10 Tips to Building A Better Murphy Bed

Building a Murphy bed; use these helpful Murphy bed tips

There are many Murphy bed, ideas and plans out there . Some ideas have merit; others simply make my back hurt thinking about lifting a heavy bed mattress and all that plywood while fooling around with a concocted locking system. If you spend your day at the gym lifting weights, this may be a viable option. If not, you may want to consider instead using a kit with good, strong gas hinges. The cost of a Murphy bed kit is about $150 more than buying assorted hardware for a jeri-rigged setup. Seems like a no brainer; $150 more to end up with one that is fully functional, easy to operate and it'll looks good and will last for years. Whether you build from scratch or from a kit, make life easier and use these helpful Murphy bed tips.

Tip #1: Save your back and buy a Murphy bed kit with gas hinges that will absorb the weight of the mattress and its platform enabling it to open and close with minimal effort. We researched long and hard and decided to go with the highly recommend the Full-Size Deluxe Murphy Bed Hardware Kit, Vertical without mattress platform from Rockler Woodworking. We chose the option to build our own mattress platform since it allowed for a thick mattress plus foam topper. Rockler also offers an option that includes a platform.  

Building a Murphy Bed; it's all in the details.

Hardwood edging is needed to seal the sides of the plywood

Building a Murphy bed is not for the faint of heart. There are many steps to follow and precision needed when cutting and drilling.  That said, you need only intermediate woodworking skills, and a fair amount of patience and attention to detail. As they say; 

Tip #2: Read the directions closely, then re-read them a few more times and watch the video if available until you are able to wrap your head around the whole project.  Check out Rockler's free download of their Full and Queen size Murphy bed plan. Then take your time, be precise in your cuts and placement when drilling holes. This tip is the most important!

Using a raised surface made this project so much easier

A successful project begins with a good plan.

Before beginning your project, it’s a good idea to prepare a large, flat, clean surface to work on. This may not be mentioned in your directions, but believe me, it’s certainly well worth the time and effort.  It'll help prevent dents and mars on the finished surface.  A good working surface should be slightly smaller than the mattress platform and at a comfortable height. Keeping in mind, if it’s too large sanding and ironing on and cutting the edge tape will more difficult; if the surface is too small pieces may fall and possibly become ruined.

Tip #3: Before beginning, prepare a flat, clean working surface that is slightly smaller than the Murphy bed platform and has enough space around all four sides to be able to walk around it comfortably. If you are like most of us and don’t have a woodworking shop, you can do what we did, place a 4’ x 8’ sheet of ¾” smooth fine grade plywood on top of two saw horses.

I'm not fond of sanding. This project was no exception especially since there was so much to sanding to be done. Whether you sand the Murphy bed in the garage or in the house, be sure to cover EVERYTHING! Using plastic paint tarps (Amazon has a package of 3 - 9' x 12' 1 MIL Clear Plastic Drop Cloths for less than $4) is a cost-effective way to do that. 

Sanding will be very messy, cover everything you don't want covered in sawdust and wear a respirator.

Tip #4: Unless you plan to sand outside or in your ventilated wood shop, cover EVERYTHING! .With so much sanding comes a ton of sawdust. Using these thin plastic, drop cloths is an inexpensive and worthwhile way to  will save you hours in clean up time. Breathing in sawdust is unhealthy, wear a respirator.

Painting the Murphy bed parts before final assembly makes the project so much easier

Whether painting your Murphy bed or staining & varnishing it, apply the finish before moving assembled pieces to where they're to be installed. It’s easier on your back and will allow you to easily paint the area hidden between the side of the platform and the bottom area inside of box once it's completely assembled. Just take caution while moving the assembly pieces and assembling them. 

Apply finish in well ventilated area

Tip #5: Make your life and this project easier; apply the finish before the Murphy bed is taken to it’s permanent location and before the platform is attached to the box and hinges. Take caution when moving the pieces and assembling your Murphy bed to prevent marring and scratching the finish.

