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Has anyone tried building one of these, either using purchased kits and instructions, or completely self designed? Specifically a Murphy bed with integrated desk?
I've wanted to build one for about five years, but decided the use it would get would not justify the expense/time. However, one side effect of the lockdown is that I have been unshackled from my office desk and I am now spending 50% of my time out and about, and the rest either hot-desking or working from home. I am not even meant to have a desk for my job role...long may it continue!
I particularly like this method of swinging the desk in the video as it doesn't involve the linkages on other designs, my only concern is that the desk is free swinging whilst you lower the bed, so if you have something heavy like two monitors at the back it wouldn't work well. However, a doublewide monitor fixed to the bed base would overcome this and also free up some desk depth I think. Also I want the bed to be taller i.e. foot end folds down rather than sideways.
A simpler option would be to ignore the swinging desk and install a fixed shelf near the top which supports the foot of the bed, and then have a simple hinged desk with a swinging bracket underneath to raise it. This might be sufficient as I won't be folding the bed down daily or even weekly, so being able to leave my crap on the desk when folded is 'nice' rather than 'important'.
I would have tall cupboards either side so I can move all our paperwork out of a kitchen cupboard and the dresser...I'm not great with making fiddly drawers so I'm thinking shelves and a couple of Ikea wardrobe doors to finish it off.
my job description has just been changed to make me more field based
are you a scarecrow?
Haha, sounds alright if the money is good!
Field based, i.e I should be out sorting problems in person rather than sending emails 🙂
PS you were quick, I immediately edited some bits out to make it less wordy!
you were quick
outstanding in my field
Groan
Depending on what your actual needs for the bed / room are you could do something simpler. Our spere bedroom used to double as a general junk room and has recently evolved into my office.
When I originally built the bed for it I had different sorts of visitors in mind - I wanted it to be a good double bed for couples, single beds if for instance my nephew and neice visit, or a single bed an a more usable room if a colleague stays and works for longer.
I found two single mattresses that side by side are the width of a standard double. Made one bed base that was basically a long low bench and one that was four smaller coffee-table sized units that stack. That way it easily splits to singles or you can stack the two on top of each other to reclaim space for other stuff or you can have a single and arrange the other elements as shelves if one person is using the room. It only occurred to me recently to stick a board across two sets of the smaller units to make a desk - it means when I make the double bed the only vestige of the desk is a single flat board that I tuck at the back as a headboard.
Something like a Murphy bed is clever if you want to swap the roles of a room back and forth every day but if its just a case of rearranging things now and then you might get more flexibility and utility from something less all-in-one
^^^ That bears thinking about....
ignore the bear
ignore the bear
I can't.
I'll send him outside
better?
![](https://i.ibb.co/fFLxjmw/bear-2.jpg" alt="bear-2)
That's a nice idea, however our spare room is very small, it doesn't have room for two single beds, so it's a double for our parents and any extras have to slum it in the lounge or campervan outside.
When the bed is here there is only about 40cm around the bed plus a bit extra where the door and a narrow wardrobe are positioned. So the only other way would be a sofa bed, and the desk would have to be removed. There isn't even space for a fold down desk from the wall as the folded desk would stick out too much!
![](https://i.ibb.co/t2nsxtQ/bear-3.jpg" alt="bear-3)
![](https://i.ibb.co/SX0nf3V/bear-4.jpg" alt="bear-4)
I've got the kit in my basket .. . And a kreg pocket jig.
Once my extension is done the plan is Murphy bed in the spare room for similar reasons
I shall observe your issues ...... I won't call them mistakes as it's your first time doing one .... It's not a mistake if you don't know what your doing 🙂
Actually it might just work, I'll have to do some measuring...but I think the Murphy thing may work better as it would be fairly cramped and it would be like a game of Jenga trying to shuffle everything back into a bed on a Friday evening when the in-laws are closing in on us!
Haha thanks trailrat. I've got a kreg jig, brilliant tool. When you say you've got the kit on your basket, is that just general timber and fixings or have you chosen a Murphy bed kit for DIYers?
I've hidden a bear in here for you...
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We cheated and bought such a bed from StudyBed. In this one the desk top is not free swinging so it stays level when the bed is being lowered. Also there are gas structs to act as the counter weight. It works very well. I'm not sure I would want to make one, it looks like significant amount of wood working skills. Good luck if you do try. If I was doing it myself, I'd do for the solution from @maccruiskeen
Something low like a fold-out futon would fit in that space without having to change the desk. Not ideal, obviously, but as a spare bedroom it would work.
A murphy bed would be way cooler though.
.
I have the diyers kit on eBay in my basket as it seemed it would work without me calculating at strutt length / lift powers and getting it wrong
Rookie mistake.
Lampshade doesn't go with the curtains
Poor effort, thought you'd have matched my decor/curtains 🙂
That's a bit more bearable.
Ha ha!! Good effort maccruiskeen, it certainly made me laugh.
Man dies inside Murphy Bed
thats what happened to the black bear
thats what happened to the black bear
A grisly way to go.
Was it a black bear or a panther?
Was it a black bear or a panther?
More of a Cougar really
😀
Been looking at Murphy beds for a while but not with the desk bit. Pretty much settled on one from wallbedking where a short frame is attached to floor and wall and the frame is on that. You then just build a cabinet around.
Loads of videos on YouTube of doing it with hardware kits but you end up with some very large assemblies to move about.
Man Dies Inside Murphy Bed
I'm concerned about the US slipping in space technology!
Has anyone told Mr Musk?