Murphy Beds from Carleton Woodworking
Murphy beds made by Carleton Woodworking use "Create-a-Bed" hardware. The advantages of this hardware are:
A couple of letters from our fans:WHY I LOVE THE MURPHY BED I BOUGHT FROM CARLETON WOODWORKING
Like every other GenXer alive right now, I'm an Internet developer. I live in Manhattan. For several years, I've been nursing a craving for at least several more square feet of uncluttered floor space. When changing apartments, I struck on the idea of getting a Murphy bed.
After scouring the Internet for information about Murphy beds, and visiting the Murphy Bed Center in Manhattan, I made up my mind to have my bed custom-made. Why? Because most Murphy beds out there are, basically, sofabeds in a cabinet. Even the expensive ones seem to be flimsy, noisy, and use cheap hardware. I was going to use this bed every night, and I wanted it to be solid, simple, well constructed -- and I wanted it to take a regular mattress.
I called the company that manufactured the best Murphy bed hardware (http://www.wallbed.com), and asked them if there was anyone in my area who could build a bed for me. They put me in touch with Kim at Carleton Woodworking.
Five weeks later, I've got a queen-sized mahogany Murphy bed in my apartment, and I couldn't be happier with it. It's solid, it's well-made, it works easily and silently, and it's a lot of fun.
Here are the things I like best about the Murphy bed that Kim made for me:
IT FREES UP A LOT OF SPACE
My apartment is what the real-estate agent likes to call a "junior one-bedroom;" that is, a studio apartment with some glass doors framed in to make a tiny trapezoidal space. A queen-sized bed pretty much monopolizes the room. So, with a Murphy bed, I double the amount of usable space. With the bed up, I've got a whole other room! Finally, enough room to swing a cat in!
IT'S EASY TO PUT UP AND TAKE DOWN
One thing I really like about the bed Kim made for me is that it's really simple. The front of the cabinet is the bottom of the bed -- there are no folding doors in the way, and no foot rail to fold over as you bring the bed down. You just snap the hidden handles out (they become the feet) and lower the bed. Putting it up is just as easy.
IT HAS HIDDEN LATCHES
Okay, let's be honest. If you could have a secret revolving bar like the one in High Society, or a secret passage behind a coat of armor, you would, right? Sure you would! That's why you think Murphy beds are cool in the first place. Anyway, one of the things I like best about the bed is that it has hidden latches to take it down.
Okay, so you can figure it out in about two seconds, but there's still a good dose of magic in this Murphy bed. "Hey presto! From nothing, I make... a queen--size bed!" Ever see Monty Python's The Meaning of Life? The scene where John Cleese pulls down the blackboard? Yeah, it's cool like that.
IT'S QUIET
Most Murphy beds work on springs. Have you ever taken down the attic stairs from a trap door in a suburban house? You know that bonging, ratcheting sound that the stairs make as they come down? Well, that's exactly the sound that this bed doesn't make. It's perfectly quiet -- if anything, it makes a sort of gull-wing Mercedes whisper. Plus, it doesn't squeak or wobble -- once it's down, it's totally indistinguishable from a normal bed.
IT TAKES AN ORDINARY MATTRESS
Lots of the beds I saw out there need a sofabed mattress, or have to use a mattress that's unusually thin. Not this bed -- I called Dial-A-Mattress the same day that Kim was installing the bed, picked out a garden variety, off-the-rack, perfectly normal Sealy mattress, and it works perfectly. Since I use the Murphy bed as my "regular" bed, that's really important.
WHY I RECOMMEND KIM IN PARTICULAR
Kim is professional, he's friendly, he's conscientious, and he does beautiful work. I recommend both him and his work very highly. Plus, he's published! He writes for Fine Woodworking and other magazines. How cool is that?
The bottom line is that you should have Kim make you a Murphy bed now, because in a year or two there'll be an article about Kim's Murphy beds in some hipster NY magazine, and then there'll be a waiting list two years long.
John Young
New York, New York
**************** I am absolutely thrilled with the Murphy bed that Kim has made for me. I own a studio apartment in Brooklyn Heights, but now I feel as though I live in a one bedroom! Having a Murphy bed has freed up enough space in my apartment for a sofa, so that I now have a living room instead of just a bedroom.
When I first decided that I wanted to get my bed off the floor and onto the wall, I did a search on the Web and came across Wall-a-bed, the company that manufactures a newly designed mechanical device for Murphy beds. After watching the on-line video which demonstrates how simple it is to put up and down a Wall-a-bed Murphy bed, I was sold. Kim was listed on the site as a local custom woodworker, so I decided to give him a call.
I really liked the idea of designing my own bed as I am very particular about aesthetics and hadn't seen what I was looking for at companies that sold ready-made Murphy beds. I knew that I wanted the piece to look like an armoire so that it would blend in inconspicuously with the rest of the room.
Kim was really helpful in terms of suggestions. He was able to recommend a lot of different design possibilities, molding options, and wood colors, all the while taking into consideration the style of my apartment furnishings and the amount of light infiltrating my studio. We came up with an armoire-style piece with upholstered panels (done by a colleague of Kim's), in a mahogany wood, with interior lights for nighttime reading. Kim e-mailed me some mechanical drawings for my approval and we were on our way.
Six weeks later I had my Murphy bed. It is beautiful, solidly constructed and adds a lot of value to my apartment. Working with Kim was great and I would recommend him to anyone without any reservation. He does truly fine craftsmanship, is very professional, and his pleasant and congenial nature made working with him a real pleasure.
Lisa D.
Brooklyn, NY
Last updated 05/04/05
