BENT PET BED Inspired by the Eamses’ LCW, the bent platform bed imitates the molded plywood and walnut finish of the classic chair. Only available in small, so its best suited for a cat or toy dogs.

Two-year-old Annika and five-year-old Soren make music on the "nap swing," a popular hangout spot for kids and adults alike.

Furniture designer Pat Carson created a plethora of custom fixtures for this guest room, including a riveted aluminum Murphy bed. The best Murphy beds raise and lower easily, often requiring only one hand. This unique wall bed employs a hand-cranked wheel-and-pulley system.

Hidden Storage The Murphy bed in the guest bedroom sits behind Montague’s desk, allowing the compact room to function comfortably for working and sleeping at different times. It’s made with customized millwork, Häfele bed hardware, and an Ikea mattress. When it’s open, it reveals hidden shelving. hafele.com ikea.com

The master bedroom; the painting is by Radcliffe Bailey.

The Red House, 2002.

Keeping the home cozy in winter is as easy as snuggling up near the Rais stove or the fluffy pooch.

The snug attic in this former fisherman’s cottage in Copenhagen contains the homeowner’s platform bed, custom-designed by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen to maximize storage and fit the unusual space.

"We wanted to keep the exterior walls uncluttered, so you can focus on the views, the light, and the air," says Rosa Garneau, the owner of a 650-square-foot co-op in New York's Chelsea neighborhood. To achieve a clean look, everything gets tucked away, including the mattress and bedding. When looking for the best Murphy bed, look for one that can accommodate basic bedding without having to remove and store it daily.

If letting your bed linens drape onto the floor or the platform bed frame just isn’t your style, keep your bedroom feeling sharp and tidy by tucking your sheets under the mattress and removing any extra blankets or fluffy comforters. A slim, white bed frame such as this one feels skeletal enough to still convey airiness.

The bed, also by Hynam, is on casters, allowing ten Hompel to move it to gaze at the stars.

Brightly colored sheets and a central pendant lamp show this tent to its best advantage.

Debbi Gibbs’s son Blake had one primary design requirement: bunk beds. Specifically, he wanted "two sets of single bunks, one on each side, with a bridge over the top." Gibbs says the Venetian-style arched bridge connecting the two beds exceeded her expectations: "I was expecting a flat platform, but our builder decided to take Blake’s request (to connect them) and made him his very own Bridge of Sighs."

A lofted sleeping pod offers a bit of privacy and helps maximize space. Beneath it is a zippy yellow bathroom.

These swiveling and sturdy multi-ply steam-bent wood chairs were created by German furniture designer Adam Stegner and were produced by Pagholz Flötotto in the 1950s. $1,800

The Amoco table from design firm reiss f.d. is an occasional table constructed of FSC-certified bent plywood. From $2,230

Ando, a Shiba Inu, was in the first Puppy Cam litter.

The low windows in the master bedroom focus the view on the backyard, not the neighbors. Christopher designed the solid poplar platform bed.

This Murphy bunk bed, the Lollipop IN model from Resource Furniture, stows away flush to the wall when not in use.

Madrid-based firm PKMN dreamed up this flexible concept for a client with a tiny home north of the city. Made up of three shelving units on track system, the All I Own House can be configured in countless ways, making space for a bedroom, kitchen, sitting area, changing room, and more. Shown here is a horizontal Murphy bed, which makes a great space-saving solution as well as a comfortable sleeping space.

A common trend among modern Murphy beds is to fold into a cabinet. By lowering the custom Murphy bed and rolling a sliding plywood door, this homeowner creates an instant guest room.

Cabin Nordmarka, 2006.

In the master bedroom, a basic platform bed and Ikea wall lights keep the attention on the ocean views afforded by the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Maja and Asa hang out in the guestroom, which also doubles as storage space with an entire wall of closets along one end.

The elegant and minimalist Loft bed by Seattle-based Chadhaus has been paired down even further in a new version that comes without drawers on the underside.

Nouvel Approach When the Nouvel staircase proved too costly to copy, DeSalvo designed an affordable version. The treads are perforated bent steel plates that appear to float on a support tube, while the railings are made from tension cables and galvanized handrails and posts. It offers a similar level of architectural impact and sense of transparency at relatively low cost (both stairways, plus a matching catwalk, came in at $6,000).

The food bowls are as smart as they are simple. Contour lines are embossed on the inside to indicate how much food or water the pet has consumed. The bowls not only come in three different sizes, but matching plant pots help create a more cohesive space between the products and the interior.

The master bedroom’s massive leather headboard was Thompson’s idea and design.

Farm House, 2008. "Doing a small house is like doing a portrait of your client," says Jarmund. "In one case it’s an old abandoned farmhouse for a pair of historians. In another, it’s a guy who wants a house out of James Bond."

Architect Bergendy Cooke, who worked for Zaha Hadid and Peter Marino before returning to her home country in 2007, is an admirer of the strong, sculptural architectural forms that appear in Japanese and Spanish architecture. Outside Queenstown, she put her ideas into practice in a home that would be the benchmark for bc+a studio, her own venture. The combination bunk bed and playhouse is a whimsical gesture the architect designed specifically for her two daughters. The spaces are organized in such a way that they can play independently or together.

In the master bedroom, a Mandal bed from Ikea is draped with a Tuuli duvet cover by Marimekko.

Another water-saving project in Menlo Park includes a rock bed with succulents.

A Design Within Reach bed is steps away from a Second Floor sink by Duravit that’s outfitted with an Essence Grohe faucet. Benjamin Moore’s Templeton Gray is painted on the master bathroom’s wood paneling.

In his home office, Wardell runs his online art gallery Chester's Blacksmith Shop and researches his next project: opening a boutique hotel in New Zealand. His nephew peeks down from the "napping nook" secreted above the office. The desk is from Room & Board.

Made from Tasmanian oak, the bunk beds, covered in Kivet duvets by Marimekko, can accommodate four.

Soren and Annika share a lofted bedroom and a pair of bunks. In Barker and Inzunza's house, this space is used as an office and music room.