Having extra space for entertainment and hobbies is a luxury that most associate with having sprawling square footage. But it doesn’t have to be as complicated as buying a bigger place or constructing a costly addition. You just have to get creative to find more extra space where you’re already living.
Most rooms are designed to serve a single purpose, but even the coziest houses have underused square footage. It’s in these often-overlooked areas that so much hidden potential can be unlocked.
A fold-up Murphy bed allows one room to function as two (or more!). A sparsely used guest room has the potential to be a well-lived-in space where families can create memories. Whether you’ve dreamt of a crafting corner, home gym, or even a bar and lounge, the sky’s the limit when you have a piece of transformational furniture that gives you more square footage.
From chic home offices to fun game rooms for kids of all ages, here are 13 inspired ways real Lori Bed customers showed us what can be done with a bonus room when you install a Murphy Bed.
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Reading Room
Picture this: It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon, and you’re snuggled up with a good book and cup of tea. Instead of trying to keep focused on the noise of the football game in the living room, you are enjoying your page-turner in peace in a private reading room.
Sounds dreamy, but for Cam’ron in Nevada it’s a reality. Her rarely occupied guest room can quickly transform into her personal book lovers' respite after she installed her Lori Bed.
“Once it was all put together it turned our addition space into a legit guest room,” she said. “I've had family come stay twice already, and it really adds a lot. They can stay in a separate room and have privacy. So much better than a pull-out couch in the living room! When the bed isn't down, I got my ‘currently-reading’ books stacked ready to go.”
Murphy bed models, like the Lori Bed, offer built-in shelf storage when the bed is in the upright position. These shelves could hold books or be a safe spot to store your Kindle or e-reader.
“I recommend this to anyone who might need guest accommodations but needs room to be more than just a bedroom,” Cam’ron added. “I imagine it would suit an Airbnb very well.”
Craft Room
A crafting area is the perfect place to get the creative juices flowing. Transforming a spare bedroom into a creative outlet is exactly how Kara Stephens uses the extra space she created with her Lori Bed.
“This is a great investment for our guest room, which is also my craft room,” Kara said. “I love the shelves. It’s beautiful, even unfinished. So glad we chose the Lori Bed. We had been looking for over a year before deciding, and this was definitely the best choice.”
Kara even uses the built-in shelf storage as a display for her sunflower and peach-inspired artwork.
Open Space
What would you do with an extra room in your house?
Tina Nieri in Arizona uses hers for a little bit of everything. Tina removed the doors, shelves, and hardware from an existing closet and installed a full-sized Lori Bed in its place. Now, she has the space to do whatever she’d like.
“I was looking for a way to make my extra room into a cozy place for a company to sleep, but I also need the room for yoga classes and workouts,” she said. “This bed fit every one of my expectations. Now, I have the entire floor space open. My room looks beautiful because of this bed!”
The bonus room is great for yoga, relaxing, and hanging out with her pup.
Chic Office
Anyone who has worked from home knows how important it is to have a dedicated office space for productivity. But it can be hard to fit a desk and a bed in a small spare room. For Natalia in Florida, the Lori Bed was the perfect solution.
“It leaves the room so spacious when I use it in my day- to- day as my office and then converts into a very comfortable guest room with a queen bed as needed,” she shared. “I'm really happy with the design as well. It does not feel bulky and I like the shelf to arrange decorations as well.”
If your extra room has a room divider, remove it. This frees up space and maximizes every corner. If you work from home, use part of this room to store office supplies.
Game Room
So much room for activities!
Candyce Davidson and her family are enjoying fun and games in an entire room thanks to their fold-up Lori Bed. The display shelving is just the spot to showcase their Star Wars Lego models.
“Our bed is perfect,” she said.
Multi-use Space
The possibilities are endless in a bonus room. An office, a home gym, a guest bedroom — why pick just one? Dee W used her Lori Bed to turn her extra bedroom into a multi-use space for all these functions — and more.
Best of all, she was able to customize the design of her bed to fit her style.
“The Lori Bed has been the perfect solution for turning our extra bedroom into a multi-use space without compromising our design,” Dee said. “The materials are high-quality. We went with the unfinished version with plans to eventually paint or stain it once we are in our forever home. We’re thrilled to have found this piece and hope to have it for the long haul.”
