DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed

02 February

A couple of weeks ago, I shared an Inexpensive Storage Cabinet Refresh in my spare bedroom, and I mentioned that I was giving the whole room a makeover which I'll be sharing soon.


Aside from storage for my Etsy shop inventory and shipping supplies this room will serve two additional purposes. Today, I am sharing one of those two extra purposes. It is now ready to act as a guest bedroom when needed!


This room is very small at only 10' x 10', 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 into a small space like this, I thought a Murphy bed would be the perfect solution. But when I shopped for a Murphy bed that I could just install on the wall I discovered that those are super expensive. Then I looked for a tutorial that could handle as a beginner furniture builder, but most were too complicated for me and the hardware needed to complete them was still too expensive. So, I came up with my own; I am calling it the poor man's Murphy bed!


Continue reading to learn how to make your own.


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed

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This was actually very simple; I built it 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 the measurements I am sharing are for a full-sized Murphy bed. If you are making yours larger or smaller, measure the size of your bed for the proper wood measurements. 


I chose to build mine from pine boards that I purchased from Home Depot and I had them cut them at the store. These are the cuts of wood needed for my full-sized Murphy bed (please measure your bed to be sure you have the correct measurements):


1" x 10" pine boards*:

  • 2 at 55" for the top and bottom of the box frame
  • 2 at 77" for the sides of the box frame
*Measure the thickness of your mattress, you may need 12" wide boards.


1" x 4" boards:
  • 2 at 55" for attaching the bed to the wall
  • 2 at 57" for the top and bottom trim on the front of the cabinet
  • 2 at 75" for the side trim pieces on the front of the cabinet
  • 2 at approximately 44" to 54" to attach the plywood sheets together to create the bed platform

3/4" plywood (Note: any size of bed except a twin will need two sheets of plywood):
  • 2 at 28 1/2" x 77" to create the mattress platform (also the front of the cabinet when closed)

Bed hardware:
  • 3 - 3" door hinges (more for larger beds, 2 for a twin bed) for attaching the bed platform to the frame
  • 8 - 2" corner braces to make the box
  • wood screws (3/4" and 5/8" screws)
  • hook and eye (not pictured) for closing the bed up (2 for larger beds)


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed


Basic building supplies:
  • a square
  • a drill with drill bits and screwdriver bits
  • a tape measure
  • a stud finder
  • a pencil
  • construction screws for attaching it to the studs (I used 1 5/8")
  • caulking (make sure it's paintable)
  • paint or stain in the color of your choice

DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed

Step One - build the box


Start by creating a basic box that will hold your mattress. Use the square to ensure your box will be square once it is built. Use two corner braces per corner to attach the sides and bottoms of the box together.

DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed

DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed


Test fit your mattress to make sure it fits. It doesn't need to be super tight so if yours looks larger than mine, that will be fine.


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed


Add 1x4 boards cross-support boards, screwing them in from the sides. These are what will be screwed into the wall studs to hold the bed on the wall.


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed

Step Two - attach the bed frame to the wall

Use a stud finder to locate and mark the studs on the wall.

DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed


Place the box you built in step one against the wall and screw through the cross-support boards into the studs with the construction screws to secure it to the wall. (I recommend elevating the box just lightly off the floor to avoid stress on the hinges when the bed is open. Place the trim board pieces under the box to act as spacers before attaching it to the wall, see lessons learned at the bottom of this article).


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed


So far, so good!


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed

Step Three - Build the bed platform

Place the two pieces of plywood next to each other on the floor (with the nicest side down) and attach them together with 1x4's that are approximately 44" to 54" using 5/8" screws.


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed


Attach it to the bed frame using door hinges (three for a full-size bed, four for a queen, two for a twin).


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed

Step Four - add trim to the front

Add the 1x4 trim boards to the front to make it look like a cabinet. Use wood glue and screw them on from the inside (the side that the mattress will lay on). The one down the center hides the seam where the two sheets of plywood were joined together, you won't need this on a twin size.


Pay no attention to the white pieces on the corners of mine, I messed up on my measurements because I did not have help measuring for trim! 😂, it will be corrected with caulking and paint.


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed

Step Five - Add a closing mechanism


You will need a way to keep the bed closed when it isn't in use. I used a basic hook-and-eye, but you may think of another way for yours.


I attached the hook to the frame that is attached to the wall and the eye to the platform that the bed sits on.


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed

Step Six - Caulk and Paint

Caulk the seams on the trim and paint it whatever color you like. Don't forget the inside that will be visible when the bed is open and in use!


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed


What do you think?! 😃


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed


By making this Murphy bed as simple as I could, I kept the costs down too!


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed


It was just $303.45! This does not include the mattress because I already had that.


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed

DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed


Pongo approves!


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed


Here's an embarrassing picture of what this corner of the room looked like before!


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed


And now this!


DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed

Ideas, Lessons Learned, and Considerations:

Lesson One - After I built mine, I realized that I should have raised the box that is attached to the wall up just a little bit because when I opened the bed, the bottom edge was lifted up a little bit by the carpet putting stress on the hinges which then pulled the bottom of the box away from the wall.


Lesson Two - I should have taken into account the curtains because the bed platform barely cleared the window ledge, so I have to move the curtains out of the way as I'm opening the bed to avoid pulling the whole rod down.


Idea One - You could move the box even further up on the wall and add legs to the bed platform to make it closer to the height of a real bed. However, you'll either have legs sticking out when it's closed, or you can make them detachable or folding.


Idea Two - You can build this in a sideways configuration as some readers who used this tutorial have done.


Consideration - Be mindful of weight. Mine is a full-size Murphy bed and by the time you have the wood platform built and the mattress on top of it, it is a little heavy when you are raising and lowering the bed. The larger the bed, the heavier it will be. Depending on your physical abilities, you may need two people with a large bed. 


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DIY Poor Man's Murphy Bed

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  1. I was thinking to add feet also. It's hard for us old folks to get down to that level

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, feet would be good. I was trying to keep costs down as much as possible but I think feet would be good.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousJune 07, 2023

    What about the cost of the mattress? Size?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This 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.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousJuly 22, 2023

    I’m curious as well as to the thickness of the plywood

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad that you like it. I would definitely love to see pictures when you're done :)

      Delete
  5. This 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 ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! 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

      Delete
  6. Did 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I 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.

      Delete
  7. I 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Someone else built it horizontal too and it looked great!

      Delete
  8. I love this. It’s simple enough to follow and looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousJune 19, 2024

    Hi! I was just wondering the measurement of the mattress was depth wise?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello, 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!

      Delete
  10. AnonymousJuly 08, 2024

    Hello Tania, thank you for your inspiring presentation.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You'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!

      Delete
  12. what's the size of the pieces of the box? 2x6?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All the measurements and supplies are listed at the beginning of the post. The box pieces are 10" boards.

      Delete
  13. are the big pieces two by sixes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All the board sizes are listed in the supply list at the beginning of the post. They are 1 x 10 boards.

      Delete
  14. Tania, thank you so much for this Post! All I wanted was something simple to wrap my brain around, and this is it!! Just wanted to ask, if you were doing this for a king size bed, would you recommend adding or changing anything? Since this will be rarely used (only for the occasional guest), I still love the idea of keeping it on the floor and keeping as simple and minimal time as possible. I say that only because I read a prior comment RE a queen size bed. Anyway, thanks again for the post and I look forward to hearing from you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Christina 😊 I'm glad you found the tutorial helpful. For a king size bed I would add two more hinges and another hook at the top. Remember though that a king size bed is going to be much heavier to raise and lower.

      Delete

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