Murphy Bed with Cheap $20 Hardware

How to build a wooden Murphy wall bed with twenty dollar hardware. Save a TON of money by not buying an off the shelf Murphy bed kit for almost $300 and make your own with these simple boat seat swivel bearings.

The wall bed is made from 3/4" red oak PureBond plywood and the design is my own, which you can find plans for below, but is similar to other designs you will see. In total you will need 5 sheets of plywood to complete the bed. I skipped over the shelf build in the video as I would like to make a dedicated video for that later but you will need QTY 3 3/4" sheets and QTY 2 1/4" sheets of plywood to make the additional shelves on either side of the bed.

****Murphy Bed Downloadable PDF plans:
FULL SIZE
QUEEN SIZE
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Large Roll of Edge Banding:

Edge Banding Nippers:

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Some Tools I Used (affiliate Links):

[BaronEurchild]

I plan to buy your plans for one very specific reason. I loved hearing your kid in the background. You didn’t kick him out. He was a part of the experience. Good dad, good plans.

[PCHPatti]

Loved seeing your pint-size helper using the vacuum while dad drilled holes in the side boards. Teach 'em early and they'll have good work habits for a lifetime. And wonderful memories of helping daddy.

[garyhope]

Very good and smart of you to have an expert helper there, your son, vacuuming up the sawdust. Nothing better than teaching the young how to do things. I learned a lot from my dad by helping him and him teaching me. Thanks.

[michaelisaacs]

Bought your full size plans about a month ago. Built the bed in a low ceiling spot, with an angled hip wall, and had to convert it to a horizontal build. Had to build unit in place, as bed box and cabinetry would not have rounded the corner up the stairs and into the room built in the attic. Added a bookshelf to the top in the remaining space. Came out pretty good. Had to use it this week for company, and it wasn't entirely finished. Finished trim work tonight, and will prep and stain in the next few days. Thanks for getting me started!

[noulee]

Love to watch how your son was a little handy around. Look like he really enjoy working alongside with you. How lovely.

[jorgeg]

The quarantine brought me here. I gotta say there’s no way I can build that because I lack all the tools and space to put it together but I enjoyed the video. And the kiddo helping around 🙂

[JonDeth]

Well planned bedframe. The Lazy Susan bearings are such a cheap and easy option with many being rated for a couple hundred pounds. *Your push stick though, oh boy no wonder you were uncomfortable. I built a sword style with a handguard in the center and then at the very end to accommodate my safety needs. It's been great for everything and awkward pieces I can still easily grapple with it from whichever side, and use a scrap stick for the other.*
28 years ago, a massive piece of plywood yanked my hand into the blade.
I lost an index finger tip that completely grew back, and the ring finger pad was totally blown open but the doctor flopped the pieces in, put in a few "Dr. Frankenstein" looking stitches, and it healed really well.
*I did not touch a table saw for another 13 years!*
I was and am an ultra elite level guitarist and that happened to my left hand, *the string hand!*

[Pinoyphilly]

I am so impressed with your young assistant: he will ask for a bigger paycheck at the end of this project! I look at him and remembered my son when he was his age. Now he is graduating from engineering at Penn State U. Thanks for this awesome video. A real inspiration for many.

[RondaRobb]

I love that your son was working right along with you. Looks like he just loves to be around Dad!

[johnbrown]

I am about to build a Murphy Bed for my Travel Trailor. The main difference is that mine will be a horizontal build. Thank you for the incredibly informative video. You made the project feel accessible and manageable for people with little to no experience. I am pleased that there are more affordable hardware options like this one.

[frantom]

I want to thank Tyler for answering my question about the depth of outer frame .I built this bed using thong and groove 1x5 knotty pine. This was much cheaper than using plywood because of the pandemic raising the prices of big box lumber. It came out just great a little heavy for folding . I also added 3 in. to the outer shell as suggested by Peter Lowe because my mattress is 17 in. thick I also added a extra 5 in to the top of bed box. When we first folded it shut the open the mattress stuck nothing a strap did not fix you just have to take strap off before sleeping. It only took me a week to build thanks to the great plans and some helpful hints. Also my wife helped and her help was greatly appreciated!

[awakesurfer]

I am not a carpenter but I love you masterpiece including the little guys help and your wife. Great job!

[samanthabraun]

This is beautiful work... and your little man watching and helping is even more wonderful. To those doing this and using the bolts... I have an existing murphy I use daily, and this is how I anchor mine too (bought the bed used and original top clip was shot). I'm looking at making one for a sunroom as a summer bedroom and this is perfect! Thanks!

[stoicissistisizedstoicassi]

You have an adorable mini me.
So thank you for making this.
Your instructions were easy to follow with your helpful tips.
And was a fun project to do with my own mini me version.
Actually my son is not so much a mini me anymore, and more of a much larger grown out version mini me.
We both enjoyed doing this project together.
And thank you again for making this presentation!
Sincerely best regards from Rob and Seth, Seattle Washington.

[michaelbullard]

I wish you had a how to video for literally everything. You explain everything so well, have good camera angles on key parts of the project, and you have a way of stopping talking to let us digest whatever step you just described with such great pacing.
I'm a tile guy, I don't know a thing about video editing and production. I'm certainly not the best judge out there but you really seem to have a talent at this, both woodworking and educating. Sub'd

[tastx]

I built a wall of various depth of shelves 30 years ago using 3/4” birch plywood and discovered the iron on veneer tape and it has held up well. I used Minwax Antique Oil Finish without a stain but it gave the wood a deeper look with a soft sheen and it has held up well despite having plastic bins of fabric and other items sliding across them without not having to be retouched. The tape on the edge made the shelves appear solid and was so easy to apply. We had recently moved in at the time and I wanted something that could quickly be completed without the typical multiple steps for traditional finish. I remarried 6 years ago and my husband who has become interested in woodworking had never heard of the veneer tape. They did have the typical glue on variety back then but I had more than 40 feet of shelving. We have talked about a Murphy bed in one of the bedrooms which drew me towards your video. Very nicely done!

[guyh.]

Very smart build. Like how you use the shelves as a bed base. 2 suggestions. 1st, for your your corner attachment. Get some of those inexpensive 90° clamps that are about 1 1/2" wide. 2nd, in the video you should have mentioned what you used for the swivel. I'm going to mention that those are $10 boat swivel seat bases. I have them on my boat. It takes a bit to swivel around which makes it a great use for something like this. GREAT JOB!

[pebblesthecat]

I always wanted one of these beds in the spare room as space is tight but couldn't afford one. You've inspired me to make one - I just have to convince the husband to go away to spend a long weekend at his brothers and it will be a nice suprise when he comes back ! Thanks for a great video.

[paulcraig]

Great build. I loved how your little assistant was so helpful. It's hard to get grown folks to do this kinda work nowadays. Great parenting, keep it up.

[starmstar]

I like your shop so organized and really compact and useful. I see you put to drawers on the 2 sides of meter saw to hold your stuff you are working on. thats so smart.