Murphy Bed

Ever since I was a kid, I wanted a Murphy bed. Reconfiguring the house to make the original ground-floor bedroom into an office/guest bedroom, allowed me to realize that, so In the fall of '06 I bought a "double" (Americans call it "full") Create-A-Bed^® kit. Because of the shape of the room, it made more sense to get a bed that flipped down on its side. The kit includes the hinges and gas struts, and lists of everything else you need to complete the project, really good instructions, and a well made DVD of someone making the bed.

I got the millwright at Piercey's Building Supplies, Bill, to cut the plywood according to the kit's cutting plan; it cost less than a single sheet of plywood and his cuts were absolutely precise and square.

Tools: Too bad, I didn't need any new tools. I used my antique Skil saw, jigsaw, power drill, and a borrowed 24v cordless drill. Having one drill just for pilot holes, and another to drive the hundreds of screws in this bed, is very handy. I had misplaced my old chisel and replaced it- that's the only tool I bought.

Costs: everyone wants to know how much it cost. The kit, after currency conversion and shipping was about $400; $450 went to Piercey's for wood (four sheets good-two-side 3/4" oak plywood, 2 sheets good-one-side 1/4" oak plywood, about 50' of 1x2 pine, and some oak plank) the $60 to cut it. and another $200 for hardware, shellac etc.. You have to add a mattress to that, of course.

In early January '07, Mike and I started working on it. Mike's obsession with precision was a real asset for this project; when it was done, everything fit beautifully.

Click on any thumbnail to enter the slideshow at that point. It's a small room; the pictures are taken through the window.