Wanted plans ideas for a bookshelf door
scott53715
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I want to make a hidden door, disguised in a book shelf wall. You know, one of those creepy old houses where you move a book and the wall opens up to enter another room. I know these have been done before, and I don’t want to reinvent this. I’m sure there are things I need to look out for in order to make it look and work smoothly. Any help? The door way is small about 5′ high by 2′ wide. Thank you.
Replies
I think the first thing you need is a spooky-looking butler.
My dog's name is 'Monster'! Seriously, I have an old three story structural brick house on a hill that was abandoned for 15+ years and some claim is haunted. The 'Tower Room' off a bedroom, you wouldn't know its there, is 10 by 10 and tapers to 4 by 4 at the ceiling 16 feet up. I'd love some ideas. By the way, my wife named the dog.
There are so many options and different circumstances, it's going to be hard to have a "canned" answer. The bookcase-against-a-wall is a simple approach. Probably simpler is a swing door that opens toward the concealed side, but it eats up floor space inside the secret room. The sliding panel or rotating chair is going to be much more complicated, and pretty difficult to conceal offstage. The issue, generally, is clearances to allow doors to open without scraping (since scrapes will give away the location, and simple gaps to prevent scraping are obvious).
scott
http://www.garymkatz.com/TrimTechniques/hidden_pivot_bookcase_install.htm
Thank you for the link.
I appreciate that detailed description-- lot's of things to consider. Really want to have the look of a wall of shelves with just one portion that either swings out or in. Thanks for your post!!
scott
Yes, I understand the wall of shelves.
Take gary's description through to the end-instead of his "wall", insert your shelves across the whole expanse of wall. The face of his wall is the face of your shelves. Only one section is his "door shelves".
If you go to his site-should be able to access it via the link-He may have done and posted about what your want to do. Or, someone added their expertise. Check out his list of projects in there in the index.
Best of luck.