DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed
A couple of weeks ago, I shared the Inexpensive Storage Cabinet Refresh in my spare bedroom and I mentioned that I was giving the whole room a makeover. I'll be sharing the whole makeover soon.
This room will serve two additional purposes aside from storage for my Etsy shop inventory and shipping supplies. Today, I am sharing one of those two extra purposes. It is now ready to act as a guest bedroom when needed! I don't have many people stay over except my daughter but I'm ready now if the need arises!
As I mentioned in the post about the storage cabinets, this room is pretty small... about 10' x 10' is all... so how is it possible that it stores all my Etsy shop inventory, holds my shipping supplies, serves as a guest bedroom, and one additional purpose??
In order to cram all that is needed out of a small space like this, I built a poor man's murphy bed!! 😄
DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission which helps keep my blog up and running but it won't cost you a penny more)! Click here to read my full disclosure policy.This was actually very simple, I did this all by myself! The only part I had help with was measuring to make sure I got it correct and shopping for the supplies!
The mattress I had is a full-size, so I measured for a full-sized Murphy bed. The wood I chose was pine and I had them cut at the hardware store where I purchased them. These are the cuts of wood needed for my full-sized Murphy bed:
- 2 - 55" x 10" for the top and bottom of the bed
- 2 - 77" x 10" for the sides of the bed
- 2 - 55" 1x4's for attaching the bed to the wall
- 2 - 28 1/2" x 77" plywood sheets to create the mattress platform
- 2 - 57" 1x4's for the top and bottom trim on the front of the cabinet
- 2 - 75" 1x4's for the side trim pieces on the front of the cabinet
- door hinges for attaching the bed platform to the frame
- corner braces to make the box
- wood screws
- hook and eye (not pictured) for closing the bed up
- a square
- a drill with drill bits and screwdriver bits
- a tape measure
- a stud finder
- a pencil
- construction screws
I was thinking to add feet also. It's hard for us old folks to get down to that level
ReplyDeleteYes, feet would be good. I was trying to keep costs down as much as possible but I think feet would be good.
DeleteWhat about the cost of the mattress? Size?
ReplyDeleteThis one is for a full-size mattress. I did not factor in the cost of a mattress because I already had the mattress and built the murphy bed to fit that. Also, mattress prices vary so much, it depends on what kind you get.
DeleteI’m curious as well as to the thickness of the plywood
ReplyDeleteHi there, the plywood is 3/4" thick :)
DeleteThank you so much!! I have been looking for a simple Murphy bed design and this is it. I am renovating my spare room for the grands (4) and need at least 2 beds. This will work great . I will forward some pics when I complete it.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you like it. I would definitely love to see pictures when you're done :)
DeleteThis is a great post ! If I have a queen mattress how big would I need to increase the measurements? And would adding feet put any strain on the hinges when you open it to lay on the bed ?
ReplyDeleteHi! You would just need to measure your bed. I think adding feet would actually be a little better but you'll need to raise it up on the wall too so it's level when it's open
DeleteDid cost of supplies only take into account lumber and hardware, or mattress too? I think its pretty cool regardless. Usually just the kits on amazon alone for diy Murphy bed hardware is like 300. Yours, simple but gets the job done.
ReplyDeleteI did not factor in the cost of the mattress because I already had it. I just built the bed to fit the mattress I had.
DeleteI do like the simpicity of this build. Excellant job. I am going to build something a lot similar, but I'm going to make it horizontal.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Someone else built it horizontal too and it looked great!
DeleteI love this. It’s simple enough to follow and looks great!
ReplyDeleteThank you Aretha!
DeleteHi! I was just wondering the measurement of the mattress was depth wise?
ReplyDeleteHello, unfortunately I no longer have the mattress but it was a standard full-size mattress, so it would have been about 9" thick. Thank you for checking out the post!
DeleteHello Tania, thank you for your inspiring presentation.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure :)
DeleteThanks for posting this, you have saved me days of figuring stuff out. I am going to elevate for sure and have a bench that drops down when the bed flips up.
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome, I'm glad you found it helpful. That'll be so nice to have a bench when the bed isn't in use, great idea!
Deletewhat's the size of the pieces of the box? 2x6?
ReplyDeleteAll the measurements and supplies are listed at the beginning of the post. The box pieces are 10" boards.
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