Hello, Narnia!

I love this! Someday, I'm going to have a house with so many secret rooms.

Wow! That is so cool.

That is the coolest thing I've ever seen! Love it!

Oh yes, this is right up our alley! We've got a "Rembrandt's sleeping chamber" that's hidden away behind what looks like cupboard doors but this idea is even better. Thanks, AT!

LOL @ Mary. You made me laugh so hard I started coughing!

Maybe its time to rethink that bookcase as a door I've seen on AT.

Wow -- so fun!!!!

Great idea, but there is something really creepy about the way this picture was staged.

Wow @FengShuiByFishgirl your Rembrandt's sleeping chamber sounds amazing. Would love to see a photo. I love your website and your cool tips.

I had a friend when I was a child who had something like this as the entry for her bedroom. They had the back taken out of an old wardrobe & filled it up with vintage furs like the entrance to Narnia. it was amazing.

Super cool.

I so want this! This is such a great idea I'm totally doing this someday!

I want this so bad I'm a little heartbroken about. That is the best idea EVER!!!!! When I have Kids This is totally how their playroom is gonna be...but until then I want this for myself! How awesome would it be to have little fairy lights hung up in there too?

This will happen, I ... need ... this!

That's so awesome. A little scary, because it looks like an OVEN in this pic...and if I were a little child I would be hesitant to go in, for fear that someone on the outside would turn it on. But still...awesome.

Love this! Thanks for the idea -- someday I'd love to do this.

The wardrobe is missing the full-length fur coats...blindly feeling the way through those is key to the wardrobe gateway experience.

Well I can see the intent and know from experience how children love cozy hidden places. Please, though, if anybody tries this at home, be very aware of safety... and the ages of children involved. (The doors here don't look like they are designed for children's fingers...) There should be nothing that snaps shut or locks or that cannot be pushed open easily from inside... and a cupboard must be very securely affixed to the wall so that if someone pulls or climbs, the furniture can't fall over on a child.

This is BRILLIANT... parents who seriously think like their kids. I mean what do little ones love more than a good fort? NOTHING. My only concern is how completely annoying is it for the parents to have to crawl through that hole to get in the room and clean it up...?

Fantastic! I want one!

Great idea, agree with others that the pic is scary though.

My grandmother had a connecting closet between two bedrooms in the little house my grandfather built for her. We kids all thought that secret passageway was the most wonderful thing we had ever seen. So many marvelous details in the house, but that was the best!

Everyone wants secret passageways in their dream houses, right?

totally creepy!

I love the idea, but that photo just reminds me of someone being kept captive or something. Maybe I watch to many scary movies. Or just read the news too much.

Cool idea in theory but that photo gives me a total claustrophobic panic attack. Egad!!!!

LOVE IT! I think the pic of the "Secret room" has blinds or curtains drawn. I am sure the armoire can be moved for easy access. It didn't say it was affixed to the wall.

I am trying to figure out a way I can do this in this house. Hmmmmm...

Hello? It's called versatility people! When they're GOOD the kids can play there. When they're BAD - or they leave errant fingerprints ( paging Ms. Lifestylist)- you can go all 'Flowers in the Attic'! Perfect!

This is a great idea in concept, but that picture is incredibly creepy

Me: Hi. I'm Skeemer118.
You: Hello Skeemer118.
Me: I am 30. I want this room for an office.

Georgina, safety has taken over children's freedom. Doors can be shut on fingers in every rooms, with every cupboards or armoires... everything can happen in every room, that's what life is all about!

i bet you sanitize every single piece of toys at night...

Yeah, if I did this, I'd have to make the entry taller to accomodate my tall, adult family members.

I think my favorite detail is the three little shelves to the side of the entry. It's that kind of attention to detail that I'll have to remember when I own my own home.

And Georgina? Everyone who has read "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" knows "it is very foolish to shut oneself into any wardrobe." (C.S. Lewis).

Love the sentiment behind it, but all I can picture is the backache I would have from crawling in there after my kid and trying to clean up the various messes. Never mind trying to get the vacuum in there!

This reminds me of the "secret clubhouse" featured here:

http://www.ourvictorianhouse.com/clubhouse%20page.htm

So so cool. I would have loved something like this when I was a kid.

Hello,

I am the carpenter that created this for my client. I can say that he is a very creative, energetic father and a pleasure to work with. He has fantastic murals sprawling through his stairwells and has created little play spaces for his little one through out his house.

As for the creepiness... I am, after all, a carpenter and not a photographer, so perhaps it's the light... It isn't creepy at all! I swear!

