Create-A-Bed Queen Size Deluxe Murphy Bed Kit, Vertical

This was a fun project that allowed us to turn a grown kid's bedroom into a home office that accommodates guests. The biggest lesson I learned from this is you MUST "read and follow the directions" which is not easy for me because I tend to grab the cut-sheet and go. But when it says to read the plans AND watch the video, it's critical advice since I found details missing in the plans that were included in the video and vice versa. Sometimes the order of steps is different in the plans and the video shows why the order of steps is important. You really need both plans and video and lots of attention to detail to make sure the hardware is installed exactly where it needs to be. I found it easiest to convert the DVD to video on my iPad and keep it handy in the workshop. PROS: Easy to follow plans when accompanied by video. High quality hardware that installs easily if plans are followed. Operates smoothly and looks great! Lots of options to customize. CONS: One shortfall of the kit is the fact it shows options without providing any details or dimensions. For instance, you can build decorative picture frames for the plywood front to simulate doors and drawers. But you must leave a 1/2 to 3/4" gap between the bottom of the picture frame and the baseboard trim or it will bind when opening. MODIFICATIONS: I found that as long as strict attention was paid to the mechanical portions, you can extend vertical supports to create a taller wall unit with bookcase. Just ensure you retain a header that is firmly attached to wall studs. We added a light bridge/shelf and installed the Rockler Murphy Bed Lighting Kit that is available on their website, but not on Amazon for some reason. There is a 12" and 60 lb limit on mattresses and after consulting with Create-a-bed folks, I learned the horizontal bed is much more forgiving on weight when the mattress is hinged on longitudinal axis vs. the traditional vertical Murphy bed. We used a 78 lb, hybrid inner-spring/memory foam mattress that is VERY comfortable, reasonably priced, and works perfectly in the horizontal bed. I am attaching a few photos that show the basic bed I built. Missing is the matching bookcase and crown molding that ties the two together, but you'll get the idea. (The mattress looks a little lumpy in the picture because it just came out of the packaging and is still inflating. After a few hours, it grew to a full 12" pillow-top and looks great!)

Okay, first off, the hardware that come with this kit is high quality. It will definitely last 30+ years. Also, the instructions are very detailed. I feel like a novice carpenter could navigate this build with ease. So, for those considering how much the wood cost would be. We spent between $700-800 on lumber. Hefty price because we went with birch plywood, which was about $85 per 0.75 inch sheet. You end up needing (4) 0.75 inch sheets, (2) 0.25 inch sheets, and about 12-15 pieces of solid wood boards. So you'll end up spending around $1,000 for the entire project at least. Not including what finish you decide to go with. Another thing to consider, for this to go smoother, make sure you have this equipment: table saw, skill saw, jigsaw, drill, drill bits, hammer, nail gun, clamps, forstner bits(very important!), and a helper (needed). My father-in-law had the saws, and helped me build most of it. My wife assisted me with the rest of it. It's well worth the time and money. High quality and very good looking. We're beyond satisfied with the result. WARNING - when installing everything into your desired location, MAKE SURE you secure the header to your wall first. We tried to secure the headboard to the studs before the header and the bed nearly snapped us (4 adults) in half. The gas pistons are no joke!

I built four extra long creative bed Murphy beds at one time. It got a little confusing building that many at the same time. The instructions were clear and precise and engineered. The mechanics in this kit are fantastic. One bed I put the screw hole an eighth of an inch too high and it made a huge difference. I was on the phone with customer support and he walked me through fixing it. We really evaluated the situation on why it wasn't closing correctly and it was totally my fault. I love that customer support helped me with this. I have made a total of five beds from Create-a-Bed and every one of them have turned out fantastic. My first one was used for about 5 years before we decided it was too small. They really last.

