A “Glorified Storage Room” Guest Room Gets a Multifunctional Makeover
If you have a teeny-tiny apartment, you might be familiar with a Murphy bed, which is a bed that folds into the wall. But the disappearing beds aren’t just for studios and small square footage. Murphy beds are also great for making a room multi-purpose, like in this home office-slash-guest bedroom redo by Janie McKinney (@dollyandbud).
“The problem with the room was that it was being used as a glorified storage room instead of having a nobler purpose,” Janie says of the once-cluttered space. Over the course of two One Room Challenges, she and her husband, Doug (with the help of some pros along the way), transformed it into a sleek office space that can sleep two.
A Murphy bed makes the room multifunctional.
The first step in the project was decluttering, but “the biggest change in the space is having a bed that can be hidden away when not in use,” Janie says. “This leaves the entire room available for use as an office.”
Janie and Doug took on the building of the bed and bookshelves themselves, and they used a template and hardware kit for the Murphy bed, although Janie says if she were doing the project over again, she might try to find a kit that has pre-cut wood pieces, too.
“We’ve never built furniture from scratch before,” Janie says. “We inherited a table saw from my dad, and after doing this project decided we could use an upgrade. It was really tough cutting those full sheets of plywood.”
After building the bed, Janie and Doug figured out the dimensions for the bookcases and built them, and they hired a professional, Bobby Lykens, to install the doors and drawers.
“We hired the cabinet maker because we felt like making the doors and drawers was a bit over our comfort level,” Janie says. “However, the cabinet maker said if we can build a Murphy bed, drawers and doors should be a piece of cake!” The doors and drawers are outfitted with new hardware from Restoration Hardware.
New floors helped transform the room.
Between adding the bed and bookcases, however, Janie and Doug decided to swap the carpeting in the room with hardwood floors, just to make the built-ins easier to level. “We had to take the Murphy bed out of the room so the floors could be installed,” Janie says. “It was the best decision for us, though.” (Now, Janie loves the look of the wood floors so much she wants them in every room!)
Fresh paint makes the home office a pleasant place to work.
Paint also did a lot to make the room look more modern. “I wanted the bronze wall color gone because it was just so bad and made me grumpy when I was in the room,” Janie says. “I had grown to hate it so much, but the new wall color is amazing, and I love it!”
She chose Sherwin-Williams’ Ash White for the bookcases and bed, and color-matched Sherwin-Williams’ Acacia Haze and Basil for the walls.
“Just changing the wall color made the room feel completely different,” Jamie adds. “It’s a very calm and relaxing color and a happy place to be!” It’s a good way to feel in the space, especially because Janie spends a lot of time there now.
“When I started working from home, I wanted to use it as a home office,” she explains of the space. “I was having to work at our kitchen island [before].”
The desk and chairs are upcycled.
The room is a fully functioning guest room and office now, with bedding from Ballard Designs, a new rug, and a vintage chair and desk that the McKinneys thrifted and upcycled with Minwax’s Dark Walnut stain. (Janie used fabric she already owned to cover the chair.)
“The most budget-friendly parts of this project were the items that we purchased secondhand,” Janie says. In total, her project cost $6,863 including the professional work.
“To use the room as a guest bedroom, I just have to move my desk to the front of the room, move the chair over by the window, and pull down the Murphy bed,” Janie explains, adding that the room is so much more functional and less cluttered than before. “I love everything about the after!” she says.
Inspired? Submit your own project here.