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Adding Molding to the the Easy Do-It-Yourself Murphy Bed
Step-by-Step Instructions on How to Add Molding to the Front Face of the Murphy Bed
You may decide that you would like to add molding to the face of your Murphy bed and that is a great way to add your own personal touch to your new wall bed.
This process is quite easy to accomplish however there are a few things you need to know before you start.
Read below to learn how this can be done properly without affecting the functionality of your Easy DIY Murphy bed.
Important Note: We would not recommend adding molding thicker than 1”. Adding molding that is thicker than 1” may add too much weight to the bed frame, therefore, creating an imbalance with the gas pistons, rendering your bed too heavy especially if you already have a heavy mattress.
Examples of Molding Styles
Decide on what type molding you want to add. There are many options in the lumber aisle of most hardware stores like Home Depot or Lowes. Primarely what thickness and width are the most important.
Adding molding to the front face of the bed frame will increase the total height of the bed frame so you must adjust measurement “X” discussed on page 28 of the construction guide according to the thickness of your molding.
This measurement needs to be increased to move the bed frame back into the cabinet.
Simply add the thickness of your molding to measurement “X”.
If you are building your bed out of 3/4″ plywood, “X” is 4-1/4″.
For example, if your trim is 3/4″ thick, then “X” is now 5″. This means the male pivot plate gets mounted 5″ from the edge of the cabinet. The height does not change, it remains 11″.
Here are the male pivot plates mounted on the left and right side cabinet panels parts F. The “X” measurement is always referenced from the front edge of the cabinet sides.
Now we have taken care of the lower part of the bed frame.
However, to keep the distances equal there are a couple of adjustments that need to be made at the top of the bed.
If this is not done properly the molding on the face of the bed frame will stick out of the cabinet at the top as shown here.
Adjustments needs to be made to the cabinet top part of the bed, Part G and parts GE as well as part GA.
To make the front of the bed frame flush with the bed cabinet you need to reduce the width of part G and GE by the thickness of your molding.
If you go with the standard cabinet depth of 16”, as in the cutting guide, you need to make the cabinet top 13” wide assuming your molding is ¾” thick.
Just cut part G and both parts GE down to 13” instead of 13-3/4” as instructed in the cutting guides. If you are making the cabinet depth more than 16″ then you need to adjust accordingly.
Since part G and parts GE were trimmed down we need to adjust the front pf part GA.
To do this just add ¾” molding or lumber material to the front of GA.This will bring the front of part GA out meet the edges of the cabinet sides parts F.
There is one thing last thing you need to keep in mind if you are going to add the optional kick plate to your bed.
You will need to cut down on the height of part J because most likely the molding on the bottom of the bed will rub on the top edge of the kick plate when you open the bed.
TIP : You might want to install the kick plate last so you can check the clearance under the bed.TIP 2 : It is recommended you do not add the kick plate to the bottom of the bed cabinet if you are adding any molding thicker than 3/4”.
Congratulations! You are now done.
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