Murphy Bed kit is now fully assembled and secured to wall studs

Opening your new Murphy Bed for the first time is exciting!

The most exciting and easiest part of building our Murphy bed was after we assembled the final pieces.  It was way cool to watch how strong the hinges were; they made the heavy plywood platform assembly close into the cabinet box on its own.  After overcoming the excitement, we went on to finish the final step of assembly. This is very important to prevent harm to either yourself or the bed.  Make it as stable and safe as possible, screw the top of the header box from the inside directly into wall studs using 3” wood screws. Once you do that it won't move, wobble or squeak.

Tip #6: Before final assembly, decide exactly where you going to install.   Locate the wall studs that will be behind your Murphy bed. Then mark off the wall studs at a couple of inches above the full outer cabinet height. When ready to anchor your it use those marks to place and drill pilot holes for the 3” wood screws that will be directly screwed to the studs in the wall for maximum stability.

Tip #7: If possible, anchor the Murphy bed directly to as many wall studs as possible using 3” screws. To do this, before final assembly, locate the wall studs at installation site, mark off the studs a couple of inches above the full height of the outer frame then screw the top of the header box directly into wall studs using 3” wood screws.

Wow, the Murphy bed standing by itself is a little overpowering!

We now had a fully operational Murphy bed.  It’s really sturdy, the hinges and pivots work beautifully and it’s super easy to close and open. But wait; the size it was big and visually overpowering when it was closed. It seemed to pop out at you as you walk into the room. I thought this was going to happen. So, when designing the flanking bookcases I made them shorter and thinner than the Murphy bed. Installing the bookcases made a big difference.  Now when you walk into the room your eyes are softly drawn to the cabinet instead of an over sized, big hard-edge box yelling, "LOOK AT ME!" O.k. so I’m being a little dramatic. LOL

Tip #8: Offset the large-scale of the Murphy bed by either flanking it with smaller thinner bookcases, tall thin pictures or something of size to draw your eyes away from the big box and allow them to move around the room. This will make it aesthetically pleasing and give the room a more inviting feel.

Choose the right trim for your style

I chose to go with a modern traditional-ish style trim with hints of RH and PB.  The top has a traditional, not too intricate crown molding and a simple flat molding for the front face. I really liked how it turned out, a perfect fit for our house. Installing the top crown molding takes some skill. If you rarely have to cut angles on crown trim buy at least 2 times the normal amount your need...just in case.  Handy note: stores will usually allow you to return unused pieces as long as they've not been cut. If you purchase trim by the foot they usually allow you to return larger left over pieces. 

Tip #9: Buy more molding than you think you’ll need. Mistakes happen and you don’t want to be caught short. If you’re a newbie consider purchasing twice as much molding as you think you need. Most hardware stores are good about letting you return unused trim.

Decided last minute to add LED reading lights

Woo who, finally done...well almost!

We were finally all done. I put on the mattress and foam topper. Even decided to give it a test run. It was so comfortable; I ended up taking a little nap.  Our Murphy bed looks good, is comfortable, very stable and strong – no squeaks, no noises, doesn’t move. I think I can fairly say this project was a complete success!

But, hold up… wouldn’t it be awesome to add some recessed lights on the top inside? Guests could lay in bed reading, do some writing or whatever. Oh yeah, I definitely needed to add some lighting. O.k., so I wasn’t quite done yet. Another visit to the local hardware store was in order. There I found just what I needed and for not too much money either. Two small puck style LED lights that connected together and could be plugged into a regular outlet, no special wiring required. Perfect, added a remote control device I had lying around and…Now we are done. Woo who! Now our Murphy bed looks great, is super comfy, easy to operate and has remote control LED reading lights too. 

Tip #10: Install recessed LED reading lights that can be operated with a remote control for the perfect Murphy bed sleeping experience.

Please leave a comment below, let us know what you think.