WOOD VS. MELAMINE

You Have A Choice!

Murphy beds are typically manufactured using one of two types of material: Real Wood or Melamine. We offer either option to fit your material preference, home décor, and budget.

 What is the difference? The biggest difference between the two products is price. Real wood murphy beds will be higher in price due to material cost and workmanship. They are cut, shaped, joined, sanded, and finished (stained/painted/weathered). Each step of our real wood process is carefully executed by skilled craftsman. Melamine has a pre-colored surface which requires less handling and no finishing. This results in a slightly shorter production time frame, and combined with a lower material cost, giving you a lower overall price.

 Despite the exterior material difference, our melamine beds use the same real wood bed frame as our real wood murphy beds, so you do not have to compromise build quality for a lower priced product.

Wood and melamine samples

YES, WE BUILD REAL WOOD MURPHY BEDS

We are one of the largest manufacturers of real wood Murphy Beds in the United States, and we are proud to offer a variety of face designs, finishes, wood species, hardware, and options to help fit the décor you are looking to achieve in your room. Real wood has always been our primary business from the very beginning, and it continues to this day. Our real wood murphy beds use some of the most environmentally conscious building materials consisting of solid wood and furniture grade hardwood plywood in the industry. The materials are hand-picked, cut, joined, shaped, built, sanded, and finished to provide our customers with a beautiful piece of furniture they can feel proud to display in their home.

Historically, real wood murphy beds are preferred by customers over melamine, but most companies only offer melamine murphy beds and not real wood. One reason for this is that many murphy bed companies/stores do not actually manufacture the products they are selling. Instead, they are buying them at wholesale and marking them up for a profit. As a manufacturer, we are able to sell our real wood murphy beds at prices similar to what most other companies charge for melamine because we sell DIRECT to the customer.

We also build accompanying side cabinetry in a variety of combinations: open shelves, drawers, doors, pull-out night stands, etc. Our side cabinetry is built and finished to match your murphy bed and consists of solid wood face frames and full extension ball-bearing slides.

Two weathered grey full murphy beds with a cabinet in between

YES, WE BUILD MELAMINE MURPHY BEDS 

Looking for a more economical murphy bed? Look no further! Melamine murphy beds are just as durable as our real wood murphy beds. These beds are built using the same body strut frame and mechanism as any murphy bed we construct.

Melamine is a hard thermally fused paper/resin coating to provide a durable hard surface. It is resistant to scratches, chemicals and staining. Melamine comes in a numerous amount of colors and faux grain which gives the appearance of real wood. It has a lower raw purchase price and less labor intensive,

Melamine murphy beds are great alternative to our real wood murphy beds. Our customers are not only placing Melamine murphy beds in their bedrooms, but in rooms they are utilizing as a kids room/guest room. Melamine can take more of a beating with objects (like toys) without the fear of dents or scratches. Most commercial offices and companies use melamine furniture due to their durability and cost efficiency. They may seem like wood, but more than likely they are melamine cabinetry. Melamine murphy bed are easily cleaned without the use of harsh chemicals, but by a damp cloth.

Look for the blue background that is placed behind both Murphy Beds and Side Cabinets listed on our website. The blue background (as well as the word "Melamine") is a helpful reminder it is a Melamine murphy bed and not a Real Wood Murphy Bed.

Queen flat face melamine bourbon cherry murphy bed

What you should know when shopping for murphy beds

As a helpful reminder to all our potential customers or individuals buying from another company, please be aware of what you may be buying. We constantly hear from new customers that they almost purchased from another company but realized by reading reviews that what they thought they were buying was not actually as it was described.

What customers NEED TO KNOW when purchasing a murphy bed is that a majority of companies that sell murphy beds are selling ONLY Melamine. So if you are looking for a real wood murphy bed, you really need to ask how the murphy bed is made. Our Real Wood murphy bed are constructed using Solid Wood, Furniture Grade Veneer Core Plywood, and Wood Veneer Engineered Substrate (side verticals only). Our Melamine Murphy Beds are made using Melamine, Solid Wood, and Veneer Core Plywood (Solid wood used in our melamine murphy beds are the solid wood struts that make up the strut frame). We welcome all questions on the construction of our murphy beds so that our customers feel comfortable on what they are purchasing. Give us a call!

Wood Construction Components

SectionMaterial
Bed face & Cabinet stiles and railsSolid Wood
Wood strut frameSolid Wood
Cabinet face framesSolid Wood
Flat face piecesVeneered Core Plywood
Header/Headboard/Bed railsVeneered Core Plywood
Bed Side VerticalsWood Veneer Engineered Substrate (to limit bowing)

Melamine Construction Components

SectionMaterial
Flat face piecesMelamine
Bed face stiles and railsMelamine
Remaining PiecesMelamine
Wood strutsSolid Wood
Rails around mattressVeneered Core Plywood

ECOLOGICALLY SOURCED MATERIALS

The Bedder Way Co. uses only the most environmentally conscious solid wood and furniture grade hardwood plywood’s in the industry. Using GreenT (TM) Hardwood Plywood’s from Timber Products Company provides our customers the beauty of real wood, combined with environmental friendliness.

We believe the forest is the foundation of our homes, our cabinets, and most importantly our future. Our partners at Timber Products Company have led the way in protecting and managing this renewable resource. Their GreenT (TM) furniture grade hardwood plywood is manufactured from sustainable and managed forests and engineered to meet the strictest state and federal emissions requirements.

GreenT™ Hardwood Plywood is certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and is perfect for green building applications. Using Green T™ Hardwood Plywood makes projects eligible for LEED® credit support. And these products are designed to meet the strict emissions requirement of the California Air Resource Board (CARB).

Person planting new trees

Common Material Questions

Common material questions