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Buying or Building Your Own Murphy Bed Plans? Try These Plans…

June 2, 2008 by Erin  

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So I’m wondering, how do you get a Murphy Bed plans to build my own? The Murphy Bed, also referred to as a wall bed, was created by William L Murphy at the beginning of the 19th century. The Murphy Bed was created as a space saving bed in the studio apartment of William L Murphy. The Murphy Bed does more than just saves space… it looks cool.

The Murphy Bed is still surprisingly popular. They lost some fan base once the idea of incorporating a bed loft into a studio apartment became chic but they’re still holding strong. I personally have one in a spare room that guests can use and then fold up to make the room bigger.

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On the most well-known style of Murphy bed, the head end is permanently mounted inside a large closet located in the wall of a bedroom or living room. This type of Murphy bed (and its closet) is usually concealed behind a pair of closet doors. In some cases where construction budgets were tight, there are no doors. Instead, the bottom of the bed is a solid panel. When folded up, this solid panel appears to be part of the wall.

Murphy Bed Fun

Less typical variations of Murphy beds included one type that was mounted on a swing arm. This arm pivoted the bed between room and closet. On another type, the head end was on casters. This allowed the bed to be stored in any large closet and rolled into any room for use. In many cases, the closet where the Murphy bed was stored doubled as a standard clothes closet.

William L. Murphy applied for a patent for this idea April 1, 1916 and was granted Design Patent D49,273 on June 27, 1916. Murphy started the Murphy Wall Bed Company and began production in San Francisco. In January 1990, the company changed its name to the “Murphy Bed Co. Inc.”

The Murphy Bed idea has even been revamped a little. Now instead of just folding up into a plain wall you have some options. Do you want to look sophisticated and give people the impression that you read? Then the Library Murphy Bed is for you.

I’m also working on my own set of Free Murphy Bed Plans. Check back soon or send me an email if you want to be notified when these murphy bed plans are available.

Looking to Purchase Murphy Bed Plans?

Rockler’s Murphy Bed Plan
A drop-leaf desk gives the fold-down bed a second life during daylight
hours! Plan includes all the details you need to make your own full- or
queen-size folding bed. This plan specifies side-mount hardware.

Includes:

  • Detailed exploding view.
  • Step-by-step instructions.
  • Complete material list.
  • Elevation drawings.

Get the Rockler’s Murphy Bed Plan NOW!

 Rockler

Comments

45 Comments on "Buying or Building Your Own Murphy Bed Plans? Try These Plans…"

  1. Bob Nelson on Sun, 29th Jul 2007 2:03 pm 

    Please let me know when your murphy bed plans are available.
    thank you

  2. Ella on Mon, 6th Aug 2007 1:58 pm 

    Please let mew know when you murphy bed plans are available.

  3. Leslie on Sun, 9th Sep 2007 11:09 am 

    Please let me know when your plans become available. Thanx.

  4. John on Sat, 15th Sep 2007 4:10 pm 

    Me too! I’m very interested in these plans! Thanks!

  5. Robin Starr on Wed, 3rd Oct 2007 2:34 am 

    The same. I am interested in building a Murphy bed, please let me know about the plans

  6. dick person on Sat, 6th Oct 2007 7:04 pm 

    ditto on the plans

  7. Bob on Mon, 15th Oct 2007 4:23 pm 

    I would also be interested in building a wall bed. thanks!

  8. Shane on Mon, 22nd Oct 2007 10:56 am 

    I’m trying to build one now and would be very interested in those plans if available.

  9. Tina on Sat, 24th Nov 2007 5:58 pm 

    Are there plans and will they truly be made available?

  10. Stewart L. Olsen on Thu, 3rd Jan 2008 7:12 am 

    I am interested in building my own library murphy bed system. Please advise me when your plans will be availabe and the cost.

    Sincerely,
    Stewart L. Olsen

  11. Serge on Wed, 6th Feb 2008 3:27 pm 

    I’m also very interested in your plans of the Murphy’s bed…

    Are they available?

    Thanks in advance,

    Serge

  12. Drag on Sat, 9th Feb 2008 6:03 am 

    I would be interested in a set of these plans whenever they are ready.
    Thanks!
    Drag

  13. peter on Mon, 11th Feb 2008 6:05 pm 

    I would love to have a copy of your murphy bed plans once they are ready.

