I Had No Idea These Existed! (A Murphy Bed That Looks Like A Dresser?!)
Do you know what my favorite thing is about my blog? I love that over the years, this blog hasn’t just been me giving information and people taking that information. I do try to share a lot of information, and I try to share not only my projects, but also all of the helpful tips and tricks that I’ve learned over my years of DIYing. I always feel so encouraged when I get feedback about how people find it useful and learn from what I share. But then people leave so much helpful information in the comments! I’ve learned just as much from y’all over the years as you’ve learned from me. I love that I’ve created this little corner of the internet where there’s such a give and take of information going both directions.
With that said, I’m sure some of you will think I’ve been living under a rock, but I had no idea until last week that there was such a thing as a Murphy bed that looks like a dresser. Someone left that little nugget of info in a comment on a post last week, and I was like, “Wait…WHAT?!” Because people are always telling me that I should put a Murphy bed here or there. “Put a Murphy bed in your studio!” “Put a Murphy bed in your future home gym!” “You could put a Murphy bed in your living room!” “Put a Murphy bed in your future family room!”
And every time someone would say something like that, I’d envision the entire height of a wall having to be dedicated to a Murphy bed, an idea that did not seem practical or pretty to me at all. But to learn that Murphy beds can come disguised as a dresser changes everything!
I mean, we had a dresser in our home gym. I really like the idea of having a dresser under a wall-mounted TV. Even if it’s not usable as a dresser, having that piece below a wall-mounted TV grounds the TV rather than having a TV just floating on the wall.
And those drawers didn’t even get used. I did store a few things in there, but those few things weren’t really home gym-related and could easily have been relocated to another place in our home. So to learn now that we could have had a Murphy bed there disguised as a dresser is a big game changer for me. And you better believe that I’m now making plans to have one in our future home gym.
When I started my search, I landed on Wayfair. They seem to have a lot of these, and the prices are anywhere from about $500 to over $2000. They come in various styles that can fit just about any style of decor. But mostly, I was interested in seeing exactly how they work and how they’re assembled because, naturally, my DIY mind goes right to, “Can I build one?” And yes, these don’t look difficult to build at all. The construction is pretty straightforward. There’s nothing complicated about it.
With that in mind, after looking at so many different options, this Wilkinson Farmhouse Murphy Bed from Wayfair (affiliate link) is actually my favorite as far as the construction goes.
And it’s also one of the least expensive ones I found at $570. (Evidently that’s a sale price right now. The regular price is $730, according to the product listing.)
And while I don’t really lean towards farmhouse style in our home, the only thing that makes this farmhouse style is the trim on the front. But if I’m building it myself, I can make those fake doors into any style I want them to be. It’s all just decorative trim, so I could use the trim that I like and that coordinates better with my style. I could use trim to make those doors look more traditional.
The bottom drawer is an actual drawer that can be used for storage.
But when it’s fully extended, using three different pairs of drawer slides on three sections and casters under each section, it forms the support for the bed. And then those false doors, which are on hinges at the top and bottom, fold out into two different sections to form the support for the mattress. The top of the dresser is hinged in the middle so that it folds back so that your guest doesn’t feel too closed in.
This one doesn’t come with a mattress, but there are plenty of tri-fold mattresses available on Amazon to choose from (affiliate link), and they come in various thicknesses and materials. The mattress folds up and stores behind the false doors, so if you’re buying a dresser-style Murphy bed that doesn’t come with a mattress, you’d just have to make sure that the thickness of the mattress you buy, once folded, will fit inside the storage area. But if you’re making the dresser-style Murphy bed yourself, you can choose the mattress thickness you want and then build the depth of the Murphy bed to fit the mattress.
I have to admit that I’ve become a tiny bit obsessed with this idea over the last few days, planning and strategizing how I’m going to build a dresser-style Murphy bed to go in our future home gym and looking at the various styles to see how I may want mine to look. Again, they come in so many different styles, from the farmhouse style above, to this much more modern style (affiliate link), to this style which seems kind of Anthropologie-inspired (affiliate link), and everything in between. There are so many styles available that can fit practically any style of decor. And of course, if you build your own, you’re only limited by your imagination.
