Murphy Bed Hardware

[Vic]

In order to make our guest suite more flexible, I designed a space I can install a queen size Murphy Bed. Since Sylvia started teaching me yoga, she wants the room enlarged, so now I'm looking for hardware. What have you used? I'm looking for quality first and price second.

[Dave H]

Vic Rockler has some harware for Murphy beds and plans http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17212 sounds like fun.

[Vic]

Thank Higtron. I'm not sure I want to go the piston route for the long haul. I've heard a quality spring is better over the long run.

[Bobby Slack]

Oh that reminds me that tomorrow is my P90X yoga session ... last time it killed me. I never thought yoga could be that tough.

[areynoldsre]

I recently bought the Rockler Murphy bed kit and am building a full sized bed for my guest room with it. The hardware looked solid and the plans are very complete. There's even a DVD with step by step video - reasonable well done I thought.

I'll let you know how it turns out. Strangely enough I've just sat down at my computer to write a blog post about my Murphy bed project - honest.

and I didn't research the difference between pistons and springs. Given the way I constantly remodel, rebuild and other wise don't leave the stuff I build alone I wasn't too worried how long it lasted. I figured if it just lasted 5 years I'd be happy or until I decide to remodel the guestroom again.

and my bed is not to make room for yoga but for when the grand kids when they visit. hum - yeah, I got to strengthen that frame...

[ChetlovesMer]

I have built three Murphy beds with the Rockler hardware.

The first one back in 2003. That's still in the quest room of my old house. My parents (who are not small people... I come from a large clan, not in number but in size) slept on it every time they visited and it works and looks as good today as the day I built it. Since then, I've built another in a friends basement and nother in the new house.

All three were queen sized beds. The Rockler plans make great guidelines, but on the second two beds I totally changed the look and style of a lot of it. I also added some bookcases along the sides. There's a Wood Magazine article from a few years back that show the Murphy hardware used completely differently than the plans call for. The hardware is actually quite versitle, especially with a little imagination.

By the way, Vic. I just finished Ab Ripper X I'm still sweaty as I type this... over share?

Anyhoo, I have Yoga X tomorrow. I've been doing P90 X for about 2 years pretty religiously. Great program, my doctor gives me rave reviews, even with my goofy heart condition (long story). Anyway enjoy.

[Vic]

I have built three Murphy beds with the Rockler hardware.

The first one back in 2003. That's still in the quest room of my old house. My parents (who are not small people... I come from a large clan, not in number but in size) slept on it every time they visited and it works and looks as good today as the day I built it. Since then, I've built another in a friends basement and nother in the new house.

All three were queen sized beds. The Rockler plans make great guidelines, but on the second two beds I totally changed the look and style of a lot of it. I also added some bookcases along the sides. There's a Wood Magazine article from a few years back that show the Murphy hardware used completely differently than the plans call for. The hardware is actually quite versitle, especially with a little imagination.

By the way, Vic. I just finished Ab Ripper X I'm still sweaty as I type this... over share?

Anyhoo, I have Yoga X tomorrow. I've been doing P90 X for about 2 years pretty religiously. Great program, my doctor gives me rave reviews, even with my goofy heart condition (long story). Anyway enjoy.

Thanks for the review, Chet. Yea, her heart is what got Sylvia into yoga in the first place. It takes in blood faster than it can pump it out. Not life threatening if she stays in shape, but... So, since I'd put on 20lbs sitting at a desk, she's been trying to get me to do SOMETHING. LOL. I committed to a month of yoga everyday. Hopefully, I'll develop a habit. I'm a bit type A, so if I can hang in there, it'll be ingrained.

[Darnell Hagen]

I've made two with the LV kit, which looks identical to the Rockler version. They're OK, I'm not a fan of the fold down feet and came up with my own ideas. On one I added so much stuff to the front that I had the shocks overcharged to compensate. I don't know how much I'd worry about longetivity, what with how much it get used. However, after seeing these, I'd go that route for asthetics alone.

[Vic]

I've made two with the LV kit, which looks identical to the Rockler version. They're OK, I'm not a fan of the fold down feet and came up with my own ideas. On one I added so much stuff to the front that I had the shocks overcharged to compensate. I don't know how much I'd worry about longetivity, what with how much it get used. However, after seeing these, I'd go that route for asthetics alone.

Thanks Darnell. That's looking beefier, but they only go to double. I need to use queen, as Sylvia want a new bed and our latex queen will become the Murphy bed and we'll move to a king size. Roomier for the dogs. LOL.

[ChetlovesMer]

Okay here's some more information.

First, here's the very first Murphy bed I built. Again, all of these were built with the rocker kit. I built this one pretty much following the kit plans to the letter. This has been being used since 2003 and still working fine. It's tucked into an odd shaped corner of an upstairs room.

Here's a sketch-up I did for the Murphy Bed I built in a friend of mine's basement. I'm having trouble finding a photo of the finished bed. But I will see if I can find one.

Finally, here's a shot of the Murphy Bed for which the plans appeared in Issue 289, Volume 61, Number 3 of Workbench Magazine. I built something very similar to this in my new house. BTW - if you google Murphy Bed Workbench Magazine you find like 20 links to these plans.

I hope this helps.

