Palermo Wall Bed

Don't buy this bed! – I purchased one of these beds in 2021 for my spare room. In the first year it was slept on only 2 or 3 times, and seemed to work well. Around the 4th or 5th time it was used (again for a single night only) one of the legs gave way and it became useless. I contacted Factory Fast Palermo, and they sent me a video to fix the problem. I paid for a… Read more

handyman/carpenter to fix the problem. He followed the video but the leg almost immediately gave way again. I got in a second handyperson, and they consulted. Both agreed that the problem was probably the poor design. I then sent a video to the company, who replied that the leg had given way due to age and overuse! They also said I would have to pay for a new leg as the bed was out of warranty. I really don't want anyone to have the same problems as me, so I would strongly advise against buying this bed.

great, exactly what we're after, very happy! easy to assemble in 1/2 a day – this was a purchase for our home office conversion to a guest bed that doesn't take up unnecessary space. It was very easy to assemble for my husband. The delivery came quickly and we are very happy with the result. The box is not 100% square - only off by 2mm or so, but it is not to worry. We found the build quality really good for the price.… Read more

Only downside is the floor profile; it sits pretty low to the floor, and with the maximum mattress/bedding depth of 20cm, the bed is quite low but not so much that one cannot get up. For my senior-aged parents we will probably swap out the mattress for a spare pillow-topped one we had on our previously permanently down guest bed, as they won't be putting it up and down every night and they visit for a week or more at a time.

But in truth, for guests the current mattress depth and floor/frame profile is completely adequate for just that - guests.

Excellent, just what I hoped for – Excellent bed for the purpose intended. The metal peg issued for step 1, didn’t fit, thankfully had read all the reviews beforehand so was prepared. Just braced this section and carried on. Went together perfectly after that. I would recommend to others. Hubby and I put together without professional help. You could too. Show details

Only buy this bed if you are a handyman/woman – My wife and I read the bad reviews but we decided to take the risk based on the fact that "you own screws & bolts so you can make it work" (according to my wife). I have included a scan of the instructions + some photos as I make reference to them in this review. GOOD: 1) Once assembled the bed balances nicely, it is easy to open and falls… Read more

slowly to the floor as the pistons have enough force to counterweight the bed.

2) The thickness of the side and bottom panels is 25mm, which makes for a sturdy bed frame (but it will bend if you put it on carpet - see photo).

3) The slats are nice and flexible which makes for a springy bed which is a mater or taste.

4) Packaged really well, its going to take me month to get all the cardboard into the recycling bin.

COULD BE BETTER: 1) The overall finish of the bed is OK. The melamine is probably on the lower quality side, you can see glue leakage on the sides but overall it’s not too bad. The edge banding is ok, there are a few pit marks but nothing too bad. See photos of the glue leakage and the pits in the edge banding.

2) One of the corners on side the side was slightly damaged. It was not due to shipping, most likely poor quality control.

BAD: There were so many problems with assembling this bed that it took about 8 hours of my life. Here is a rundown of all the issues

1) Supplied dowels to hold parts together were too small. They supplied 8mm dowels to fit 9mm holes. They literally fall out of the holes.

2) Joining the 2 x front panels and 2 x back panels was an exercise in futility, refer to page 3/11 in the instructions. The cam (34) was too short for hole positions and locking nuts (30). If you got one side locked in, the opposing locking nut could not grab the cam. Ended up not using the cam and locking nuts.

3) Supplied wrong parts, refer to page 3/11 in the instructions. There was supposed to be 2 x Back Panels (F) and 2 x Front Panels (J). They supplied 4 x Back Panels (F). If you study the difference between (F) and (J), you will see that the drill hole patterns are different. This would lead to a whole host of problems - we decided to forge ahead regardless.

4) Once the side pales were attached to the back panels, I felt that there was just too much play in frame. I decided to add 3 screws to each of the 90 degree joins in the side panels, just to stiffen them up a little. The screws are on the bottom and top so are not seen - but they are there.

