What Wood Should I Use for a DIY Murphy Bed?

When you build a Murphy bed from a kit, you supply the timber panels yourself. This gives you control over the look and finish of the final product — but it also means you need to make an informed choice about what material to use. Get it right, and your Murphy bed will be strong, beautiful, and long-lasting. Here's a practical guide to choosing the best timber for your build. 

The Recommended Choice: Plywood 

Plywood is the go-to material for DIY Murphy bed builds, and for good reason. It offers an excellent combination of: 

Strength: Plywood is made from cross-laminated layers of wood veneer, which gives it exceptional structural strength in all directions. It handles the weight and movement of a Murphy bed mechanism very well. 

Affordability: Compared to solid timber, plywood is significantly cheaper, especially when you're buying large sheets. 

Ease of use: Plywood cuts cleanly, takes screws well, and is easy to sand and finish. Most hardware stores will cut sheets to size for you, which saves time and effort. 

Availability: Plywood is readily available at Bunnings, Mitre 10, and timber merchants throughout New Zealand, Australia, and the UK in standard sheet sizes. 

For a Murphy bed, 18mm plywood is the most commonly recommended thickness. 

What About MDF? 

MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) is smooth, easy to paint, and inexpensive — but it's not ideal for a Murphy bed for a couple of reasons: 

• It's heavier than plywood for the same thickness 

• It doesn't hold screws as well, especially near edges, which is important for the mechanism fixings 

• It can swell or degrade if exposed to moisture 

If you're set on MDF for aesthetic reasons, it can work for panels that don't bear the main load — but for the core structural parts of the frame, plywood is the stronger choice. 

What About Solid Timber? 

Solid timber looks beautiful, but it's expensive, heavy, and prone to movement with changes in humidity and temperature. For a Murphy bed that needs to fold and operate smoothly year-round, solid timber panels can cause issues over time as the wood expands and contracts. 

Solid timber is best reserved for decorative trim, face frames, or feature panels — not the main structural components. 

Finishing Your Plywood 

One of the great things about plywood is how well it takes a finish. Options include: 

Painting: Sand to 120 grit, apply a coat of primer, then two coats of your chosen colour. This gives a clean, contemporary look. 

Staining and oiling: If you use a good-quality birch or oak-veneer plywood, staining brings out the natural grain beautifully. 

Veneering or laminating: You can apply a timber veneer or laminate over the plywood for a more premium look at lower cost than solid timber. 

Whichever finish you choose, the key is good surface preparation — sanding thoroughly before applying any product. 

Getting Your Panels Cut 

The Easy Fold Murphy Bed kit comes with a full cut list detailing every panel you need, including exact dimensions. Most large hardware stores (Bunnings, Mitre 10, Placemakers) offer a panel-cutting service where they'll cut your sheets to size on their panel saw for a small fee. 

This is well worth doing — it saves time, reduces waste, and ensures more accurate cuts than most DIYers can achieve at home with a circular saw.