[rmac]

FWIW,

This has nothing to do with the hardware, but I remember seeing recently some pictures of a murphy bed where the guy had dolled up it all up to look like a wall cabinet when it was closed. He had fake (okay, faux) drawers and doors, complete with nice pulls and whatnot. It looked much nicer to me than the plainer ones that look sort of like somebody nailed a big piece of plywood to the wall.

-- Russ

[Onboard]

Vic, here are a few links to peruse. I gave each a brief look, but you’ll have to look through each one to see the similarities, differences, and what’s included in the prices.

Note: All of these links are for spring type lift mechanisms only, not the piston type lift mechanism.

Murphy Bed #1 - The original Murphy bed company. Price list.

MB #2 – The original Murphy bed Styline model. Also, links to their other models.

MB #3 - Their spring mechanism will handle up to a Queen size bed.

MB #4 - They seem to sell this separately but not sure what you get based on the various prices (Click on delivered cost link). Probably need to make a phone call.

MB #5 - Yet another supplier of frames and mechanisms.

MB #6 - Another one to sort through.

MB #7 - Not sure what the story is here.

[hudsonoffice]

I built the Rockler kit last year and love it. It is actually made by Create-a-bed. Very easy to do great instructions. But if I were to do another one I would open up to some design changes starting with the headboard. It is a high quality unit that gets used a fair amount. I would not search for different brand personnaly.

[Vic]

Thanks for all the info guys. Much appreciated.

[Jerry_in_SD]

I have used hardware from www.wallbed.com. Seems to be same as used in commercial units I have seen.

[Vic]

I have used hardware from www.wallbed.com. Seems to be same as used in commercial units I have seen.

Thanks for the link. I think I've run across them before. Nice bed in the photo, btw.

[MattC27]

I know this is an old thread but I just came across it. Was thinking about building my own murphy bed but came across these cabinet beds and decided to try and build one like this instead. They are more compact and would give me more room in my office/guest room to move around.

My question for you guys is have any of you done a project like this? If so, was it easier or harder than building a standard murphy bed. With these products being relatively new I have not come across any plans or kits that I could use to help with the process.

[BonPacific]

I haven't built one, but I own one of those cabinet beds and can comment on the construction a little. A wall bed is large, but uses very simple construction. While more compact than a traditional murphy bed, there are a lot more moving parts in a cabinet design. Typically the side panels and the top will fold back over themselves, meaning you have to get multiple hinged doors/panels all meeting together out in space rather than a single door connecting to a rigid carcass. You also need to consider the sliding base support, which typically needs 6+ precisely-sized pieces hinged together rather than a simple set of swing-down legs that most wall beds use.

Edit: I noticed that the beds in your link use a series of drawer slides to telescope out rather than accordion like mine. That's probably easier to build, but ups the hardware costs to match.

[Chestnut]

44 minutes ago, MattC27 said:

My question for you guys is have any of you done a project like this? If so, was it easier or harder than building a standard murphy bed. With these products being relatively new I have not come across any plans or kits that I could use to help with the process.

I've done a traditional Murphy bed (link below) and the project was very easy and fun and went together quick.

I think it depends on the user of the bed. Are the cabinet beds any better than couch hide a beds? If they are the same soft thin mattress, personally I'll sleep on the floor instead. The benefit of a vertical or horizontal wall Murphy bed is that you can use a traditional mattress that is goign to provide better support to the user. As a note if you don't want it to consume vertical space there is the consideration of a horizontal Murphy bed. In the smaller sizes like twin or full they consume less vertical wall space.

The cabinets appear to extend quite a bit further into the room as well. I'd personally rather lose wall space over floor space but your house may be entirely different from mine.

https://www.rockler.com/frameless-murphy-bed-kits-vertical-mount

Make sure the completed piece will be able to fit out of your shop though.... DAMHIK.

Edit: With the wall murphy beds you can leave it completely made minus pillows. Then if you have surprise guests it's a 30 second conversion.

[BonPacific]

On 2/3/2022 at 12:58 PM, Chestnut said:

I've done a traditional Murphy bed (link below) and the project was very easy and fun and went together quick.

I think it depends on the user of the bed. Are the cabinet beds any better than couch hide a beds? If they are the same soft thin mattress, personally I'll sleep on the floor instead. The benefit of a vertical or horizontal wall Murphy bed is that you can use a traditional mattress that is going to provide better support to the user. As a note if you don't want it to consume vertical space there is the consideration of a horizontal Murphy bed. In the smaller sizes like twin or full they consume less vertical wall space.

The cabinets appear to extend quite a bit further into the room as well. I'd personally rather lose wall space over floor space but your house may be entirely different from mine.

https://www.rockler.com/frameless-murphy-bed-kits-vertical-mount

Make sure the completed piece will be able to fit out of your shop though.... DAMHIK.

Edit: With the wall murphy beds you can leave it completely made minus pillows. Then if you have surprise guests it's a 30 second conversion.

The cabinet murphy beds use a thick foam mattress that typically folds in 3rds. They're definitely comfier than a hide-a-bed or most purchased wall beds I've used, since you're not as worried about the weight as a wall-bed they can be larger and denser, and the structure is separate from the mattress itself unlike most couches. But when you're building your own wall bed you can go for a full-size mattress which is even better.

[EmilyLPen]

I agree with the post above. A cabinet bed is more comfortable than a wall bed, but it is also dependent on what type of mattress you use. A wall bed allows you to use whatever mattress you want though, where a cabinet bed requires the tri-fold one.