  14. Stuart Wilson on Mon, 24th Mar 2008 4:03 am 

    Hi Ken,
    I have been searching for detailed plans on how to build a Murphy bed. I am living in the Caribbean where we do not have ready and affordable access to kits from which you can bulid a Murphy bed. Anyhow, I believe if I get hold of a copy of plan details, including dimensions I should be able to do some makeshift and find materials to build myself a real good Murphy bed. Please send me a copy of the plans if you are now in possession of some.

  15. Lori on Tue, 15th Apr 2008 1:26 pm 

    Dear Ken:
    I am VERY interested in getting your free murphy bed plans. PLEASE email me when they become available!

  16. Ken Savage on Wed, 16th Apr 2008 1:18 am 

    hi Lori. I do have my own set of plans to make a full size murphy bed but there in no condition to share or read. I’m working on getting a clean, standard, easy to read set drawn up that will have a list of materials as well. I’ve found a few plans online that were over $50 and 1 that was over $90. Too much for someone else’s ideas so I decided to come up with my own.

    Do defray the cost of getting these made, would you guys mind spending $15 when I get these completed?

  17. Courtney on Sat, 26th Apr 2008 1:11 pm 

    Ken, I am interested in what you think about bunk style murphy beds? I have 3 boys sharing one bedroom and can use all the space saving ideas I can find. Could your plans be used to simply “stack” one horizontal murphy style release on top of the other?

  18. Ken Savage on Mon, 2nd Jun 2008 9:27 pm 

    I’ve updated the page with a set of plans I think you’ll be happy with. Get the plans now! :)

    I’m also doing a video on how I went about purchasing the materials and putting this horizontal murphy bed together myself.

  19. ekerns on Tue, 3rd Jun 2008 12:08 am 

    Is this plan for a closet? I found tons of Murphy Beds to buy, in kits, and plans but all are for wall units with cabinets on either side. I just want a cheap DIY murphy bed to put into an existing closet. Will I be able to use your plans for this.

  20. Ken Savage on Tue, 3rd Jun 2008 12:47 am 

    not necessarily for a closet but you can mount it flush with a wall, or the wall inside your closet. All depends how wide that closet is.

  21. Maria on Fri, 20th Jun 2008 6:10 am 

    Ken, do your instructions include instructions on purchasing the hardware at Lowes or Home Depot. The prefab kits for the hardware alone are being sold for $200-$300. Do you use piston or spring action hardware? thanks, maria

  22. Ken Savage on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 3:45 am 

    It provides a detailed list on what to purchase.

  23. cheryl on Fri, 11th Jul 2008 1:01 am 

    HI I am very interested in plans to build a Murphy be and a wall bed if available.
    thank you very much! Cheryl

  24. Tim on Tue, 15th Jul 2008 10:10 pm 

    Ken, I see your post of 2 June 2008 saying you’ve posted the plans, but I can’t find the plans on your site. Could you post a comment to this blog post that contains a link to the plans? THANKS! Tim

  25. Jesslyn on Thu, 17th Jul 2008 2:54 pm 

    I’m looking for the plans you posted but i am having some trouble could you please e-mail them to me. Thank you

  26. Mike Robertson on Sat, 19th Jul 2008 9:10 pm 

    Hi there, please do email me when you have finished the plans for the murphy bed. I would be thrilled to see them/have a copy. Many Thanks.

  27. AM on Tue, 22nd Jul 2008 6:12 pm 

    Are your murphy bed plans available? I am looking for some plans so I can build one for my daughters rather small room. Thanks so much!

  28. Tom Gannon on Mon, 4th Aug 2008 12:18 am 

    Hi, I can’t afford the $300 hardware kits for Murphy Beds that everyone’s selling on the internet. It seems there must be plans available to build working beds that might substitute a little muscle for hydrolic lifts and springs. ANyone care to comment?
    Ken, I’d love to see your plans if you could please email them to me of post link. Thank you in advance.

  29. Jeanette on Mon, 4th Aug 2008 3:14 am 

    Hi Ken!

    I also do not see a link to Murphy Bed plans that are stated as posted (on June 2, 2008). When you have time, would you be so kind as to reply and send me the link or let me know where I might find them (or purchase them if it’s just the plans I’ve been looking for)?

