Make Space for Guests with a Murphy Bed!
Does your home office double as a guest room like mine does? Make more room for both work and guests with a Murphy Bed!
Murphy Beds are great for busy spaces. You can pull it down for overnight stays when family or friends drop by, then lift and close it up for more work (or multi-purpose) space. Bonus, make life even easier with zip-up bedding that stays in place!
When we had our son and dedicated our only other bedroom to him, we found ourselves without a guest space… as luck would have it, I love remodeling - so we decided if we were ever going to have overnight guests, my little 10’ x 12’ design office was the perfect space for that!
I’d seen Murphy beds in the past and even was a guest on one years ago (which I thought was quite comfortable!), so I made it my mission to design my own. With a small footprint to work with and tons of material samples to store, I enlisted the help of Chris Lint of Lint Cabinetry to help design the custom built in Murphy Bed!
The inspiration: Hafele Wall Bed Kit I saw at KBIS (Kitchen & Bath Industry Show) 2023
When Chris said he was in for the Murphy Bed - we both looked at each other and said, “this will be a fun experiment!”. I had yet to design a Murphy Bed and he had yet to build one, so I sent him the photos I took from KBIS, asked if he could order the bed parts and what he thought of the product and we started designing the bed!
There are of course different manufacturers and products you can use, and each one will have their specifications for mattress depth (mine is 10” maximum), clearances for bed pistons (the hardware that lifts and lowers the bed to and from the wall), and minimum required dimensions for the bed cabinetry, which will determine the remaining space on either side of the bed for additional storage or shelving.
One manufacturer I saw while at the Kitchen & Bath show was Murphy Door; if you’re looking for an ‘everything included’ kind of option this would be a great fit! Guest bed, extra storage, and all of the materials in one kit ready for installation! This can be a great solution if you’re not in the market for something custom.
So, now that you have a guest bed, how do you keep the bedding from falling off when the bed is folded up? I’m glad you asked! I bought a Beddy’s Zipper Bedding Set! Think hotel comfort meets sleeping bag; the softness and luxury of a 5 star hotel bed with the convenience of a sleeping bag - that’s right - this bedding zips from the bottom of the bed, up both sides and stays perfectly in place when my Murphy Bed is stored in the upright position. I even zip the pillows into the bedding! The bottom bed sheet is also the fitted sheet and all of the components of the bedding can be washed and dried in your laundry machines.
Even if you don’t have a Murphy Bed, this bedding is ideal for guest beds - it is simple, comfortable, and convenient (I’m sure it would be perfect on a fold out sofa bed too)!
If you’re looking to create a multi-purpose space out of your home office (or living room!), let’s work together to design the solution that will work for your home!