🖼️
The project:
I turned an old queen bed into a fold away Murphy bed, built into a full height storage wall. Repurposed boat stool swivels as the hinge mechanism, a cheap and surprisingly strong solution. The two centre doors are actually fake, they hide the folded bed and make the whole unit look like one seamless cupboard. Drop it down and there's a ready made queen bed for overnight guests, fold it up and the room becomes our toddler's playroom again. Finished it off by hanging my guitar on the side, safely out of reach of curious toddler hands.
- Materials:
Materials
Paint
- Tools:
- Step 1:
Removed the factory support feet from the bed frame and built a solid 19mm plywood base to sit it on, giving the whole unit a sturdy, level foundation to build the rest of the cabinetry around.
- Step 2:
Built two individual cupboard towers from 19mm plywood to sit either side of the bed, which provide the bulk of the storage and support the weight of the bed frame once it's mounted.
- Step 3:
Built a centre unit designed to sit above the bed when it's folded up vertically, joining the two side towers together into one solid, freestanding cabinet.
- Step 4:
Mounted the pivot hinges and the IKEA bed frame onto the two towers, checking the bed swung smoothly through its full range from vertical to horizontal.
- Step 5:
Mounted the centre unit onto the two towers to tie the whole cabinet together into one cohesive piece.
- Step 6:
Built all the drawers and cupboard doors. The doors are plywood with MDF strips added on top to create the look of shaker-style panel doors, including the two fake centre doors that hide the fold-down bed.
- Step 7:
Fitted soft-close cup hinges to every door for a smooth, quiet close, keeping the finish feeling premium day to day.
- Step 8:
Dry-fitted the entire unit in place to check the fit, function and bed operation. Once happy with everything, took it all apart again ready for finishing.
- Step 9:
Filled every screw hole, then sanded all the carcasses, drawers and doors back smooth and ready for paint.
- Step 10:
Primed every surface, then applied the Boston Ivy green finish coat before doing the final assembly and mounting of the whole unit in the room.
