How To Install A Secret Bookcase Door In Your Home (Without Breaking The Bank)

Buildings with hidden spaces have long been a subject of public interest, with plenty of real-world history from ancient Egyptian tombs, to Renaissance libraries, to Prohibition speakeasies of the 1920s, not to mention well-known landmarks such as the Winchester Mystery House. However, perhaps the most famous example of a hidden passageway is what modern architects call a "murphy door," most often portrayed as those secret doors behind a bookcase. 

Secret doors appear in murder mystery novels and pop culture dating back decades. You've seen them properties like the Batcave entrance in Adam West's Batman (1966), and if you've been inspired, there's good news: A bookcase door is accessible to install even on a budget.

To be clear, a classic door-styled entrance with hinges on one side of the frame is more budget-friendly than the likes of a centrally mounted wall that can spin all the way around, as depicted in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. In fact, a solid murphy door can be installed for less than $100 by removing one of the home's current doors, smoothing out hinges and strike plate gaps in the frame with a large-hole wood filler, and then installing center pivot hinges with self-closing spring door latches. Measure the space to make sure a simple DIY bookcase — one that isn't heavier than the hinges can hold! — not only fits, but can swing outside of the frame without hitting anything in your newly secret space. As with any such project, measuring before you build might be tedious, but far less tedious than rebuilding because you failed at measuring.

As mentioned, having a bookcase that fits your frame is imperative — retailers like IKEA might not have products in the exact size, so be ready to make your own with a handful of boards and plywood, a tablesaw, some wood glue, and nails. That custom bookshelf can be sanded down and painted to whatever fits your home, but it's not the only thing to take into consideration. A swinging murphy door works best if it's set in a level, square space, so you may need to cobble together a custom frame to keep things plumb. Indenting your wood with dado cuts should make it easier to slot the bookcase together.

Once any potential gaps in the wall from constructing a new frame are filled, drill holes in the top and bottom of the secret bookcase door around one-third of the way for your center pivot hinges (on whichever side you want to swing). You may also need to cut away space in the frame for a smooth opening. Once everything is attached, you can decide how you want to perfectly style your bookcase to match whatever room it's hidden in. 

Even on a budget, it should be easy to add a classic book opening mechanism. Buy an empty hardcover book case (or hollow out a real book), attach a hearty string to some wooden slabs you've sealed inside the case, and then run that string through a hole in the back of your bookcase so it can pull the secret door's latch.

A hinge-swinging secret bookcase door is probably your best bet for building on a budget, but it's not the only option. You could also put this kind of hidden entrance into play using a sliding door track, though this style may be harder to hide given it will have to be set further into the wall with about one inch of clearance above the floor. The history of secret doors in medieval structures like England's Warwick Castle also offer ideas for pieces other than bookcases to hide your door within. A secret door could sit behind paintings and tapestries, or even entirely false walls as seen for servant quarters in Victorian-style mansions (which can also be found in films like Ready or Not). As far as what to put within your new budget secret room? The sky's the limit, assuming your room meets fire safety regulations.

Purchasing pre-made or custom secret bookcase doors can be expensive. By that, we mean anywhere from a few thousand dollars to $20 thousand for something armored and more sturdy. However, if you still don't want to find the materials yourself, Amazon sells a basic murphy door hardware kit for $150. 

All in all, whether you takes cues from the Central Library of Rochester's bookcase-hidden children learning space, or offers more storage with a secret hidden pantry, a murphy door is guaranteed to impress without necessarily breaking the bank.