How to Make a Murphy Bed

Making a Bed That Folds Up Into the Wall

In our house we have one spare bedroom that Kelly uses as a basket making room. We would like to use this as a guest bedroom as well so we thought a Murphy wall bed would be perfect. Murphy beds fold up and out of the way into the wall which makes great use of space. I’m using the vertical mount Murphy bed hardware from Rockler.com. On Rockler’s site you will also find side mount Murphy beds. They both work the same so choose one that works best for your room and arrangement. Making the Murphy bed is not difficult but you will need space to move around large sheets of plywood and you will need a buddy for the final installation. I’m building my Murphy bed with the bare minimum plans which calls for four sheets of plywood. In the near future we will be adding trim and molding around the top, bottom and front face. We also plan on staining it and adding shelves and drawers. All of these add-ons will be in a future tutorial.

Tools and Supplies Used in this Woodworking Project

• Vertical Mount Murphy Bed Hardware
• Glue Bottle
• Microjig GRR-Ripper
• Forstner Bit Set
• Bosch Jig Saw
• Edge Banding
• Table Saw
• Wood Screw Clamps
• SawStop Sliding Table
• Tape Measure
• Festool Drill
• Ratchet Bar Clamp (similar)
• Black & Decker Drill
• Festool Miter Saw
• Festool Random Orbit Sander
• Iron
• Edge Banding Trimmer
• Combination Square
• Plywood Purchased Locally