take a nap in this pretty little corner by interior designer Rela Gleason and architect Bobby McAlpine? The curtains are genius. Draw them closed, and you’d never know that this spot is meant for sleeping. You also save a lot of floor space by building the bed against the wall, which in turn makes the room appear more open.
You can’t get more hidden than this bed concealed by barn doors spotted on the blog All Things Stylish. There’s a certain amount of install involved, sure, but the payoff is worth it. This would be a great solution for a little extra privacy in a studio, where sometimes a curtain just doesn’t cut it. Think of all the dirty clothes you can hide behind there if people come over to hang!
So loft beds are less hide-away and more hidden in plain view, but they’re worth discussing, especially when it comes to kids’ rooms. Designer Lisa Furtado used one in this boy’s bedroom, and it makes the layout much more functional. If the bed were on the ground, there wouldn’t be a way to work in that long of a desk or that much open floor space for playing. Plus, kids are way less jaded about climbing up a ladder every night for bed.
Don’t discount a sofa bed either. It may seem like the obvious solution and a potentially uncomfortable one, but there’s nothing like a truly double duty piece of furniture. Major props to artist Mary Lee, who invested in a quality sleeper sofa for her studio that she can actually use as a daily bed. Her advice if you’re going to make this your full time bed set up? Choose a more substantial memory foam model over a thinner spring mattress style.
And last but not least, the trundle bed, which is the stuff that sleepover dreams are made of. Again, these are great in shared kids’ rooms and a smart idea for beach houses or vacation homes, where the goal is to sleep as many people as comfortably as possible. A trundle bed sure beats sleeping on the floor, and they can look quite chic if you keep the color scheme neutral, as seen in this gray room posted as bedroom inspiration by blogger Krista Salmon.
Hiding a bed in your tiny home is easier than it sounds. You just have to consider how you want to use a given space beyond sleeping and be crafty about your furniture purchases.