I built one for a customer a couple of years ago that took a regular mattress. It came as a kit in a box- hardware only plus instructions. I'm not sure where he ordered the kit other than that it was online somewhere. You have to buy the plywood or particle board to build it yourself and you can incorporate it into a wall cabinet if you like. But I wouldn't recomend it unless you havesome cabinet building experience. It was a good product though and the fact that you supply your own mattress is a plus. It could be ordered in several standard sizes. Don't go cheap or you'll get what you pay for in the product.

I've had one a couple of years now, I like a lot. I just bought a kit with just the mechanism (queen $275). Mine is actually built into the wall with bifold doors. You can you use any thickness of mattress, but you have to compensate for the extra depth in the design. I slept on ours a lot last summer, since it is in the basement and much cooler than the 2nd floor MBR. I bought mine online and I can't find the place. I saved the link on my other computer though.

Rockler has plans and mechanisms. You'll need carpentry/woodworking skills or hire it done.

Here is a link that might be useful: murphy bed

When we bought the lake house it only had 3 bedrooms.
We made one bedroom into an office/computer room with lots
of built ins. I tore out the double closets then built a
center closet with a single closet on either side.
We bought the Murphy bed had it installed in the closet
with bi-fold doors. It has a regular mattress and my
sister and I made a padded headboard which is attached to
the bed.
It is one of the best ideas I've ever had and it is quite
comfortable. I wouldn't hestitate to do it again.
When we have company all we have to do is open the doors
pull down the bed and the office becomes a very nice bedroom.

Here is another view across from the Murphy bed.
I hope this helps.

Thanks everyone for the feedback! We are doing a fairly big remodel, so have a contractor who will do the actual installation, we're mainly trying to determine whether some brands are better/more comfortable than others.

This will be for occasional guests - the Murphy bed is the compromise between my desire for a guest room and my husband's desire for a pool table. So the room will be a billiards/guest room. Normally it will just have the pool table with plenty of space around it for playing, but when we have guests we can pull down the Murphy bed, which should just fill up the space to the pool table, and make the room into a guest room. Anyway, so comfort is of course nice for the guests but it isn't a must-have for short periods of time.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback (and the pictures, that bed looks nice!) If anyone has specific recommendations for brands, I'd love to hear them. Sounds like we might be better off buying just the kit and then getting our own mattress separately?

Just as with a sofabed, the secret is in the mattress. DH and I have been very comfortable on one of these beds at the home of friends in California. (We bought a sofabed with an extra-thick 6" mattress for our Maui condo; it's comfortble, too.)

Hmm...maybe a sofabed would work for your guest/pool room. You'd have a sofa and a bed.

Good thought on the sofa bed. I think my husband was so taken with the coolness factor of the Murphy bed that we hadn't really thought much further than that. I think it would take up more floor space than a Murphy bed (which we could recess into the wall) but then again it might be nice to have a sofa for pool players or spectators. Food for thought.

we had a home made one that fit in the original 1920s murphy bed closet of our apartment. although it was heavy, it held a real mattress and we slept on it every night. we liked it so much that we will try to re-create it, this time with the "create a bed" hardware instead of just hinges and dowels like before...
unlike a sofabed, the murphy bed in its upright position does not collect clutter.....in our guest room this is an issue for us. kren

Thanks for the feedback. I asked my husband about the sofa bed, and he thought it might take up too much floor space, and also would not be as comfortable as a Murphy bed. He is currently thinking of the "create-a-bed" hardware he found online, which he could then get a regular mattress for. Sounds like that's what you did, kren? Good to know that it was comfortable enough for you!

We bought ours from International and had our carpenter install it.
We added our own mattress, that's the way to go.

Mine is from 1-800-WALLBED, which is an Atlanta based company-- it is soooo easy to use and you can iuse ny kind of mattress, so I used a really, really good mattress. It is extremely comfortable and easy to use. Mine is mounted between bookcases, I did not have money for a cabinet, so I just used a shower curtain pressure rod between the tops of the bookcases and put a curtain across. It looks great and functions perfectly. I am very glad to have it. Their website is linked below, but there are lots of companies out there. i would not hesitate to use a murphy bed in my next house, either. Just like any bed-- how comfortable it is depends on the mattress, so splurge on the best mattress you can afford.

