How to hide A Bed
How to Build a Murphy Bed
0:00 / 0:00
Quality:
Sharing buttons:
hey there and welcome to DIY projects
with Pete today we're going to build a
queen-size Murphy bed now this works
well for when you do have guests you'll
have a good sized bed and when you want
to free up some space and use it as an
office or maybe an exercise room when
you don't have those visitors you're
going to be able to do so this is great
for making your place a little bit more
efficient I'll show you how it works you
can pull this down comes down very
easily this folds down to make it level
throw on a couple pillows and you're
good to go if you enjoyed this video
please give it a thumbs up and subscribe
to the channel and let's get to it
the first step was to research Hardware
options for this project and I ended up
finding a Murphy bed kit online that
included gas Springs project plans and
all the hardware to make it work the kit
was three hundred dollars and well worth
it in my opinion the wooden supplies for
the project came in at about four
hundred dollars so the total project
cost was seven hundred dollars and then
I used the mattress from the old guest
bed the cheapest pre-made units that
still need assembly are in the thirteen
hundred dollar range on Amazon and you
can easily spend around twenty five
hundred dollars so I feel like your
investment in time and money will be
worth it to be able to you know free up
space and use the room as an office
exercise area or even a playroom for the
kids and since you can customize the bed
with extra shelves nightstands and the
finish of your choice you'll be able to
get exactly what you want I went down to
my hardware store and loaded a cart with
some cabinet grade plywood some 1 by 2
boards edge banding and some other
supplies for more information about the
supplies materials and cost to build
this project you can check out the
detailed tutorial at DIY Pete comm
forward slash Murphy bed and you can
find the link to the Murphy bed hardware
kit in the description below I set up a
few sawhorses to build a temporary
outfeed surface for the table saw since
I'm working with larger sheets to start
with now the bulk of the bed is made
from 3/4 inch plywood the two faced
panels are the largest pieces and
they'll form the front of the Murphy bed
cabinet the to bed cabinet verticals
forming the side of the cabinet are the
next largest boards then you have the
bed header headboard side rails foot and
head rails that are also made of plywood
take your time to ensure
nice straight cuts quarter-inch plywood
is used on the inside of the bed frame
on top of the frame struts and is
ultimately what the mattress sits on if
you don't have a table saw the cuts can
be done using a circular saw along with
a good saw guide to get an accurate cut
the more narrow boards can be cut to
length on the miter saw
I had to flip a couple of the wider
boards to make it all the way through
though here's a look at the various
rails being cut followed by the struts
from the 1 by 2 boards I'm using a 12
inch sliding compound miter saw that's
battery-powered now it still has all the
power that my corded saw has but its
Wire free and it has the portability to
go anywhere I'm actually gonna be
reciting my home this summer so I
thought it'd be a worthwhile investment
a quick sanding of the edges with an
orbital sander and 220 grit sandpaper
will help clean up the rough areas the
next step was to assemble the frame
struts now the struts are made in an L
shape by attaching one board to another
pre-drill holes along the length of the
board approximately every 8 inches or so
then run a bead of glue along the other
board line them up and insert a 1 and
1/2 inch number 8 screw at each hole
location repeat these steps for all 5 of
the frame struts if you're building the
queen-size Murphy bed like I am if
you're building a different size Murphy
bed according to the creative ed plans
your dimensions will vary however the
overall process will be very similar
place the outside perimeter pieces of
the wood bed frame on a flat surface
drilled two pilot holes through the
frame side and into the strut add some
wood glue at each connection and then
attach using two inch long number eight
screws one screw will go into the
vertical portion of the strut and the
other will go into the horizontal part
the remaining struts will be spaced
evenly and connected in the same fashion
all these boards are referred to at most
stores as 1 by 2 boards which is their
nominal dimension but their actual size
is one and a half inches wide by 3/4
inches thick next we'll move on to the
side rails lay them on a flat surface
and determine which side of the plywood
looks nicer and should face outward also
decide which will be the left and right
side rails then place the nice side
against the surface with the top edge
facing out
we'll cut out the provided template that
will help us get a rounded top corner
and placement for the pivoting leg
bracket use a pencil to draw the rounded