This is an awesome kit, but I wish it were a little cheaper. Seems like these products (Murphy bed kits in general) have huge mark-up due to the known high costs of pre-made Murphy beds. I think you could part this kit out and get it for less than half the price, but unless you want to weld the plates yourself, good luck finding suitable replacements! It's also nice to have a set of plans to go by, and those are hard to find also. I made this bed over a couple Saturdays, only requiring assistance to 1) flip the frame to paint it, and 2) carry the frame up the stairs. Everything else I was able to do myself. The instructions were super simple to follow. Anyone that has done anything with wood will be able to figure it out. WARNING: Pick out SUPER STRAIGHT WOOD from wherever you get your wood! Plywood tends to warp, which will cause some of the edges to come together not-so-cleanly. I had to go out and by a replacement 4' x 8' sheet of plywood because one of the sides was warped so that the bed wouldn't close. I didn't figure it out until I had it all put together and tried to close it. Ugh! All-in-all I came out at about $700 with this murphy bed, custom made to my (wife's) taste. She wanted the "cabinetry" part on the front to look a certain way, and I was able to accommodate with the plans in this kit. I used all "select pine" plywood, opting out of solid wood or hardwood plywood because 1) it's hard to find 4x8 sheets of that stuff and 2) it's half the price. I ended up painting it anyway, so it didn't make much difference looking at it. I am deducting one star because of the price. Surely Rockler could offer this for significantly less and still make a ton of money. I'm sure there are reasons it costs this much; probably because they know we will still buy it.

UPDATED REVIEW: It's been over 3 1/2 years since we built this bed and the hardware is still working perfectly. The bed lifts up and down easily. It is so convenient to be able to pull down a guest bed at a moment's notice. So glad we built this unit. My plan is to build a twin in my "she shed" studio. Looking forward to the next project. PREVIOUS REVIEW: This is an incredibly well made hardware kit. The instructions are spot on accurate and the DVD instruction disc shows each step in perfect detail. The woman who narrates provides clear, precise instruction while the man is shown completing each step in the building project. We actually took our computer out to our work area and used the DVD as a reference as we went along. All templates and instructions are included with a complete list of materials that you will need. We ordered the horizontal, queen size because we didn't want it to look overly tall and we are glad that we did. The wall we put it on is about 10 feet and it takes up most of it. The trim and color decision is left up to you. One warning: if you are building a large unit like we did, assemble everything as close to your final area as possible because it is VERY heavy. We have gotten many "oohs" and "ahhs" over our Murphy Bed. Several friends have wanted to know where we got it and we readily tell them. You might be interested to know that we are two women ages 57 and 70 and didn't require any help in building it.

It should go without saying that if you’re looking to build your own Murphy bed instead of buy one, you’re decently skilled with tools and have some equipment ready. This is not a beginner DIY if you want it to turn out really good. I used a lot of my shop tools - Table/Miter/Circular saw, handheld and drill press, drum sander, compressor, nailer, etc. Like with any wood project, being able to make accurate square cuts and assemble is only the first half, the other half being finishing work. I probably spent around $500-600 on the materials in addition to the actual hardware, and spent a few days doing most of the project, but I’m happy to have a product that I made myself instead of paying out the nose for something mass produced. I thought the hardware was a little expensive for what you get, but I have no complaints with the quality. It’s a solid kit, sturdy hardware, and there’s a lengthy instruction manual that tells you everything you need to buy, cut, and assemble.

I am very impressed with the quality of this product. The instruction manual was very detailed and easy to follow, given the scope of the project (I would consider myself intermediate in skill). I love that I was able to use a high quality mattress once it was finished. It was critical to have a table saw. I used red oak and oak plywood and was able to stain it with a walnut wood stain and it turned out so nice. I added some shelving above it along with some trim boards to the face and it looks beautiful. So happy with this product. The build of the Murphy bed too about 3 days (1st day was purchase of materials and cutting each piece. The next day was the majority of construction. Another several days to finish up, paint, stain, etc). Worth every penny and every minute invested.

Built our murphy bed with this kit. It turned out wonderful and was very easy to use.

We now have two Murphy beds in our house using this kit. It’s economical and works great!

Really good and easy to fix if you know how to work with wood.

The Product seems very solid and durable. The instructions were very clear and easy to follow. You need to be careful a bit to measure very exactly, but then everything works out great. We struggled a little with the measurements though because everything is in Inches and so we needed to transfer all measurements to cm and mm.

I used this bed at the farm hangout And I think it is very convenient and worth the experienceو

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