Beyond Murphy's Law

Thanks to Beyond's creativity, a small room was converted into a combination spare bedroom (left) and office/library (right).

by Brad Walseth
Closets Magazine

What is a homeowner to do when they want to set aside a room in their house as an office or library, but also need an extra bedroom for when the children or grandchildren visit? This is especially an issue when retirees downsize to a smaller home or condo and space becomes a primary concern. One retired couple took their problem to Beyond Storage in St. Louis, MO, and the company came up with a unique solution to help solve the customers' request to make a small and oddly-shaped room fulfill several functions.

Beyond Storage (www.beyondstoragestl.com) is owned by David Gast, and his company designs and manufactures whole home storage solutions, including custom closets, garages, home offices, entertainment centers and cabinets. When they were approached with a request to make a room into an office, library and spare bedroom by a retired couple, who had moved into a less-than-1,700-square-foot condo, they knew they were in for a challenge.

Designer Sarah Woodrick explains, "This was probably one of the most unique situations I've worked with (because of), the shape of the room. The rear wall of the room is diagonal -- the one wall is longer than the other (174 inches vs 144 inches) and the back wall connects them and is diagonal. So I didn't have the same amount of space on each side, and on the one side I had to be so exact with my measurements because if I messed up at all it would actually hit the window because of the really small angle of that diagonal. When I first walked in and the client said that she wanted a bed and a desk and storage, I thought 'Ok, I have my work cut out for me.'"

Frameless cabinet boxes were constructed at the shop using 3/4-inch. thermally fused melamine panels with 3/8-inch. melamine backs inserted via dado. Blum joinery was used, and the fully concealed European-style hinges allowed for a full overlay look without visable stiles. PVC edgebanding and granite countertops were also used. All doors, drawers and crowns are hardwood products and were hand stained with Accessa stain and Becker varnish to match the panels.

One unusual aspect of this project, is the side tilt, or horizontal queen size wall bed. Most Murphy beds are installed vertically, but side tilt installation allows for a greater saving of space, in this case allowing a person to walk around the bed to the desk. This innovation is just one of many in the Murphy bed field that designers may not be aware of.

Woodrick says overcoming the challenges involved in this project was personally fulfilling. "The clients are the nicest people," she says, "and that is what made it so satisfying, because I just really wanted to help them out."