A Murphy bed, also known as a wall bed, fold-up bed, or hideaway bed, is a type of folding bed that folds into the wall when not in use. Murphy beds can be especially useful in small spaces like college dorm rooms or apartments with limited square footage, since it can fit into nooks and crannies that other furniture won’t. These ingenious contraptions are surprisingly simple to build yourself and take up very little space when folded away, so you can have the best of both worlds with an extra sleeping space and extra floor space when needed.
The materials you need for this project
Wood boards, plywood, or particle board. The size of the wood should depend on how large you want your Murphy bed to be.
- Nails or screws.
- A drill with various bits.
- Bolts that are long enough to reach from one end of your wood board to the other without any space in between them (usually 1 1/2 inch).
- Two hinges per side (if you use bolts) or one hinge per side (if you use screws).
- Wood screws for the hinges if using screws instead of bolts.
Cut List
- Cut the two side rails (2 x 12)
- Cut two end rails (3 x 10)
- Cut four slats (1 x 2)
- Cut four pieces of plywood for headboard/footboard (1 x 4)
- Cut one piece of plywood for decking (1/4).
Cut the Front Rails
The first step in building your Murphy Bed is cutting the front rails. You’ll need to mark your desired height of the Murphy Bed onto one of the 2×4s. We suggest marking it 1 below where you would want your mattress from our recommended height of 5’10. Then, use a circular saw or hand saw and cut this section out.
Now that you have two sections removed, we need two rails left that will be nailed together for strength at each end. To do this, lay one rail on top of the other, but stagger them by staggering about 3/4 over so there’s only about 3/2 sticking out past the other rail on either side.
Cut the Back Rails
-Cut two back rails at the length of your mattress. These will be the horizontal boards that support your mattress when it is in use. You want these long enough so that they provide enough support for your mattress but not too long as to overhang on either side of the headboard. Make sure these are wide enough, usually 4-5 inches wider than your mattress, so that you have plenty of room for attaching slats.
Cut the Upper Sides
The first thing you need to do is measure the length of your mattress plus two inches. Then, measure the width of your mattress plus two inches. Take those measurements, divide them in half (length by 2, width by 2) and add 3 on each side for sewing allowance.
Cut the Lower Sides
-Cut both the top and bottom panels of the headboard so that they are 4 inches taller than the desired height of the bed. Cut these pieces into 2-inch strips.
-Take one of these 2-inch strips, fold it in half lengthwise, and then fold it in half again so that it is now 1 inch wide by 2 inches tall. This will be glued onto the lower edge of each side piece on the headboard.
-Cut four pieces (one for each corner) from some scrap plywood so that they are 1 inch wide by 3 inches tall. These will be glued onto the corners of all four sides of the headboard where you just added your strips.
Assemble the Bed Frame
This is the first step in assembling your Murphy Bed frame. You will need 2x4s, 1×2 boards, screws, drill, saw, drill bits and clamps. Take your 2x4s and join them together using the wood screws. Screw in the 1×2 boards on either side of the frame. Clamp or tack your boards in place as you go for more stability. Now you have created your base!
Attach the Headboard
Cut the plywood sheet down to size, so that it is 3 shorter than the height of the headboard. Put one end of the sheet on the edge of your worktable and clamp it in place. Cut off any excess from the other end using a circular saw or jigsaw.
