BILLY Bookcases transform into Queen Murphy Bed

We live in Manhattan where space is a premium. We are fortunate to have a playroom that also needs to double as a guest room. Our idea was to hide a queen murphy bed behind our IKEA BILLY bookcases.

What’s a murphy bed?

A Murphy bed is also called a wall bed, pull down bed, or fold-down bed, is a bed that is hinged at one end to store vertically against the wall, or inside a closet or cabinet. (Source)

BILLY Bookcases transform into Queen Murphy Bed
The bookcase hiding the Queen Murphy Bed

Related: See more hacks for IKEA beds


BILLY Bookcases transform into Queen Murphy Bed
Our projector screen in front of the bookcases

Conventional Murphy beds didn’t quite fit into the space and they are expensive. So a hack seemed in order:

BILLY Bookcases transform into Queen Murphy Bed
Queen Murphy Bed revealed

The center bookcases are mounted on a piece of plywood on wheels with the Murphy bed attached to the plywood.

BILLY Bookcases transform into Queen Murphy Bed
BILLY Bookcases transform into Queen Murphy Bed
BILLY Bookcases transform into Queen Murphy Bed

It’s pretty manageable to spin around when the bed is needed.

BILLY Bookcases transform into Queen Murphy Bed

For the side shelves I used two bookcases to add depth to accommodate the depth of the bed when it is hidden.

BILLY Bookcases transform into Queen Murphy Bed

I used some old IKEA hardware to keep the center piece from being moved.

BILLY Bookcases transform into Queen Murphy Bed

Here it is in action:

BILLY Bookcases transform into Queen Murphy Bed

Buy Queen Murphy Bed hardware:

Queen-Size Deluxe Murphy Bed Hardware Kit | Shop Murphy Beds


You may also like these IKEA Queen storage bed hacks

#1 Storage bed using KALLAX shelving units

ikea queen storage bed

We bought an old house with original hardwood flooring from the 40s so we were very concerned about damaging it. The casters on a normal bed frame put a lot of pressure on a small surface and we didn’t want it dented or damaged if things started a rockin …. Plus, a 40’s house has virtually no storage as you only needed 3 pairs of pants back then. See the tutorial.

#2 Store your entire wardrobe in this MALM bed

ikea malm storage bed

This is one heck of an IKEA hack. Stefan made a storage bed. Correction: It’s a bed with massive amounts of storage out of 2 MALM bed, 4 MALM chest of drawers, 2 nightstands and 1 headboard. See the tutorial.