Cabinet Beds for Small Apartments & Studios
Cabinet beds for small apartments solve the problem every studio creates: one room has to be a living room by day and a bedroom by night. A freestanding cabinet bed closes to about 6 square feet for a twin and 10 to 12 for a queen, opens into a real bed, and needs no wall mounting.
In a small apartment, every piece of furniture has to work twice. A sofa holds guests and a dining table becomes a desk, but the bed is usually the one thing that refuses to share, sitting in the middle of the room all day whether anyone needs it or not. Cabinet beds for small apartments change that, and they do it without drills, wall anchors or a conversation with your landlord.
Why Cabinet Beds for Small Apartments Make Sense
Plenty of new apartments are built small. The Census Bureau's latest new housing figures show that 42% of new multifamily homes completed in 2025 had one bedroom, and the median unit built for rent was 1,000 square feet. In a space that size, a queen bed left open all day takes a real bite out of the living area.
A cabinet bed gives most of that valuable floor space back, so your living space stays usable all day. Night and Day lists the Poppy, Sagebrush and Ranchero at about 10 square feet when closed and the Murphy Cube at about 11.75, while Arason's Key West and Verona take about 11. Every model in our cabinet Murphy bed collection stands on its own, so there's no wall mounting, no damage to repair when you move out, and nothing to leave behind at the end of the lease.
The bed that comes out of a Murphy cabinet bed is a proper one, too, with no Murphy bed installation to arrange. Arason builds a solid sleeping platform with no springs or bars to feel through the mattress, Night and Day supports its credenza queens on 7 slats, and both rate their beds for about 500 pounds.
Choosing a Murphy Bed for a Studio Apartment
The best bed for a studio apartment is the one whose closed form earns its floor space during the day. So before you compare sizes, decide what you want the cabinet to be when the bed is put away.
A TV console. The Night and Day Clover, Daisy and Sagebrush are credenza-style cabinets where a TV can sit on top and stay put even with the bed folded out. They also have built-in outlets and USB ports, which is handy when the cabinet sits where a nightstand never could.
A low chest under a window. The Murphy Cube stands 36.6 inches tall and the Orion just 36, low enough to tuck under many windowsills without blocking the view.
A desk. The Night and Day Siesta Desk Bed is a standing-height desk with bookshelves on both sides that turns into a twin bed in less than a minute. The Artisan Desk Bed goes further with a 24 by 76 inch desktop at standard 30.2-inch desk height and a built-in power and USB module.
A sideboard. The Sealy San Sebastian works as a sideboard or TV stand when it's closed, and at 19.7 inches deep it's the shallowest cabinet we carry.
The Best Cabinet Beds for Small Apartments, Model by Model
The best Murphy beds for small spaces are the ones that match the job your room needs done, and each of these earns its place as a cabinet bed for small spaces in a different way.
Night and Day Murphy Cube
The Murphy Cube is our go-to suggestion for apartments, largely because of how it arrives. It ships in apartment-friendly packaging, with the cabinet in a 66.3 by 28.7 by 6 inch box and the mattress boxed separately, and it assembles in about 15 minutes with no tools. It opens to a queen at 80.3 inches long, and prices start at $1,697 for the cabinet only or $1,897 with the gel memory foam mattress. You'll find it in the Night and Day Murphy Cube listing in four finishes.
Night and Day Orion Twin or Full
If width is what your room lacks, the Orion is the one to measure first. The twin is 42.4 inches wide and the full 59.7, both only 20.5 inches deep and 36 inches tall, and both open to 76.5 inches. It has about 6 inches of hidden storage for bedding, and prices start at $1,297 for the twin cabinet on its own.
Night and Day Siesta Desk Bed
For a studio that doubles as a home office, the Siesta Desk Bed lets you work at a real desk all day and sleep on a twin at night. It measures 63.5 inches wide and 28.3 deep when closed, opens to 77.3 inches, and includes a gel memory foam mattress, with outlets and USB ports built into the cabinet.
