A hidden door in the bookshelf leads into Ashley and her husband's bedroom. Brilliant! The project is still in progress—Ashley intends to paint and polish up the look—but we just love the way it's turned out so far.
This clever method, devised by Ashley's brother-in-law, didn't involve anything super messy or complicated, like cutting through the wall. Instead, he built the bookcase right over the existing doorway and installed hinges to create the secret door.
Just like in all the best spooky mystery stories, the door opens via a latch made to look like a book. A cable attached to the faux book runs down to a simple garden gate latch.
To see more picks of Ashley's fun Home Hack and learn more details of the construction, check out her post on Craftster.
(Images: Craftster / Ashley Rae)
Things Fall Apart: Living Alone in a Space After a Breakup
Juan's Garage Turned Modern Guest House
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Commercial Flour Sa...
10 Picnic-Ready Salads to Eat Outside
Recipe: Thai Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry
Neat idea, but a little creepy.
THIS IS AWESOME
Fun! I've always wanted to do this. It'll have to wait until I'm no longer renting, though. :)
Evangeline
**************
Booklicious
The name of the book is a nice touch :)
Sweet! I want a secret room so badly LOL
COOLEST THING EVER!
i've always wanted one!
Yes! But shouldn't the door lead to a laboratory and not a bedroom? :)
nice.
I love it, but agree that it should go to an office or workspace and not the bedroom.
that's awesome. it's exactly what i need for when my husband goes out of town! then i wont be scared to stay home at night. :)
Love the idea of this. Agree with other posts about the room the door leads to. Would love it to open up to a smaller panic room---that would be dramatic
QUESTION: How does the bedroom side of the door look? Can you send a picture of that?
Keep up your good work
Nice idea. Is there a contingency plan in place should the cord attached to the garden gate fail while the door is in the closed position? Seems like you could find yourself locked out of your bedroom. I'm also curious how the door opens from inside the bedroom.
LOVE it! I assume the door would need extra cross-bracing to accommodate the weight of the books and keep it from pulling on the hinges too much? Great concept. Please show the final product!
I almost love this, but you know what ruins it for me? That section of books arranged by color. It is my most hated of all home trends. Nothing says "I only buy books to make myself look smart" more clearly to me than arranging them by color. Obviously you don't read those books.
aemorgan - it's really not hard to figure out if you're actually familiar with the books you own. i used to have a large section of my own books sorted like this and it was no problem at all. i love to read, but i don't need all of my books to be alphabetized.
While I'm not a fan of books organized by color, all the Harry Potter books are together and in sequential order... and that's good enough for me.
I love the secret door!
My aunt & uncle built a bookcase that was a secret door. It was in my cousin's bedroom and opened up into the attic where he had his keyboard, recording equipment, and other boy cave stuff. It was fantastic.
I have a secret door in my bathroom that flips around for my toothbrush and cup, but this is so much cooler! How fun!