Custom Murphy Bed and Cabinets

​Features:

• Fold down - queen sized murphy bed using the Create-a-Bed hardware kit.
• Custom red oak headboard that lifts up for storage of pillows and blankets while bed is in the folded up position.  This adds an extra 13 cubic feet of storage.
• Custom built, inset, shaker wall cabinets inside the bed area for extra storage (13 cubic feet)
• Recessed LED lighting with dimmer switch inside bed area for nighttime reading - avoiding the need for lamps (easier access to headboard storage) or getting out of bed to turn off lights
• Small shelving and electrical hookup inside headboard for heated mattress pad controls (bed is in a basement which tends to be colder)
• Custom built shaker side cabinets with 30 cubic ft of storage on each side.  
  • Five shelves on each side made of beautiful 3/4" birch plywood with veneered fronts.
  • Recessed metal shelving bracket system for maximum strength and versatility.
  • Electrical outlets located inside the shelving for use of printers, shredders and other office supplies.
• Faux front on bed featuring matching doors and drawers so as to make the bed disappear and appear as though it is just another set of cabinets.
• Electrical outlets above headboard for phone or other device charging at night.
• Custom LED lighting in ceiling above cabinets for added beauty and effect.
• Easily adds an extra guest bedroom to a house with limited space.  Dual purpose rooms are efficient and a great use of space!

Aaron and Cardinal Woodcraft are now a recommended manufacturer for the Create-A-Bed Murphy Bed Hardware!!  Give Aaron a call today to get a price on putting a murphy bed in your home.  It can be as simple or as custom as you want depending on your needs and budget.

Products used on this project:

• ​​Liberty Mandara 6 5/16" Cabinet Pulls (front of cabinets)
• Liberty Mandara 96mm Cabinet Pulls (inside wall cabinets)
• Lithonia Lighting - 3" recessed lights (outside cabinet lights)
• Lithonia Lighting - 4" Wafer Lights (2 lights inside bed area)

WHY BUILD A MURPHY BED?
My wife and I live in a three bedroom, two bath, 1200 sq ft ranch style home in Pittsburgh with our two kids.  We absolutely love our house, yard and neighborhood but there have been many occasions where our little 1200 sq ft house can feel pretty small.  Each of our kids have their own room and because of the age difference (6 years) and the fact that we have a boy and a girl, it doesn't make sense for them to share a room.  There have been several times though when we've wanted to have family or friends who are in town stay with us but we don't have anything but a couch to offer them.  That's where the murphy bed comes in.

A couple years ago we finished our basement which was great in adding about 350 sq ft of additional living space. After a couple years of living with the new basement, we noticed that one end of the basement usually just collected junk and wasn't really useful for anything.  We decided that some built in cabinets and a fold down murphy bed would be perfect!  It would essentially add a 4th bedroom to our house and also give us a sort of apartment downstairs - complete with full bath, fireplace, TV, couch and bed in case one of our parents or friends ever wanted to live with us for an extended period (or just a weekend!).  

This is what the space looked like before:

After about a lot of planning and discussing, we decided to put the bed in the middle with two cabinets on either side to store office supplies, games, books, files and really anything else we can't find a space for.  Again, our house is not huge and every little bit of storage is extremely helpful in things not getting cluttered.  Using Sketchup, I drew up a 3-d model of what everything would look like, which always helps (especially when dealing with customers) to work out all the kinks on 'paper' before you ever purchase any materials or spend time building anything.  After several versions, this was the design I finally came up with:

The design allows us to use ALL of the space on that end of the basement and added about an additional 73 cubic feet of storage to our house.  That's a lot!!  Once it was done, it didn't take long at all for those cabinets to be nearly full.  

One decision I had to make in designing it was whether or not to come up with my own hardware for the hinges, bed frame, etc. by browsing the aisles of Home Depot and letting the creative juices flow.  In doing some research, I found the Create-a-bed hardware kit.  For the queen sized bed kit, it was around $300, which to be honest seemed a little steep.  In the end, I decided that I valued my time more than the $300 so I would give the Create-a-bed kit a try.  It came with instructions on how to use the hardware (which I stuck to for the bed frame, but customized everything else).  In the end, I was UNBELIEVABLY happy that I went with the kit instead of making up my own.  It is so sturdy and well made and honestly works so well. (I don't get any sort of kick backs from Create-a-bed.  I just like their product.)

Here's a picture of the build in progress:

We could not be any happier with how everything turned out.  We get an extra bedroom and tons of storage.  My wife and I lived down there for about a week after it was finished and it was incredibly comfortable and functional.  Here are some pictures of the finished product:

If you would like to get a price on having a murphy bed built and installed in your home.  Give Aaron a call, text or email today:  412-212-8626, CardinalWoodcraft@outlook.com  There are beds available for every budget and need including twin, full  and queen sized mattress.  There are also options for having the bed fold down vertically or horizontally.  

Your bed can be as simple as a wooden box tucked up against the wall or you can also add bookshelves, cabinets or anything else you can come up with on the sides or behind the bed depending on how much space you have and how much you would like to spend.  Either way, you will not regret turning one of your rooms into a dual-purpose room!

Here are some more examples of beds that I can build for you (credit: Create-a-Bed Website)