corner and a nail works great for
marking the location where that 5/8 inch
diameter hole will go the measurements
are also provided if you'd prefer to use
a tape measure and pen to mark the
location follow the rounded line with a
jigsaw to create the curved top corner
of the rail then lightly sand the end of
the board but don't round over the edges
since we'll be applying edge banding in
a later step and need the surface to be
flat use a Forstner bit to drill a 5/8
inch hole at the mark we just made the
hole should be a half inch deep and I
mark the bit with tape to show where the
half-inch depth would be to make sure I
didn't go too deep with the bit the
plywood is 3/4 inches thick so you do
need to be a little careful to make sure
you don't go through the other side test
fit the leg to check that it fits and
that the pay goes in all the way use a
square to line it up and then mark each
hole location where we'll be inserting
screws then clamp the rail to a scrap
board to prevent tear-out when drilling
all the way through the rail and use a
1/4 inch bit and drill all the way
through the wood for the two bottom
holes insert two tea nuts from the outer
side of the rail and then screw the
machine screws in from the other side
use the black screws and the two
remaining upper holes of the bracket
plate repeat the same process on the
other side rail for the leg bracket
hardware the legs will eventually be
connected to each other with a rail and
the legs are going to help ensure that
the bed sits level do a light sanding
along the rail where the edge banding
will go and then begin applying the edge
banding using a normal household iron
the heats going to melt the adhesive on
the banding and cause it to stick to the
plywood edge use firm pressure and
slowly move from one end to the other
apply the banding to the rounded corner
and then use a roller or a block of wood
to help ensure the banding gets a solid
connection to the plywood now this
project involves adding edge banding to
all the exposed plywood edges that are
going to be visible so you'll get a good
amount of practice doing this and you'll
get the hang of it quickly an edge
banding trimmer can make the process of
removing all the excess go pretty
quickly but a sharp razor blade will
work if you don't have one if you have
any spots where the banding isn't
adhering
you can run the iron over it again the
next step was to make the leg support
rail to do this I ripped a pine board on
a table saw down to 3/4 inch by 3/4
inches in size next find the center and
drill a one and a half inch deep hole in
each end using a quarter inch bit this
rail will later connect each leg lay the
side rails on the table so the outside
is facing up and the rounded corners are
toward the center I measured in 9 inches
from the other end of the rail and four
inches up from the bottom then drilled a
one-inch hole through the entire board
there is a template to do this if you'd
prefer to use it put a scrap piece of
wood under the rail to prevent tear-out
and to protect your work surface while
drilling each hole this is where the
female pivot hardware will be placed I
then measured seven and a half inches
from the center of the hole drew a line
put a 5/16 inch spacer in place and then
lined up the lower ball stud Hardware
the center holes should match up with
the line and the spacer goes between the
top of the rail and the ball stud square
up the plate mark the hole locations and
then use a quarter inch bit to drill
three holes all the way through the wood
insert three tea nuts then use the three
machine screws to attach it finally put
a black screw in the two remaining holes
repeat the same process for the other
side rail you can see the 5/16 inch
spacer simply helps with the placement
of the lower ball stud plate next slide
the pivot plate into the hole and attach
it using the silver screws you'll attach
a plate to the outside of each rail
that's all the hardware that's going on
the rails now you can remove it so we
can do additional sanding and eventually
paint stain or seal the wood I used an
orbital sander and 220 grit paper to
sand away any pencil marks and to smooth
rough edges and areas around the holes
go ahead and place the inner wood frame
back on the work surface the foot rail
and head rail will be attached to the
inner wood frame next using one and a
quarter inch long screws first you'll
want to pre-drill one and a quarter inch
deep holes and then insert five screws
spaced them fairly evenly and the foot
rail side should be flush with the
bottom and side of the inner wood frame
the head rail will go on next and is
attached similar to how the foot rail
was flush
the bottom and sides then clamp the
headrail to the inner wood frame use
five screws to connect it now we'll move
on to adding the side rails the end with
the rounded corner will need to be flush
with the outside of the foot rail and
the other end of the side rail should
come out pretty flush toward the head
rail area pre-drill and insert one and a
quarter inch long screws through the
