At the beginning of the 20th century William Murphy patented an idea of a “disappearing bed” (among others) and the wall bed, pull down bed or fold-down bed was popularized in America. In Europe, the 21st century equivalent is the ceiling bed. In 2004, Parisian designers Décadrages released their version of the hovering bed with BedUp.

Retracting into the ceiling,  their designs can save up to 30 square feet of floor space, transforming one room into two: a living room becomes a bedroom, a child’s room becomes a study space, or a studio becomes two rooms.

Unlike a Murphy bed which requires a clear space to lower the bed, the BedUp can be lowered over furniture (with some height restrictions) without any rearranging. And you don’t even have to make the bed. “With the Murphy bed you have to attach the mattress, remove the pillows…”, explains BedUp designer Alexandre Grison, “with this thing the bed can be used exactly as a normal bed, you can make the bed or not you can leave the pillows, you simply lift the bed when you want space.”

Grison aimed his design at city dwellers in places like Paris where every square meter is accounted for. “The bed takes a lot of place and it’s only used about 8 hours a day and it’s a lot of room and it’s not used so why not use it.”