Best Mattress Firmness for a Murphy Bed

What firmness means on a mattress

Firmness is the feel of the mattress surface when you lie on it. A plush or soft mattress lets the body sink in further, while a firm mattress pushes back with less give. Makers describe this range with words like plush, medium soft, medium, medium firm, and firm, and those words appear on the mattress pages of the beds this site compares.

The Wilding Wallbeds mattress page places each model on a comfort scale with firm, medium, and soft ends, and labels every mattress with a stated feel. The same page shows a separate support scale with low, medium, and high ends. The comfort scale describes surface feel, while the support scale describes how the mattress holds the body.

Why firmness matters in a Murphy bed

In a Murphy bed the mattress stands on end inside the cabinet when the bed is closed. A mattress that changes shape while standing can push against the cabinet or lose its form over time. Wilding Wallbeds states that its Murphy bed mattresses are specially engineered to stand on-end without slumping or sagging over time. The mattress compatibility article explains how to read that on a listing.

Firmness plays a role in that upright life. A softer mattress has more give and may hold a different shape, while a firmer mattress offers more resistance. The right choice is the feel you prefer, as long as the listing states the mattress is built for a Murphy bed and gives a thickness that fits the cabinet depth. The mattress thickness guide covers that fit detail.

Reading the firmness labels on a listing

The Wilding Wallbeds mattress page lists a range of stated feels. The Nestled Night Serta PerfectSleeper is described as medium-firm, the Limited Serta iComfort is medium-firm, and the Carmack Firm Serta iComfort is firm. The Splendid Slumber and the F-11 are both labeled medium, while the Lynn Lake Plush is medium soft and the Kenfield II Plush is soft and responsive. The Morse Heights II Plush is described as pillow soft.

Cabinet beds state their included mattress. Wilding Wallbeds cabinet beds include a 6-inch tri-fold mattress, and the company also offers a luxury latex tri-fold mattress with a plush feel and a cool touch cover. Night and Day Furniture lists tri-fold gel memory foam and tri-fold gel pocket coil mattresses for its cabinet collection.

When a listing states a feel, that is the maker's label for the mattress surface. When it does not state a feel, the missing detail is a reason to ask the seller before buying, not a reason to guess. The cabinet bed versus wall bed article explains how these two bed types differ in what they state.

Firmness versus support

Firmness and support are not the same thing. Firmness is how the surface feels when you lie on it. Support is how well the mattress keeps the body aligned. The Wilding Wallbeds mattress page shows both scales separately, so a mattress can be labeled plush on comfort and high on support, or firm on comfort and low on support.

For a Murphy bed, the support layer matters because the mattress rests on a platform or slats when open and stands on end when closed. The maker's stated support rating gives one way to compare models on stated details, while the feel label tells you which surface you will notice first.

What this site cannot tell you about comfort

This site compares stated details from maker pages, and it does not measure how a mattress feels in a room or how anyone sleeps on it. Comfort is personal, so no label can replace your own preference for feel.

What the guides can do is help you pick a bed type, size, and built-in features, then read the mattress detail on the listing. For fit questions, the mattress thickness article and the mattress compatibility article cover the limits a buyer should check before ordering. The main Murphy bed guide shows how the site orders its picks on stated details.

Choosing firmness for your room

For a guest room that becomes an office, a medium or medium-firm feel is a common starting point because it sits between extremes and suits a range of sleepers. For a studio where the same bed is used nightly, your own preference should lead: choose a plush or medium soft label if you like a softer surface, or a firm or medium firm label if you like more pushback.

For a cabinet bed, the included tri-fold mattress determines the feel, so compare cabinet beds on the stated feel of that mattress. For a desk bed or wall bed, check that the mattress is stated to stand on end and that its thickness fits the cabinet, then choose the feel you prefer. The cabinet bed guide and the desk bed guide compare those types on their stated details.

What to pick for your situation

Questions

Is a firmer mattress better for a Murphy bed?

Not by itself. The maker's labels range from plush to firm, and what fits a Murphy bed is a mattress that is stated to stand on end with a stated thickness that matches the cabinet. Choose the feel you prefer within that fit.

What firmness is a tri-fold cabinet bed mattress?

The feel depends on the model. Wilding Wallbeds cabinet beds include a 6-inch tri-fold mattress, and the company offers a luxury latex tri-fold with a plush feel and a cool touch cover. Night and Day Furniture lists tri-fold gel memory foam and tri-fold gel pocket coil options. Read the listing for the stated feel.

Do I need a special mattress for a Murphy bed?

The maker states that its Murphy bed mattresses are engineered to stand on-end without slumping or sagging over time. When a listing states a mattress is built for a Murphy bed and gives a thickness, that is the detail to compare. See the mattress compatibility article.

Can this site tell me which firmness is most comfortable?

No. The site compares stated details from maker pages and does not measure comfort. Comfort is personal, so use the maker's feel label and your own preference, then check the fit details.

Does firmness affect how the bed folds?

The site does not measure lifting effort or mechanism strength, so it cannot say how a mattress affects folding. Follow the maker's instructions for the bed, and choose a mattress the maker states is built for a Murphy bed.