inner bed frame and into the side rail
you want to use two screws between each
strut each end of the side rail will get
tied into the foot or head rail using
two of the two inch long screws this
will secure everything in place repeat
this process and connect the other side
rail you'll find that the inner bed
frame and rails all go together easily
and it's a pretty straightforward
process I'd say the most time-consuming
part of this step is to do the
measurements to make sure that the
hardware is mounted in the correct
location next we'll grab the to face
panels and take a look to see which side
of the panels looks the best orientate
the nicest side so that it will face
outward when the cabinets assembled lay
the panels with the best side facing
down and then prepare to add edge
banding on three sides of each panel by
giving the edges a light sanding you
won't need to add banding to the inner
sides that butt up against each other
I typically cut the banding so it is an
inch or two longer than I need and then
I'll trim the ends later with a sharp
razor blade take your time and make sure
the banding gets a strong and consistent
bond along each side of the panel next
measure in one-quarter inch from the
left and right side of the overall panel
that will become one large panel once
the inner frame is added use a
straightedge and draw a line with a
pencil then lift the frame on the face
panels and line it up with the quarter
inch line you just drew this will Center
it and you'll have the 1/4 inch overlap
on the left and right sides the foot
rail should be flush with the bottoms of
the face panels next trace around each
of the four sections between the struts
with a pencil and this is going to make
it easy to know where to put wood glue
in a later step remove the frame and add
wood glue between the pencil marks where
the struts will be attached and around
the perimeter of the face panels once
the glue is applied set the frame back
on the face panels the panels should
butt up against each other tightly at
the center then attach the face panels
to the frame using one and a quarter
inch long wood screws to ensure the
panels
on square I'd recommend adding a screw
in the corner near the foot rail first
then add a screw at the foot rail near
where the panel's butt up against each
other next add a screw in the corner on
the head rail side once those three
screws are on each panel you should have
panels that are lined up properly and
you can continue to add screws around
the perimeter and each strut each strut
should have screws placed evenly that
are about six inches apart pre-drill and
then work your way around the frame
until it's secure and has a good solid
feel you can add a couple two inch
screws through the inner wood frames
side if you'd like as well I hadn't yet
applied edge banding to the head rail
and foot rail so I added it to the
topside first I then applied two short
pieces to the little bit of sides that
were still exposed the next big step is
to work on the bed cabinet verticals
there was a sticker on one of the boards
and I found that they peel off cleanly
if you apply a little bit of heat you
can hit any remaining adhesive with an
orbital sander then determine the
best-looking side so it will ultimately
face outward once it's assembled lay the
boards with the good side down and then
measure in from each side to determine
placement for the stopper for the
queen-size bed this is six inches from
the top and then seven and three-eighths
inches from the front edge drill a 5/16
inch diameter hole that's about a half
inch deep stick the bed stop pin in the
hole and secure it in place with a black
screw and repeat the same process for
that second vertical next measure in for
the upper piston plate with the ball
stud at the top of the gas spring will
eventually connect to this will be 30
and 3/4 inches from the bottom of the
board and 10 inches in from the front
drill a 5/8 inch diameter hole that is
1/2 inch deep the back of the plate has
a nut on it and this will fit into the
hole that was just drilled secure it in
place with four black screws and then
drill a hole all the way through the
board for the center hole which will use
a t nut from the other side and then a
machine screw to secure it I used a
smaller bit to help get the hole
centered as best as possible and then
came back from the other side with a
quarter inch bit before adding the t-nut
and machine screw next we'll add the
male pivot plate to each cabinet
vertical measure up 11 and 3/4 inches
from the bottom
and 4 and 3/4 inches in from the front
then drill a 5/8 inch diameter hole
that's a half inch deep set the hardware
in place pre-drill and then insert two
silver screws in the lower holes I again
used a smaller bit first for the upper
holes and then from the other side I
came back with a quarter inch bit before
inserting two tea nuts and machine
screws in the two upper holes of each
plate make sure to apply edge banding to
the front of the cabinet verticals if