5) Because the 2 x Front Panels (J) had not been supplied, there were no drill hole positions to screw the metal bed frame to the panels. You can’t just guess the position of the metal frame, it has to be 100% accurate. To accomplish this, I had to lay the main box frame down flat, drop the metal frame into position, lay down inside the box (with a torch + drill + screws) and have my wife lift the panels into position. I then screwed the panels to the metal frame with some 10g 15mm screws (I had purchased) using holes that I had pre-drilled into the tabs - see attached photos.

6) Refer to page 8/11 in the instructions. Perform step 17 before you do 15 and 16. Attach one end to the piston to the front metal assembly first. If you drop the front assembly into its pivot points, there is no way you can physically get the piton into position as other parts are block you from attaching it. In fact, step 17 shows you attaching the piston prior to dropping the the front assembly into the main box.

8) We got everything assembled and the bed started to lift - amazing - then jammed! The front panel jammed against the bottom panel in closing. I suspect that because 2 x Front Panels (J) had not been supplied, the 2 x Front Panels (J) are slightly taller, therefore when the bed closes the extra length causes the jam - refer to photo. The only solution was to cut 15mm off the bottom of the front panel. We had to disassemble the bed down to step 15, make the cut then reassemble.

9) After reassembling, the bed stated to lift - then jammed again! This time it was because the bed was slightly out of square due to fixing to the wall. Once again, I suspect that the 2 x Front Panels (J) are slightly smaller in width which allows for a slight twist. I had to readjust the screens and the tilt of the bed (quite a fiddly process) get the bed dead square. To illustrate how tight a fit it is, I can only fit 9 sheets of paper into the gap - which is exactly 1mm according to my callipers. This is understandable since you are fitting a back panel as the front panel which is supposed to have no gap.

10) The final problem was there was no pre-drilled holes for the handle. This means you need to measure and drill the holes yourself. Not too big a deal but you need to take a guess as to where to put the handle. TIP. Make sure you attach the handle BEFORE closing the bed. If you close the bed, without a handle, you will NEVER get the bed open again as the pistons are really strong. We had a tie down strap threaded to the metal frame as a safety precaution. Also include some washers on the inside a some of the reviews suggest that the handle will eventually rip off. Looking at the size of the supplied bolt head, I can see why this would happen over time.

FINAL WORDS: I can’t speak to the long term performance of the bed, some people say it amazing and say not so. So far I have been happy. I do recommend like others that you use a scrap bit of carpet where the legs meet the ground in the down position as you will wear a hole in your carpet over time. If it had not been such a pain to assemble I would possibly have given this bed 4 stars (5 stars if performs over my expectations of 5+ years) but because of all the assembly issues to to incorrectly supplied parts, 2 stars.

If you are going to buy this bed: 1) Be confident in you handyman/woman skills. 2) If you get 4 x Back Panels (F) like we did, take 15-20mm off the bottom and 2mm from the centre of the panels you will use for the front. This way the fit will not be so tight. 3) Have additional screws and washers to sure it up structurally. 4) Set aside a whole weekend to assemble and stay calm over 8+ hours!

Good Luck!

Good design and works well – I chose the Palermo because of its design and price. I’m 4 years in and we use it daily. It has lasted all this time. Pros- We used it in conjunction with an Ikea sofa to replicate the sofa wall bed combo which Clei retailers were selling for an extortionate price. That was not easy for a novice like me btw but was worth it even if I voided the… Read more

warranty in the process! Greviences - The unit is very heavy and the melamine panels are MDF which if you have to cut in to is very dusty. We realised this when the handle used to pull the bed down ripped out from the panel and left a damage mark ( 4 years in mind you) . Also when assembling it’s very hard to attach the back panel in a way that hides the screws when the bed is open. The way your supposed to attach it is the other way round to how we did it but I have no idea how you could do it without special help or equipment. the back panel essentially holds the frame together ONCE attached but until then it’s a fragile heavy frame which one can only attach laid flat on the ground with the panel the wrong way round... Conclusion - Anyway it still sold me as the best on the market for price and design and it doesn’t appear the Aus market for wallbeds has changed much since. I wish the price were lower though. It’s a little too expensive IMO. That said I highly recommend this product to others.