Get the Home of Your (Childhood) Dreams

Anyone who uses Pinterest, no matter how fleetingly, has undoubtedly seen the deluge of “secret door” and “secret room” pins. Most people remember their childhood dream of a house full of hidden entryways and secret compartments. Pinterest, a digital world of aspirations and inspirations, is the perfect place to keep those dreams alive, “pinning” photos and links to how-tos for all these things and more.

Well, I think it’s time to jump from the home décor board to the home improvement store. This project is surprisingly easy (and cheap!), even for the DIY amateur, if you don’t mind doing a little work. All you need is a cheap bookshelf and some common hardware and tools, and, voilà, hidden passageway!

1.  Measure the space that you have to create the passageway. The dimensions will dictate what size bookshelf you need to use.
2. Find or cut a piece of pressed board, sometimes known as particle board, to fix to the bottom of the bookshelf. This board will function as a “skateboard,” to help the door swing and keep the weight of a full bookshelf from stressing the hinges.
3. Attach five casters (wheels with brackets for attachment), one in the center, and two on either side. The two wheels on one side should be angled to allow for the door to swing. The “skateboard” should hold the bookshelf 1/8” from the ground, to keep it from scraping the floor.
4. Attach the bookshelf by hinges to another bookshelf or anchoring device, using three hinges. An L-bracket should also be used to attach everything to the ceiling, for added stability.

And that’s it! Here is the original link for pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thereisnophoto/tags/bookcasedoor/. If you’re feeling really crafty, there are more complex ways to accomplish this project, including adding a latch activated by pulling on a book…how Sherlock Holmes!

Happy Crafting!