top of page
Project
Hidden Bookshelf Door
Recessed bookshelf door with a book handle/lock. The bookshelf is not directly mounted to the wall in any way making it easily removable and renter friendly.
Context
A room with no door...
I call a converted dining room in a house with 4 other roommates home. When I first moved in, the entrance to my room had a beautiful double door frame, but it had a big problem: it had no door. Naturally, The only logical solution was to build one
large double doorway entrance to my room
Sketches
pivot line
bookcase molding for stability
real molding
Door bookcase
fixed bookcase
hinge locations
wall
wall
wall
Mounted boards on the other side of the wall keep the bookcase stable without fixing it to the wall of the house
Construction
1. Prepping wood
Cut everything to size
drilling holes using a pocket jig
first pass sanding
2. Assembling outer frame and bookshelves
used a router to create a slot for the hinge to sit
360 degree hinges mounted to the top and bottom of both the fame and bookshelf
now the door can open and close in the frame!
3. Adding wheel for extra support
After a few tests I noticed It was really difficult to open and close the shelf door. In order to solve this problem I added a wheel to the base of the door.
This helped take some of the weight off the user as the door is being opened/closed
Lesson Learned
Gluing wheel to the bottom of shelf
Section cut from the bottom base to make way for the wheel to slide in flush with the shelf and floor
4. Fabricating the book door nob
How might we: create a secret book door nob?
By using a gate latch!
Book Diagram
latch
hole
book opening
shelf
.png)
Mounted backboards to the back
Screw eye to hold the latch wire
Used a pin nailer to mount the boards - allows for easy removal if needed
Cut wooden block to fit inside the book.
Drilled in gate latch to the back of the door
Paper left on top so its harder to tell which book is the door nob
Drill hole in backboard
Thread gate wire through hole
Book nob is complete!
5. Finishing steps
Sanding the whole shelf in order to prep for staining
Felt liner on the inside of the moulding to protect the wall
wood stain tests
6. Installing the bookcase
Lesson Learned
Unfortunately when my roommates and I tried to slide the bookshelf in the door frame it didn’t fit. The shelf was just a tad too tall to fit in the entryway.
In order to solve this problem I planed down the top outer frame to remove the needed material
planing down the top
7. Completed bookcase
closed
opened
bottom of page