Custom Furniture for Apartments: A Murphy Bed That Vanishes

Custom Furniture gives a small apartment a guest room that disappears — a Murphy bed folds into the wall and hands the floor back by day, so a 2.7m-wide bedroom works as a study, a gym, or a play space when no one is sleeping.

Why a vanishing bed fits a flat

HDB 4-room flats give about 90 sqm and condos can be tighter, so a spare room is a luxury most of us do not have. A Murphy bed in the living area or a junior bedroom lets the same floor serve two lives. By day it is a clear wall with a shelf; by night it drops and you sleep. Visitors stay over without you losing your sofa for a week.

The catch is the mechanism. A cheap wall bed wobbles and jams; a built one with a real pivot and a gas spring feels like furniture, not a trick. That is why it has to be made to the wall, not bought in a box.

Custom Furniture built to fold safe

The bed is only as good as the frame behind it. We build the whole cabinet, not just the bed:

• A 600mm deep cabinet, 2.0m to 2.1m tall — the bed folds in flush, with shelves either side for the day look.
• Plywood carcass, 18mm, on a steel pivot — plywood stays straight in our humidity; the steel carries the load, not the board alone.
• Gas springs, not a counterweight — one hand lifts it, and it holds at any angle so no finger gets caught.
• A fold-away leg and a slatted base — the mattress breathes, which matters in Singapore, and the leg clears the floor when up.

For the face, laminate over plywood is the plain choice — it wipes clean and takes a veneer if you want wood. Solid wood is heavy for a moving panel and shifts with the weather; MDF is too weak at the hinge line. Plywood wins on weight, strength, and price.

Where to put it and what clears

Measure the open length. A queen Murphy needs about 2.1m of clear floor when down, so the wall you pick must have that run with no sofa in the way. We often build it against the TV wall in a studio, or in a study that doubles as the guest room. Keep 300mm above for the cabinet and check the false ceiling does not drop below 2.4m, or the unit will not stand.

The floor below matters. A Murphy on a laminate floor is fine; on a thick carpet it can mark. We fit a small floor guard or a low plinth so the leg rests clean.

HDB rules, MCST, cost, and timeline

In an HDB flat the bed is fixed furniture, allowed as long as you stay off the structural wall and the bomb shelter door. In a condo, file the MCST permit — it anchors to the wall, so the management wants the drawing and the deposit, and the install stays on weekdays. Either way, do not build across a window.

Cost runs roughly S$3,000 to S$6,500 with a decent mechanism, inside the S$30k to S$70k renovation budget. Timeline is the standard 6 to 10 weeks from measure to install; the bed is templated to your mattress, so tell us the size early — a Singapore queen is 1.52m by 1.90m.

Living with a wall bed

Make the bed daily if you use it nightly; a Murphy left open is just a bed. When up, the shelf holds books or the router, so the wall earns its keep by day. Check the pivot once a year — a drop of oil on the spring and it lifts like new.

If you sell, a vanishing bed reads as smart space, not a compromise, because buyers see a room that does two jobs. Whole-house customization lets the cabinet meet your exact wall and your exact mattress, so the floor returns to you by morning. Measure the clear run and the bed might already fit.