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Editor's
Note: The Murphy bed plan was altered by the author of
this article
for his own use. It is recommended that those
who are inexperienced in
furniture construction follow
the original plan and specifications. |
In
our relatively small house, two of our three children share
a bedroom. Accommodating two twin beds plus storage while
still leaving some floor exposed was a challenge. A Murphy
bed seemed to be the ideal solution.
We used the Lee Valley plan, altered to suit our needs. The
result is a frame-and-panel, solid cherry Murphy bed that
can be taken apart in less than five minutes. The bed fits with the style of our other pieces of furniture, provides storage and can survive three kids using it
as a trampoline.
We followed the basic plan instructions, but made the following
substitutions:
- For the #8, 2" wood screws covered with 3/8"
wood plugs,
I substituted 30mm and 40mm shoulder bolts with 13mm
flanged insert nuts so that the bed would be movable.
- I replaced the 3/4" plywood used for the front
and side panels of the bed carcass with rail-and-stile/frame-and-panel
assemblies. I used 1/4" G2S cherry plywood in
the panels, but otherwise the frame members are 3/4"
cherry, chosen for its dimensional stability, hardness
and strength.
- Because I made the bed sides from frame-and-panel
construction,
I had to make a subtle change in terms of how the
Murphy bed pivot mechanism attached to the sides of
the carcass. I used two small pieces of 3/4"
Baltic birch plywood (chosen for strength) pressed
with cherry veneer. Using screws, I attached the pieces
inside of the carcass to the frame-and-panel sides,
which became the mounting plates for the pivot hardware.
- The entire carcass was made 4" deeper, to a
total depth of 20" instead of the plan's 16"
depth.
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Instead
of using the suggested plywood for the bed frame and a secondary
wood for the bed slats, I made the entire bed frame from maple.
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The
solid cherry Murphy bed shown closed and open.
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