Our guest room had a long and narrow closet space that was filled with wire shelving. I decided to rip all of that out and divide it into two sections – a closet for guests to use AND a hidden closet for decor and storage.
And what better way to divide the two sections than a SECRET BOOKSHELF DOOR!
I couldn’t get the idea out of my head, so I had to give it a shot! Here’s how I built mine…
THE DIY SECRET DOOR YOU NEED TO FIND A PLACE FOR IN YOUR HOME
STEP 1: MEASURE & GATHER YOUR MATERIALS
First, I had to measure my open space and add a couple inches on all sides to ensure my secret door (once trimmed out) would overlap the wall to appear built in.
Once I had my rough measurements, I got my materials and got to work!
And here are the tools I used to bring this build to life!
STEP 2: BUILD THE BOOKSHELF COMPONENT
I started out by building my bookshelf component of the door. I laid out 1x4s and created a ladder almost – knowing I would need very narrow shelves to make this work!
I glued and nailed the shelves in from the sides. Those would be hidden anyways!
STEP 3: ADD THE BACK
I had leftover shiplap panels from a previous project, so I decided to add them to the back of my door! Plywood (1/4″) would have also worked just fine!
STEP 4: TRIM IT OUT & ADD THE FINISHING TOUCHES
Then I brought my door into the space in which it would be installed to figure out exactly where the trim needed to go!
I made sure my 1×4 trim would be flush with the insides of the shelves, but the top and bottom (which I used a 1×8 for to appear like a baseboard) needed to just be about 1/4″ from the ceiling and floor for clearance!
Then I wood-filled, caulked, and painted my door Pure White by Sherwin Williams.
Once it was dry, I decided to add little rails to each shelf. That way, small items could be added to them without falling off!
I drilled small holes into the sides of the shelving unit about 3″ from the shelf and 1″ from the front, then fit 1/4″ metal rods into place. I cut my rods a little longer than the width of the shelves so they could fit in without falling out.
I could have left them alone, but I used antique gold rub n buff to make them brass instead!
STEP 5: INSTALL YOUR DOOR
I used small magnetic catches on the trim to hold the door snugly shut. And I just installed the door with standard door hinges hung on the trim.
I’m sure there are better hinge options out there, but I had these on hand and they seemed to work well for me!
This was such a fun project to figure out, and I can’t wait to find another spot for one in my home!
Do you have a place in your home that needs a secret door?
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