Creating a Hidden Door Shelf for a Secret Space at Home 2026

Learn creating a hidden door shelf for a secret space at home, this is an interesting job you can do. A closet in the corner of the room approximately 1 meter deep by 80cm wide. The sloped roof also added another dimension to the project.

Step 1: The room

The inspiration came after adding insulation panels to the roof and a new roof. This decreased the height of the new ceiling by cutting a corner of the door. I could have just cut the door off, but that would never have looked good.

Some of the requirements we set for construction were that it should not cost a lot of money and the materials should be easy to obtain.

Step 2: Materials

The materials used were:

• 18mm plywood (4x sheets 2440mm x 1220mm x 18mm)
• 1cm thick x (6.5cm wide x 10cm wide) flat salvaged oak boards (various lengths)
• 4x door hinges. Also known as lifting strap style hinges or vertical clamp and strap hinges (12" strap with a 5/8" clamp).
• 1x Automatic door latch to keep it closed
• 3x kitchen cabinet hinges. (at least a 90 degree hinge movement).
• 8x M8 nuts and bolts (to join the door hinges)
  1x under the bookcase wheel, preferably with non-marking rubber wheel.
• Various sizes of screws and wall plugs.
• Painting

Tools used:

• Wood router
• Cordless drill
• Sierra
• Circular saw
• Electric sander
• Sandpaper
• Angle adjustable (to measure odd angles)
• Level

Step 3: Make the shelves

I won't include many measurements here, as if I were making one, it will have to be made to fit your particular situation. But a cut list was made (see photos) where you can find the measurements. These were for the main shelving construction and larger panels.

The bookcase door was 798mm wide x 1625mm high and 289mm deep.

The second shelf was 798 mm wide x 1976 mm high and 289 mm deep.

A 62mm gap was more than enough clearance to allow the shelf door to pass through the second shelf.

As the weight of the bookcase door would almost be floating on its hinges, the construction had to be strong. To make it stronger without making a steel frame, a wood router was used to cut channels about 9mm deep in the side panels, so that the shelves could be glued and screwed together to make the joints.

To cut the channels in line, I placed the 2 sides of the bookcase on a table. It was attached to a straight metal bar at the top, I made sure everything was aligned and the routing was usedwooden drill bit with a 19mm drill bit along it. Repeating this to know where each shelf would come from. A piece of wood to measure the offset between the edge of the router and where the cut would be made. It is important to route the channels on both sides of the rack at the same time to ensure they are all aligned.

18mm plywood was also used to make the back panel which was screwed into place. This made for an extremely strong and rigid construction. In retrospect, the back panel could have been made from a much thinner and lighter 9mm plywood.

Step 4: Hanging the Door Shelf

First a little about the hinges. The door hinges or lifting strap style hinges come with the mounting plate (which is attached to the wall) and the strap (which is attached to the book case) in 1 package. This allows the bookcase to be completely removed from the wall by lifting it off the mounting plates, which is useful as you will have to remove it to attach some of the adjustment plates and the wheel.

To hang the bookcase door, it first had to be supported so that the shelves of the 2 shelves aligned. As you can see in the photo, the bottom 3 shelves of each bookcase line up. Make sure you are happy that everything is level and in the position you want. Depending on the hinges of the gate, the distance between the wall and the side of the shelf may vary. You can slide a hinge in the middle to make sure this gap is correct. Make sure the gap is even from top to bottom.

Then use a level to draw a level vertical line on the wall exactly where the left front edge of the bookcase door is. This line is where the front edge of the hinge mounting plate will be left behind. Take note of where you want to place the hinges. It is best to place the mounting plate just below the shelves, so that once you are done, the back of the screw is less visible on the shelf.

Move the bookcase into space and attach the hinge mounting plates to the wall. The left edge of the hinge plate should align with the vertical line.

The next step is complicated since the space is confined. With the bookcase back in place with everything aligned, place the strap portion of the hinge on the mounting bracket. Using a pencil, mark a horizontal line above and below where the strap contacts the bookcase. Then measure the distance from the front edge of the shelf to where the hinge contacts the shelf. Yes you can make a pencil mark to do this, but if not write down the measurement.

You will need to move the shelf to position the hinge strap using the markings and measurements you made. Drill holes with a drill and use the M8 bolts to securely attach them to the shelf. If you can only get a strap hinge that is straight (not like the one I use that has a bend) you can add a piece of wood between the strap and the shelf so the shelf hangs further from the wall.

Before lifting the shelf onto its hinge pins, it is best to drill the holes where you will place the edge using a pocket hole template on both shelves. Using a pocket hole jig means the trim can be attached from the back and you won't have unsightly screw heads showing from the front. You could also use small angle brackets for this.

It should now be easy (with a second pair of hands) to lift the shelf onto its hinges. If the strap portion of the hinge is not filled, by tapping the bottom of the mounting plate on one or two of the hinges, it is possible to purchase some metal washers that you can slide on to fill this gap. It is important that each hinge is seated correctly so that each one takes the weight of the shelf.

Now take a measurement under the bookcase andadd the wheel. My wheel wasn't tall enough so I added a piece of wood with some screws to get it to the right height. The wheel does not require much weight but softens the opening and closing action giving a slight breaking action.

Step 5: Finishing

Now that the bookcase door is hanging, you should move your attention to the second bookcase. You must attach the bottom part of the molding. This approximately 19-20mm short on the left side. The edge of the door will cover this gap

Move the second bookcase so that it lines up perfectly with the door.

It was painted white. You can leave a small space between each edge joint. This is because there needs to be a small gap at the edge where the door was closed, so this way there is a constant gap overall, making it less obvious that it looks like a door.

Between the two shelves there was a gap of 62 mm. This was more than enough room for it to open and close without slamming. Combining the 62mm gap with the 18mm plus 18mm shelf side thickness gave a total of 98mm. The vertical center edge was 10cm wide so when fitted a good mm or two overlap covered any small slight cracks. Hiding these gaps is the difference between a door and a hidden door.

The vertical adjustment panel on the left side is attached with 3 hinges. They need to have a range of motion of at least 90 degrees to allow the cutout to be in the open position and lie flat against the wall. The door will not open if this adjustment panel is closed there. I considered using magnets to attach it, but that would mean having to remove the panel every time I wanted to open it. So hinges were chosen from an old kitchen, so… It's just a bunch of measurements to see exactly where it should go. The hinges can be adjusted slightly once they were attached, so I was able to get the edge in exactly the right position.

Another piece of 18mm plywood was cut and painted white to finish on the right side of the shelf.

It was a lovely project to do a little at a time. It probably goes without saying, but to make truly hidden shelving that no one will see, you'll need to make precise, straight cuts. The finish panels must also be straight and not warped, otherwise things will never line up correctly without any clearance.

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