Anyway, I don’t remember who told me about this, but I do know it was in a comment on a post last week. And whoever you are, I could absolutely hug your neck right now. This is exactly what I want and need for our future home gym. If Matt ever does need someone to come and stay with him overnight, it would be so much more practical to have that person on that end of the house rather than putting a bed in my studio at the opposite end of the house. Adding this one item to our home gym would bring so much peace of mind for those just in case situations.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Exactly what you need! And what fun you will have designing it.
It’s perfect! I had just assumed you had eliminated that possibility since you never mentioned it! 😅 hooray for crowdsourcing solutions!
OMG! I so need the tri-fold mattress!
Again, you blog is a fountain of resources! Some how you always post something that I’m trying to sort through!
I love your comment section, too 😁. I love that there is no negativity. It’s one of the reasons I subscribe besides your wealth of knowledge 🤩 and bravery to tackle projects. It has helped to shed a lot of my own self-doubt.
Home Shack has had these before, it might be worth looking at their store so you can see one in person to get a better idea of how to build one!
Itruly though you knew about all the different Murphy bed options. I know you will be able to build one but if you need one before that can happen they aren’t terribly expensive
I have never heard of Murphy beds that look like dressers. I love the one from Amazon. I’m sure you’ll have fun designing one to your exact taste.
Just for kicks, you may also want to look at how Disney works Murphy beds into the designs of some of their hotel spaces. We recently stayed at the Polynesian and our room had a king bed, pull-out sofa and pull-down twin Murphy bed from our dresser. had to explain without a photo but. it looked like a dresser – long and as tall as a twin bed would be wide and when you pulled the top drawer pulls, it came down to a twin bed so you would be laying parallel to the wall and had the most adorable Disney scene painted on the inside. my kids fought over sleeping in it each night. no folding mattress was involved and the sheets and blanket stayed on when we closed it up. Pillow a was stored separately. Disney also has beds that come out of the ceiling on the cruise lines and tables and chairs that turn into Murphy beds. Pretty neat stuff.
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What a great idea! I didn’t know those existed either. I’m not a DIY-er, but I live vicariously thru you! Your ideas are always interesting, and I enjoy reading about your adventures.
What a great idea. I think of a Murphy bed as something that is built into the wall. These are clever ideas. Glad you got your door fixed. It looks so nice.
When are you going to start on the wooden floors?
Really like the horizontal bed someone showed. Probably had a better mattress than a tri-fold.
Have a good week.
This is such a cool idea. There are sites that sell murphy bed hardware and I think it would be neat to do a horizontal twin to look like a dresser. That way you wouldn’t have to store a mattress separately (at least I think that’s what I was understanding in your Wayfair example?).
The mattress folds up into the dresser. But the first one she linked doesn’t come with a mattress, so you have to buy one separately that fits into the compartment when folded.
Oh wow…I’ve been looking at Murphy beds for a while. We are downsizing, and I want one for a TV room so when we need more than one guest room we can use it. I was looking at the big ones, and wanted my husband to make it as I bought one regular bed from Wayfair once and sent it back…it was too flimsy. I know he could make it more sturdy, and they even sell the Murphy bed hardware on line somewhere. I just wanted that kind because I thought the mattress would be better. But I have liked the ones in the dressers too…I just am worried about the folding mattress. Maybe one of your readers will know how they are for us? And yes, you will build a much better one, and probably a better style for you, and maybe even save funds! Please keep posting…I’m getting my husband to look!
I bought Murphy bed hardware only on Amazon last year, though I haven’t yet used it! It is fairly reasonable in price, and a really handy person could make the bed of their dreams with it. Also, Family Handyman had an article several years ago about building a Murphy bed from scratch.
What a wonderful idea and I love your enthusiasm….another project!!
What perfect timing to read about Murphy beds in a dresser. I didn’t know this style of them existed.
We are looking at putting a Murphy bed in our media room for ‘just in case there’s an extra guest’ so your blog today on these dresser styles is perfect timing! Thank you Kristi.
Depending on the cost maybe you could just redo the outside. Would save time. Debbi
If you don’t know it’s there, you don’t know to shop for it! This is wonderful. My husband and I plan to downsize in retirement in a couple of years. The idea of less house to maintain is thrilling. The idea of losing space that is occasionally needed is not. This is a game changer for the next house purchase. Thank you for sharing!