Who hasn't dreamed of having a mystery-story-style secret passageway? While a trick bookshelf is pretty awesome in itself, this secret passage hides a home office with clever style.


Lifehacker reader agmk and his girlfriend hated the look of their cluttered home office and computer den. It seemed like even when the rest of their place was clean, their home office was always a little bit too messy. In an effort to make it easier to hide the nook that served as their home office they turned some Ikea bookshelves they scored off Craigslist into a pretty awesome office-concealing secret doorway.

Here's some photos of a bookcase-door I built with my girlfriend. It hides the computer area from the rest of the living area, and makes our place feel much classier (when closed). Its built with Ikea bookshelves and common hardware-store components. We used two Ikea Billy Bookshelves, and built a 'skateboard' out of casters and some pressed board for the moving shelf to sit on. Then hinged them together, laid out some hardwood for it to roll on, and there you have it. The bar we also built, and it's angled so as to make the door flush when closed without any collisions while opening


On top of solving their problem creatively, they did it cheaply and without having to make any lease-violating modifications to their apartment. If you want to see an animation of the door in action click here. For more pictures of the bookshelves and the "skateboard" they built to help the door glide, check out the link below. If the combination of bookcases and secret passages has caught your eye, make sure to check out the other crafty hidden door we've shared with you. Great work agmk!

Build your own secret bookshelf door Aussie blogger Simon Shea built a secret door into a shelving unit himself and documents the… Read more

The Bookcase Door [Flickr]