Thoughts on Murphy Doors

Murphy Door from themurphydoor.com

I ran across an ad for Murphy Doors that I thought was interesting. I liked some of the pictures of doors to secret rooms hidden behind bookcases a la Batman… and Richard Ford. (Richard had a hidden bookcase door that took him from the the kitchen to the bar in his lake cottage.) And anyway, I’m always intrigued by anything with the Murphy name on it as always reminds me of my grandfather.

The first thought that came to mind was that it seems like a natural fit for a “Tiny Home” solution too. (Yes, despite generally dispising most of the home improvement shows, I do watch that one occasionally.) Few of them seem to use the Murphy Bed solution opting for low-headroom lofts, but any double purpose installation seems to be fair game.

I was particularly intrigued by the idea of using these as a pantry solution. We have pantry cabinets in our home, but without exterior shelves. The idea of a combination of interior and exterior shelves would make that installation more aesthetically pleasing while increasing the functionality.

I was concerned about the hardware strength, but it looks like what they provide is substantial and should do the job. I’m not sure how comfortable I would be installing one in a retrofit situation where I didn’t know how the door framing was completed, but it should be perfectly fine in new construction or in major remodels were the framing could be beefed up or at least verified.

I think the Murphy Door can be a cool solution for the right application and actually become a conversation piece in some locations. Great idea!