you haven't already and then set them
aside
I applied edge banding to the bed's
headboard along the top and bottom sides
I also applied banding to the bottom
side of the front and rear rail that
will connect to the header board add a
little glue to the header board and then
lay it down on the table over some half
inch spacers that will prop it up attach
the rear header rail using two inch long
screws make sure to pre-drill before
inserting the screws and you'll want to
space the screws about every six inches
and they'll go in at about 7/8 of an
inch up from the lower edge of the rear
rail then attach the front rail which
will face out towards the room glue and
then use two inch finish nails I used an
air nailer and 18 gauge nails but a
hammer and nails would work just as well
next add the mounting cleats to each end
using glue and two inch screws from the
top these mounting cleats will provide a
way to form a solid connection between
the header and the cabinet verticals in
a later step you can fill the nail holes
with wood putty if you'd like now would
be a good time to figure out placement
for the handles and to add them to the
face panel if you know the exact
location where you'd like them to go I
haven't figured out my trim layout yet
so I waited until later to add them but
if you use the term layout I did the
center point of the top panels would be
11 and 1/16 inch from the top of the
plywood and 16 and 7/8 inches in from
the left side here's an overall view of
the design I decided on for the face
panel the next step is going to be to
add a finish to your bed start by
removing all the hardware and then sand
the boards as necessary
I used 220 grit sandpaper and before
applying a finish you'll want to wipe
down the surfaces to remove any dust if
you plan on staining your Murphy bed I'd
recommend using a wood conditioner
before applying the stain to help it go
on more even and to reduce blotches I
wipe the conditioner on all
surfaces I plan to stain and if you'd
prefer to paint your Murphy bed that's
another great option to customize your
furniture I always recommend testing the
stain on a scrap board to make sure you
like the color you could also test the
stains on the inner side of the plywood
since it's never going to be seen I
ended up mixing special walnut and
Puritan pine stains from Minwax to get a
custom shade I applied two coats of
stain in my project and I was really
happy with the color let the stain dry
according to the manufacturer's
instructions and then I'd recommend
sealing the wood I used a quick drying
spray urethane but I'd actually
recommend using a brush on urethane for
better protection and to minimize fumes
give the wood a few days to dry and air
out before bringing it into your home
prepare the room by removing the
baseboard trim along the wall the bed
will be attached to if you'd prefer not
to remove the baseboard you can custom
cut the cabinet verticals to fit around
the baseboard then move all the parts to
the room where the bed will be installed
the cabinet verticals header and
headboard are easy to move but the
actual bed frame is pretty heavy and
best have moved with two people I used a
moving blanket to slide it on once it
was out of my shop and up the steps
we'll start by putting the hardware back
on the rails first put in the two tea
nuts and then reattach each leg with two
machine screws and two black screws then
grab the leg support rail and connect it
to each leg using the supplied hex
screws push the pivot plate into the
hole in the side rail and attach using
the four silver screws connect the lower
ball stud plate using the three tea nuts
three machine screws and two black
screws next add the hardware on the
cabinet vertical we'll start with the
male pivot plate use two T nuts in the
top holes and two machine screws then
use two regular silver screws in the
lower two holes the upper ball stud
plate gets attached with four black
screws and a T nut and machine screw
through the center hole my buddy Jake
stopped over Saturday afternoon to help
with the rest of the install he and his
wife are planning to do a queen-sized
Murphy bed for their home so he wanted
to come check out the process and see
how it all goes together position the
cabinet vertical on its side put a
plastic spacer onto the pivot bar and
then slide the pivot bar into the pit
hole in the bedframe snap the e clip in
the groove on each pivot bar if you
already attached the handles to the face
frame now it'd be a good time to install
the quarter-inch plywood however I
attached mine later since I was still
figuring out how I wanted to trim out
the face panel measure from the end of
the cabinet vertical and put a mark at
15 inches 18 inches and 28 inches the 15
inch mark will line up with the bottom
of the headboard drill a pilot hole in
the board at the 18 inch and 28 inch
mark on each side grab the headboard and
hold it in place while you attach it
with 2 inch wood screws through the
pilot holes on each side rotate the
cabinet verticals and then install the