Arason Creden-ZzZ
Arason's chest-style cabinets are 23 inches deep and come in full or queen, with a 6-inch tri-fold foam mattress included. Arason notes that the height works well as a surface in home offices and fits easily in rooms with low or sloped ceilings, like basements, lofts and attic rooms. The flip top opens without clearing it, every cabinet has a storage drawer, and each one adds USB charging and an outlet.
Murphy Bed for a Studio Apartment: Wall Bed or Cabinet Bed?
Search for a Murphy bed for a studio apartment and you'll see two very different products under the same name. A traditional wall-mounted Murphy bed folds up against the wall and has to be fastened to it, which can mean studs, anchors and a landlord's sign-off. A cabinet bed does the same job from inside a piece of furniture that simply stands on the floor.
For renters, that difference often settles the question. A cabinet bed goes in on delivery day, comes out on moving day, and leaves no holes behind. Closed, it also gives you a usable top surface and a storage drawer. And if the bed comes down every night, the hybrid pocket coil upgrade on the Murphy Cube and Night and Day credenza queens is built for exactly that kind of use.
Planning a Small Space Layout Around a Cabinet Bed
Start with the open length. Depending on the model, the bed reaches 76 to 83 inches from the wall, so the spot in front of the cabinet needs to stay free of anything heavy. A lightweight coffee table or an ottoman you can slide aside makes nightly setup a lot easier than a solid table you have to wrestle.
Then think about the rest of the room as a set. A compact sofa across from the cabinet, and a small table that can double as a desk, turn one room into three zones without crowding it. Our picks for the best loveseat for a studio and the best dining tables for studio apartments are good places to start, since every piece in a small room has to fit around the bed.
Light matters too. The low Murphy Cube and Orion leave most of a window clear, and even the taller credenza queens, at 41.1 inches, are designed to fit under a window, so check your sill height before you decide where the bed and the TV will live.
Making a Cabinet Bed Look Like Part of the Room
The trick with a studio is to let the cabinet look like furniture first. Style the top the way you would a sideboard, with a lamp, a plant or a stack of books, and on Arason's flip-top models those pieces can stay put when you open the bed. A rug in front of the cabinet defines the sleeping zone at night and the living zone during the day, and it softens the floor under bare feet.
Finish choice matters more in one room than in a big house, because the cabinet is always in view. A modern Murphy bed like the Sagebrush suits a clean, contemporary room, while the Poppy comes in six finishes, from Brushed Driftwood to Seafoam, and the Murphy Cube in Cherry, Chocolate, Stonewash and White, so it's easy to match the wood tones you already have. If your space leans light and airy, Arason's Cottage White, with its beadboard look and wood knobs, sits comfortably alongside white walls and pale floors.
Getting a Cabinet Bed Into Your Building
Small apartments often come with narrow stairs, tight hallways and small elevators, so check the delivery route before anything else. The Murphy Cube ships flat in a 66.3 by 28.7 by 6 inch box, which helps on stairs, while Arason ships its cabinets semi-assembled and lists most queens at 240 pounds, so plan for two people and measure every door along the way.
Shipping is free on orders over $199, including bulky freight deliveries. Arason models are in high demand, so we reserve them directly with the manufacturer, and a quick call before you order lets us confirm the lead time for your finish.
Can You Sleep on a Cabinet Bed Every Night in a Studio?
Yes, with the right mattress. Arason describes the Creden-ZzZ as comfortable and durable enough for everyday use in a studio apartment. On the Murphy Cube and Night and Day credenza queens, the hybrid pocket coil mattress upgrade is built for every-night use and adds $200 to the Complete Set price.
If the bed will be used nightly, keep one habit in mind: take the mattress out and let it air for a few hours about once every three months so moisture doesn't build up inside the cabinet. For more ways to make a small room feel bigger, our space-saving bedroom ideas pair well with a cabinet bed.
Make Your Studio Work Harder
Tell us the size of your room and how you want to use it, and we'll help you narrow down the right cabinet bed. You can reach us at (916)-262-7257. We ship free on orders over $199, offer 0% APR financing through Shop Pay, and our 30-day price beat guarantee tops any lower advertised price on the exact same bed by 1%. When you're ready to furnish the rest of the space, Archic Furniture's whole-home collection has you covered.
