Building your own Murphy or Wall bed is not that difficult. Partiuclarly as modern designs tend not to hide behind closing doors in the way the original 1920′s Murphy beds did. So if you have average wood working skills and some basic power tools I don’t see why you shouldn’t give making your own wall bed a go.
The first thing you are going to need is a plan on how to build the bed which should detail the amount of wood that you will need and other hardware. . Unless you are very experienced that is! If you are unsure of your abilities maybe consider trying to build a smaller bed first – a wall bed for a child or a single – will be a lot easier to build than a full-sized king or queen-sized Murphy bed.
Saving Money By Building a Murphy Bed
The key to a robust and safe wall bed is a good folding mechanism – a mechamism which doesn’t allow the bed to drop easily from the wall, or worse, doesn’t keep the bed level once its down, is going to ruin your bed – so prioristize you spending on a good quality mechanism with a decent length warranty.
The wood or veneer is much less important to the functionality of the bed. Consider that if you are going to pain the bed anyway – does the quality of the wood matter. Instead of going for an expensive option for the joinery consider getting wood that is easier to work.
If you are building a bed in a rental apartment do please check with your landlord first that you are allowed to attach the bed to the wall! You will probably have to make good any damage you do to the condo when your lease expires too.
Easiest Way to Make a Wall Bed
I would check out the range of plans available quite cheaply at Amazon.com:
Amazon Wall or Murphy Bed Plans
If you are sure you know what you are doing or have already bought plans you might want to check out Amazon’s fold down bed mechanisms