And it is safe. No latches or catches. The unit is secured to the wall and the bottom reinforced.

I liked the "secret clubhouse" link PillyLass. Very neat.

www.mapleseedrenovation.com

One more vote for creepy. This is just a little too "Poltergeist" for my taste.

Stay away from the light!!!

Um, yeah . . . creepy.

I don't get how this is creepy. It's a room with a door that just happens to be through a piece of furniture. I think it's awesome and I want one for myself. It's a freaking kid's playroom!

This almost makes me want to have kids.

That said, the picture does make it look a little like an oven.

What a great idea! And so, so cool of the parents.

And PhillyLass, yours is pretty awesome too.

SOOOOOO cool. Would love to go in there myself and curl up with a book and some records.

Love it! But I must admit my next thought was that it would be really hard to get the vacuum cleaner in and out:)

Very cool! I had something like this as a kid and as much as I adored it, I sometimes forget how special it was. Mine was somewhat more pedestrian; our house was an 1890s farm Victorian with small bedrooms and no closets, and when my parents remodeled the 3rd floor attic into a bedroom they redid the stairs with an island, creating a hallow space beneath...which connected to the new bump-out closet installed in my 2nd floor (small) bedroom. I think I was around 7 or 8 when this happened.

The "crawl space" had a hatch doorway, a light bulb with a pull cord in the middle and, most mysterious of all, part of the underside of the stairs up to the attic, as an extra cubby. And a swatch of orange shag carpeting, all my stuffed animals, and many wonderful solitary childhood memories!

It looks like amazng fun for a kid! Though as an adult it *might* feel a bit claustrophobic..
my only concern (and sorry if i come across as paranoid- i like to hope i'm not) is that if a child was in that room and some emergency (god forbid) happened- how would rescue services know that there was a hidden room witha child in it?

i love the red chair too!

"Georgina, safety has taken over children's freedom. Doors can be shut on fingers in every rooms, with every cupboards or armoires... everything can happen in every room, that's what life is all about! i bet you sanitize every single piece of toys at night"
Just noticed this quite nasty comment addressed to me. It's in response to my note above on safety for little children playing around adult furniture not designed for them. Well, I am saddened to tell you a friend's four-year-old was killed when he climbed unsupervised up a tall chest and pulled it over on himself. It's not an unusual accident unfortunately. Many people on AT don't have children yet; maybe they might like to hear some kindly meant safety advice from one who does. Have fun with the project, but be mindful. That's all.

I would have loved to have this as a kid!!

I just hope the playroom is ventilated :)

This ... was designed for me, I'm pretty sure. A wall in my house has four rooms, one next to the other, and the doors are overwhelming. If ONLY I had enough wall space ... Perfect opportunity for revolving book cases. I am all over the hidden rooms idea.

Ah, just the thing to hide the "computer/office/server room we've just set up under our staircase, which sadly is only about 12 feet from the front door. I've got a boring curtain disguising it badly, now,-- but I'd much rather do this. And maybe I'll tell visitors it's our TARDIS..

My 4 year old daughter (who has a regular bed in her room) prefers to sleep in her closet, so we made her a small bed with a papasan chair mattress and decorated the space with glow in the dark stars, a small lamp on a shelf and scarves for a tent-like feeling. She loves it.

I showed her this post and she immediately asked, "Can WE do that?"

Super Cute! I love this idea and now Im going to make one! (somehow haha)

Talk about a way to hide the toy "clutter."

Love the idea! I have my own a "secret" storage room hidden behind a built-in cabinet in my loft.

The picture with toys but no furniture is CREEPY - it looks like the secret dungeon of a pedophile!

I will hide all my money in here!!! All 3 bucks!

Creeps me out. Reminds me of poor little Kaspar Hauser.

I am so gonna have a room like this. For myself. not for my kid!! Love it!

Creepy? I love it! No more thriller novels for you people.

Great idea!!!

Replace the armoire with a tardis and we're in business!

personally i love the idea of this. FOR ME. i went to the link someone posted. and while i think its cool, its extremely dangerous. if there was a fire, the fire department would never think to check the paneling under the stair case for a spring loaded door. the child might go in there if they were scared and that was a 'safe' place to them. i would def leave an alert sticker on the window outside with the location of the crawl space.

in reference to THIS post. wardrobe is not so bad, they probably still would want to make a sign on the door or something to tell people if there was a room there. you never know. but i would LOVE to have that as my own space. as a child and now.

i dont find the picture creepy though. its not like there is a kid tied up in there.

This is very creative! I would like to have about 4 or 5 rooms like that! One just for me!! Hehe