Friday TIP DAY
Making a Wow Murphy Bed. Where did the Murphy Bed originate?
Making a Wow Murphy Bed. Where did the Murphy Bed originate?
According to Wikipedia,
William L. Murphy, who was born in Columbia, California, near Stockton on January 1, 1876, moved to San Francisco at the turn of the century where he met his future wife. He lived in a one-room apartment that had a standard bed taking up most of the floor space. Because he wanted to entertain, he began experimenting with a folding bed, and applied for his first patent around 1900.
The idea of giving a client
a great bed in a small room is exciting to me as a designer! Function then form.
On my website here is an example of a Murphy bed in a TV room. (#12)
Their bed is hidden in the middle (behind the split) of the real bookcase.
Items on the moveable bookcase(when the bed comes down) are secured with museum wax.
Each side slides over a stationary bookcase attached to the wall, a queen bed pulls down.
Voila! The room becomes a guest room.
The furniture in front of the bookcase moves to the side when the bed is down, in this case, a chair & ottoman + Eames lounge chair & ottoman. (Make sure there is enough room for the furniture to move to the side in your planning stage)
Always include black out shade or curtains to block the morning sun for your sleep-overs.
We have just finished another project which includes a Murphy Bed - based on the concept of the bookcase. This time I used Wallpaper from Lee Jofa on 5 panels (3 sliding + 2 stationary)
A shot of the book case while it is in the shop with the wallpaper taped on the door (to see how it looks!)
Puck lights in the over head panel, before the back goes on (this is in the shop)
Don't forget to make a niche (sq.box) on the inside, for little items etc. - I have stained the inside a dark color to match the floors.
Here the wallpaper is applied to the stationary sides (you can see - one of the three sliding pieces that hide the bed to the left in the above picture. 
Now for the Murphy bed frame here. The company sends great instructions.
That is me reading the instructions.
Next post I will show you the finished project, it looks terrific!
The Client is so thrilled, that is what counts.
I can't wait to hear what you think,dear readers...