bed's header use clamps to hold it in
place on each side now the header rail
should be flush with the top of the
cabinet verticals and the header side
with the finish nails should face out
toward the room slowly lift the bed
frame to check that the gap between the
frame and the header is fairly even and
if needed you could adjust the header
slightly to improve the gap then
carefully lower the bed frame back down
use a ladder or stepstool so you can
climb up and install the header
pre-drill four holes on each end from
the inside cleat of the header then
attach using four screws on each end do
not use wood glue for these connections
so that it can be as disassembled in
case the bed ever needs to be moved make
sure the bed is a couple feet away from
the wall so you have room to work and
slowly lift the bed frame
the bed frame will need to be pushed in
past the front of the cabinet verticals
and at an angle so the gas Springs can
go on easily jake attach the first gas
spring at the lower ball stud and then
at the upper ball stud I attach the
other one using the same technique
now that the springs are attached it
will take a bit more strength to pull
out the frame so you have room to mount
the stoppers we used a scrap piece of
one by four board at each top corner to
prop the door open and make it easier to
install the stoppers fit the stopper pin
in the hole and secure using a black
screw since the handles aren't installed
yet I made a temporary pull so we could
still open the bed frame the next step
is to secure the cabinet frame to the
wall use a stud finder and mark each
stud wood studs are commonly spaced 16
inches on center now if you have a brick
wall or another type of wall you can
still attach the bed to it but you'll
most likely use a little bit different
technique then move the cabinet flush
against the wall and use 3-inch long
wood screws to attach it at each stud
attaching it to four studs with a screw
on each stud is recommended I also put a
couple screws in the lower portion of
the headboard to help square up the
overall unit a bit and for a little
extra stability now you don't have to
add trim if you don't want to but I did
want to jazz it up a bit more we cut a 1
by 6 board to size and mitered each end
with 45-degree cuts and then attached it
with three finished nails to each
cabinet vertical make sure you don't
attach it to the face panel since the
panel is going to rotate the baseboard
wraps around each side of the unit as
well and it has a ninety degree cut
against the wall attach a mitered 1 by 6
to the header and cabinet verticals the
bottom of the 1 by 6 should be flush
with the bottom of the header so there's
still a gap between it and the face
panel the trim should be flush with the
side of the face panel the top of the
trim will be flush with the top of the
face panel to maintain the gap between
the header and there will be about a
one-inch space between the bottom of the
trim board and the baseboard to allow
the bed frame to be able to pivot still
I added a center board to cover where
the to face panels come together and
then evenly spaced the board's on the
left and right side to form four panels
on each side of the center board you can
find the layout in measurements to
easily space them in my post on my
website which is linked to in the
description the term is all attached
using one and a quarter inch Brad nails
I centered the pole handles leveled
marked where to drill and then made
holes to mount them I then pulled down
the bed frame so I could screw the
hardware in from the back your cabinet
hardware will come with directions on
how to install it if you have any
questions I have a diagram and the
article on my site with the placement
locations for the handles in case you're
doing the same layout and would like to
add the pull handles earlier in the
build once the handles are installed you
can add the quarter inch plywood I
grabbed a few barbell weights to hold
the bed frame down while adding it use
short screws to attach the plywood to
the inner bed frame side and struts make
sure you have enough screws so the
plywood is tight and secure now that
both pieces are in and fastened we can
add the elastic straps that will hold
the mattress in place measure 16 inches
from each corner in the two directions
and put a mark lay out the elastic
diagonally and put a short screw through
the elastic at each 16 inch mark to
secure it to the bed frame then put a
mattress that's 12 inches or thinner
onto the frame and pull the elastic over
the two corners to hold it in place
put some baseboard trim back up and then
try out your new Murphy bed and check
out how efficient your new space is
going to be all right thanks so much for
tuning in I hope you enjoyed today's
project and if you did please give it a
thumbs up and subscribe to the channel
for more information you can check out
DIY Pete comm forward slash Murphy bed
and don't forget to comment below and
let me know your thoughts thanks again
for watching and Cheers for Montana
[Music]
[Music]