    I’m looking to have a room with multiple functions as a sitting room/home office and guest room and this is crucial to the guest room portion of the plan. Would love [to find] plans for a full with side bookcases :-)

    Thanks ever so much in advance and thanks for taking the time to do this project and share it with others!

    – Jeanette

  30. Jami Method on Tue, 5th Aug 2008 1:44 pm 

    Looking for murphy bed plans. We remodeled a small one room school house and need an extra room for guests in basement. Nothing fancy. Please send me what plans you may have or know of any. Thank you
    Jami Method

  31. Brenda Burchett on Wed, 6th Aug 2008 6:51 pm 

    Tom said:
    “Hi, I can’t afford the $300 hardware kits for Murphy Beds that everyone’s selling on the internet. It seems there must be plans available to build working beds that might substitute a little muscle for hydrolic lifts and springs. ANyone care to comment?”

    I’d like to comment…
    The reason metal springs or hydraulic gas springs are included in all the advertised murphy bed mechanisms is because a quality innerspring mattress on any kind of supporting platform is TOO HEAVY to be comfortably and/or safely lifted by a normal person. Any plan that does not provide a method of counter-balancing the significant weight if a mattress on a platform is by definition not a murphy bed plan.

  32. Tasha on Thu, 14th Aug 2008 5:10 pm 

    Ken, I too am looking for bunk style murphy beds? I cannot find any other than from Wilding and they are very expensive, so I’ve been looking for Do-It Yourself, any suggestions?

    Thanks Tasha

  33. Dennis Knapp on Sun, 17th Aug 2008 8:00 pm 

    Hey Ken,
    Any chance the plans are ready? I have a project that includes a murphy style bed with cabinets on each side.
    Thanks

  34. Cheryl on Mon, 18th Aug 2008 10:29 am 

    Hi, I am also interested in the Murphy Bed plans. I also want to know where I can get the hardware at a reduced price.
    Thank you

  35. Geneva on Tue, 19th Aug 2008 10:20 pm 

    I, too, would like Murphy Bed plans. Please, let me know when they are ready.
    Thanks.

  36. Russ on Mon, 1st Sep 2008 7:22 pm 

    It would be great to have the Murphy Bed plans, please let me know when they are available.
    Thanks Much.

  37. Dennis on Mon, 1st Sep 2008 11:48 pm 

    This site is a bunch of BS. NO PLANS ARE COMING, THIS IS JUST A HOAX, WHOEVER THIS KEN SAVAGE IS HE CAN’T BE MUCH. If anybody has a real site where plans are available please post it on this BS site.

  38. Ken Savage on Tue, 2nd Sep 2008 12:29 am 

    Well Dennis I can appreciate your frustration but I got to say there’s no hoax here. I did have my own plans available here to buy a few months back but they were very specific to what I needed and not for everyone.

    So I took them down.

    Let me see what I can find on the internet for everyone.

  39. Ken Savage on Tue, 2nd Sep 2008 1:04 am 

    Here’s a set of murphy bed plans from Rockler:

    http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=17213&sid=AFT82

  40. rodney keller on Thu, 25th Sep 2008 3:29 am 

    I am building a small 16′x24′ hunting cabin for my son and three son-in laws. I too, need space for sleeping and lounging around. The Murphy bed seems ideal for what we need. Could you possibly send me some plans on how to build one. All I need is the bed to fold up out of the way. We’re looking at regular size beds. THANK YOU!!!

  41. audrey kiernan on Tue, 14th Oct 2008 1:32 pm 

    Interested in Murphy bed plans. Have been interested in making it for years but would like a design that incorporates the crown molding at the top for the leg supports instead of the front door plans. Any ideas? Thanks for sharing.

  42. Dave Anderson on Sun, 2nd Nov 2008 8:01 pm 

    I would also like the plans for the Murphy Bed November 2008

  43. danielle on Fri, 14th Nov 2008 5:56 pm 

    would like to receive the plans for murphy bed.

  44. Zachary on Sun, 23rd Nov 2008 6:26 pm 

    I would also like the plans for the Murphy Bed. Thank You.

  45. John LaCarrubba on Sun, 30th Nov 2008 1:16 am 

    Doing a murphy bed by med december - would appreciate plans.
    I have seen a sofa for the murphy bed such that the bed folds down over the sofa, after removing the sofa back cushions. Do you think your plans would be able to be modified?

    Please let me know if your plans would be ready soon.

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