Music Room 
Let the music fill the room, and your record collection line the shelves of the Lori Bed. A music room sounds like an amenity that only a rockstar would have at home. But Belle Martin in California proves it’s a luxury within reach for everyone.
Belle built the bed herself in about six hours and now enjoys her bonus room to the fullest. She now has optimized storage solutions for her vinyl collection and other stuff she has collected.
“I did this build myself, and if I could do it, anyone could,” she said. “The directions were easy to follow, and they give you everything you need to build the pieces. Awesome bed!”
Home Gym
If you want to get to the gym but always seem short on time, a home gym is an excellent alternative for keeping healthy. Designing a functional home gym doesn’t require a lot of space, money, or time—in fact, installing one may save you time and money in the long run.
Evan Hall maximized an underused space by installing a vertical Queen Lori Bed.
“We have successfully converted our guest room to a fully functional guest room/Peloton space,” Evan said. “I couldn't be happier with the Lori Bed and the space it has given us. It is like we have a whole new room in our home.”
Now Evan never has to stand idly waiting for the gym spin bike, and is achieving his fitness goals from the comfort of his own home.
Playroom 
If you don’t have a spare room that you can dedicate solely for playtime, consider space-saving furniture and creative storage to make the most of a spare bedroom. That is what Deborah Bobo did for her grandchildren in South Carolina.
“[We] purchased the bed for the room that my grandkids use,” she said. “It is a small room, and I wanted maximum floor space for them to play, so that seems like a no-brainer. They can't wait to sleep over now.”
Deborah added her personality to the bed with blue paint and LED lights on the framing.
Yoga Room
Namaste. Is there anything more than relaxing than having a calming retreat to call your own? Transforming this underused bedroom into a yoga room was the perfect fit for a Lori Bed customer.
This Arizona resident stained her Lori Bed with a natural wood tone that compliments the earthy terra cotta tile flooring. Paired with a neutral floor rug and woven baskets, it’s the perfect calming escape to practice yoga away from the hot Arizona summer sun.
If you want to build your own yoga studio using an extra room in your home, you can transform your basement studio into your relaxation area with a Murphy bed as a backdrop!
Arts & Craft
Tina in Missouri turned her Lori Bed into the centerpiece of her guest room/craft room. She used her eye for design to put her personal stamp on her Murphy bed, applying a shiplap wallpaper (similar to contact paper) to the wooden bed frame to give the room a beachy and relaxing vibe.
"[It] gave my craft room much more space,” she said. It’s great for the 3 to 4 times a year I need a bed in there."
Now, she has a room to make beautiful art and keep art supplies within reach.
Get $200 Off on the Murphy Bed
Lounge
Who says you can’t have fun in a small space? Creating a dedicated lounge and TV room is doable with the help of some clever strategic planning. Just ask Jim M. from California.
Now that his son has left the nest, Jim uses his son’s old bedroom as a lounge and TV room. And with the Lori Bed there is still plenty of space for Jim’s son to sleep when he visits.
“It fits in the room perfectly. When my son visits, it is still his bedroom,” Jim said. “I love it, and he loves it. It worked out great all around, I would 100% recommend this bed.”
You can put a Lori Bed or a sleeper sofa in your lounge to create a semblance of a living room using a separate room. Use this area as an entertainment room when guests arrive.
Faux “Bar & Grill”
Why go out to eat when you can bring the bar and grill to you? Elaine Rotelli and her husband thought the same thing when they purchased a Lori Bed for their one-bedroom, 720-square-foot townhome in Tahoe Keys Marina.
For now, the townhome is strictly for vacation, but one day soon, it will be their retirement home, where they plan to comfortably host guests. They incorporated the Murphy bed into a pub-themed dining room that was enhanced by the barstool seating and “countertop” provided by the Murphy bed’s built-in shelving.
“We love this product,” she said. “Now we can host guests comfortably.”
These bonus spaces are proof that a Lori Bed is as much about enjoying your space as it is about maximizing its function. We hope these bonus multi-purpose rooms provide some refreshing Murphy bed design inspiration for you!