Here is a link that might be useful: my murphy bed is form this co

We used a local wallbed company. The bed is in a freestanding cabinet, with a gravity counterbalance (don't know if that's the technical term, but it doesn't use any spring or piston mechanism to raise or lower the bed).

Any mattress up to 11" thick works with it. Just like using a platform bed; no box springs needed. There's even enough room to hang a picture inside so when the bed is down, the room looks completely finished.

This is strictly a local company but I am attaching the URL so you can check out their photos. The really cool one is the "lateral wallbed" - we would have loved to use this instead but lacked a couple of necessary inches.

Here is a link that might be useful: Roomax wallbeds, San Francisco CA

Thanks for all the pointers. We're in Portland, but have family in the Bay Area, so we might even be able to check out the Roomax one next time we're down there. We might even be able to do the lateral one - I think we'd have the space and it might fit better in our room, too.

It does sound like providing your own mattress is the way to go.

My parents got the wallbed too and we stay in it when we visit. It has a standard mattress, which I like a lot better than even the thickest sofabed mattress. I also like how easy it is to put up and down, it doesn't squeak and creak like the old spring loaded murphy beds used to. I think it's a great option for the situation you have.

well you don't have to have any special hardware...we did create the bed from 2x4s and it had a dowel running through the base that it rotated around...when it was stored, we had hooks and eyes that attached the bed to the walls of the closet. it's a wonder that no one was killed by this bed!! but we didn't put it up very much... we have not yet made "murphy #2" but this time, we have discovered the create a bed hardware and will use that to keep it balanced better than the $3.00 worth of hardware we used before!! btw, there are also other mechanisms you can buy besides create a bed...but we can buy it in person at a local store and so prefer that...my understanding is that all the new mechanisms they are selling accomodate a full thickness mattress...thank goodness!!!

Our house was built in the 20's. A few years later they closed in the "sleeping porch" and we now have a beautiful round parlor with five 5X7 windows, walnut french doors into the living room and a big closet that holds a "real" Murphy bed, with a tag that says 1915. The bed turns out of the closet so easily, then it folds down. We bought a full size mattress from Sears. I spent 7 weeks on it with a broken ankle. Our old house really only has 2 bedrooms, but this was advertised as a bedroom, too. I prefer to call it the parlor/guest room.

We have one in our son's room. It has a regular, full size mattress and is quite comfortable. Plus, he likes that he doesn't have to fix his bed every morning!

janis--Love your Murphy bed--infact love your guestroom. I am trying to design computer/sewing room and cannot come up with a working design. Of course my room is going to be very large.

Sue in Wyoming

Thanks for the reply - I can't believe I posted so long ago and we're still not quite finished. But we're getting there. The Murphy bed we ended up going with is Create-a-bed from wallbed.com, and since we ended up going with custom cabinets in the kitchen, the cabinet maker is also going to do some cabinetry for us around the Murphy bed. I'll try to remember to post pictures once it's done (hopefully in the next few weeks, but we'll see).

(deleted post made in error)

This post was edited by sushipup on Wed, Jan 8, 14 at 18:09

I've just completed building a wall bed using the Create-a-bed kit from Rockler.

It was a good project, but you'll need some woodworking skills, and the kit is $450+ with tax, plus the wood for construction. The main advantage is this kit can take any regular mattress (up to 11") and while a bit heavy, the counter balance gas pistons work great.

Depending on where you are located, I have an amish friend who does amazing woodwork. I know he does murphy beds

Feel free to e-mail me.

I think you had put a extreme advance thought for murphy bed actually I agree with this idea and this will really help in manage small area home. Murphy Bed IKEA helps you in any manner to perform interior of your home

Here is a link that might be useful: murphy beds

We have 2 Wall beds in our condo..one queen and one double.. We love them. They are very comfortable and easy to use. Ours are made by Wilding and I can’t imagine any better.

I recently purchased a cabinet bed similar to a wall bed from Amazon. It's perfect as it doesn't take up a lot of space and it looks like a piece of furniture in the room rather than a bed.