In the early 1900's, a man by the name of William Murphy came up with a new type of bed. The bed, which gets its namesake from its inventor, is called the Murphy bed. Shortly after being patented, the bed became very popular, and soon Mr. Murphy was opening up show rooms all across the United States. So what was it about the Murphy bed that made it so popular? It was the fact that the bed could do a disappearing trick, and retract into a closet, when not needed. This allowed the owner to use the room for things other than just the bedroom.
Today, the Murphy bed has all but disappeared from the American home. This is somewhat of a sad fact, because I think many people, could be well served by using a foldaway bed. This includes people living in small apartments, and also people who might want to have a guest room, but also need to use that room for a different purpose. And if you're a working professional, having a foldaway bed built into the cabinetry of your office, could provide you with a good nights sleep on those days when you have to work late. There are just a couple problems however.
One problem is price. A basic model, meaning just a simple cabinet and folding frame, can set you back around $2000 for the queen-size model. Moreover, you can expect to pay hefty shipping fees along with the base price. And speaking of shipping, that price doesn't include set up and more often than not, doesn't even get the bed to your front door. That means, when the delivery man shows up, you will be responsible for getting it out of the back of the truck.
A second problem is customization. If you don't like the look of any of the available cabinets, well, that's pretty much too bad. Kind of like when Henry Ford said, choose any color you want as long as it's black. In the case of the working professional, not being able to blend the cabinet in with the rest of your furniture, is a complete deal-breaker right there. So if price and customization are the problems, what's the solution? Luckily these days, there are quite a few companies building quality Murphy bed hardware kits.
If you look closely at a Murphy bed, the original ones folded up into a closet. Modern designs, use a freestanding cabinet, which may or may not mount to the wall, and inside contain the hardware that allows the bed to hinge up into the cabinet. So when you buy a hardware kits, it includes the hinges or gas struts (kind of like on the back of a hatch-back car), and incidental things like screws, bolts, and nuts etc. As for the wooden cabinet, that's where sweat equity comes in. In other words, you'll build it. So while it's a little more involved than just ordering one, the possibilities for customization are nearly endless. For example, let's say you have a lot of artwork in a particular room, and so you don't have space for a tall freestanding cabinets. By using a hardware kit, you could build the bed so that it folds up sideways. Other examples of customization include desks and sofas that fold away once the bed comes out.
As far as price goes, these hardware kits are about 1/10 the price and come in a small enough package that shipping shouldn't be more than 20 or $30 and often times, you can find free shipping. Of course you still have to buy the wood, but by providing your own labor, you can keep the price quite low. The bed I built was a little over $600, not including the mattress although you could build it for even less if you use a very simple design.
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