How to build a secret bookcase door for less than $100
My six-year-old twins have a large closet off their bedroom that leads to an unfinished attic. I’ve always thought it was the perfect spot for a hidden bookcase door. Plus, they always need more room for books.
The last few months, as we’ve been spending more time at home together, seemed like a great opportunity to finally make it happen.
The first thing I did was research hidden bookshelf doors. I found that professional, pre-made “murphy doors” start at around $1,000. Most also require replacing the entire door frame. Even a hardware-only kit costs at least $150. I wondered if I could do it for less.
It turns out I could, and with few tools and minimal carpentry skills.
The first thing we did was measure the space, including the frame, threshold and any walls a swinging door might bump up against.
I used the free version of SketchUp to model the area and make sure that a door made from a slim bookcase could fit and swing freely. I modeled it in 3D, but a 2D top-down view would also work for testing the swing. You could do the same thing in analog using paper or cardboard.
The most important thing is to determine the placement of the hinge pivot point, rotating the bookcase within the model to make sure it can swing open all the way without hitting anything.
Once I determined the project was feasible, we removed the existing door, filled the hinge and strike plate gaps with wood filler (it took a couple applications) and sanded it smooth, leaving us with an empty frame.
For the new door’s operation, I went with a center pivot hinge, which I found online for $32. (I’m providing Amazon Associate links for all the parts, but you can find similar hardware and materials at your local hardware store.)
Using this type of hinge instead of side hinges should help the door to sag less when it’s weighed down with shelves full of books. Even piano hinges aren’t designed to take that kind of weight.
For the bookshelf itself, I went with the cheapest option that was available in white and close to the dimensions of the door frame. This turned out to be a Mainstay five-shelf bookcase, on sale for $29. Similar bookcases are available from a wide range of online and in-person retailers. Most big-box stores carry this exact model. It’s sold packed flat and ready to be assembled.
In addition to being inexpensive, this type of furniture is made of a laminated particle board called melamine, which is very light — great for minimizing the load on the hinges.
The shelves on this model were a bit too deep for it to work as a door out of the box, so I cut all the pieces down by about five inches with a circular saw, then sanded them all flush.
When ripping planks of melamine with any kind of power tool, make sure to make a shallow cut just through the laminate layer first before cutting the full depth of the board. This helps prevents the surface from being chipped and marred by the blade.
I then assembled the now-shallower bookcase using a combination of the original hardware and some construction screws. It was the perfect depth and just a few inches narrower than the doorway (with gaps on the sides that could be easily hidden by trim boards).
It was, however, still too short, so I built a simple box for it to sit on, which I assembled with glue and screws. This worked out well for both elevating the bookcase and providing a place to hide the lower hinge assembly.
I bought some pieces of pre-primed MDF, a lightweight fiberboard, to make the box and to act as trim around the edges of the bookcase. It cost a total of about $25, with several pieces left over.
I attached the trim to the edge of the door frame using wood glue and moulding nails, except for the bottom piece, which I attached to the lower part of the door so it can swing out with the bookcase.
I secured the hinges to the door frame where my 3D model showed they should go, following the instructions that came with the hinge kit (this required cutting a small void in the top of the door frame with a jigsaw). Then I mounted the bookcase on the hinges.
Then I just had to test the door, paint the trim and install the shelves.
I also installed a handle on the inside and an adjustable supporting leg on the non-hinge side using some brackets and carriage bolt, but those are both completely optional.
The entire project worked out to about $90 and took a few weekend afternoons. The kids love it, and are demanding a secret locking mechanism hidden in a book. I’ll probably use a gate latch for that, as in this video.
Here’s a list with all the materials and tools I used, and there’s a video of the construction coming soon, in case you prefer your information in tik-tok form.
Have fun! If you build one I think you’ll quickly find, as the kids and I did, that the hardest part of having a secret door is keeping it a secret and not sharing it with the whole internet.