For example, if your casing is not level and plum then the door will never open and close properly.

 The hidden Bookcase door will be deeper than your typical door (duh), as such your casing will need to be wider than what is likely installed. The other main difference is that you do not want to use casing that has drill and carve outs for latches and hinges, we will be using a secret hinge that sits on the top and bottom of the door (not the side). 

 You want the casing to be flat stock wood.

 For this project, we used a 4″ flat casing . As a ex-home depot employee I hate to say that I had to go to Lowes to get 4″. Alternatively, you can make your own casing. We elected to go pre-packaged to cut down on total build time. 

 You may need to cut the casing to fit your doorframe, you want the fit to be snug long ways, I had to tap mine in with a hammer to fit it. Width will have gaps that you will shim.

Step 1 – Plumb

 Plumb is when both sides of the jamb have true vertical alignment.

 Vertical Alignment- Place a 6′ level along one side of the jamb (the side that is facing the other jamb) and make sure that the bubble is centered. I check as many areas as space allows. Repeat this on the other side.

 Vertical Measurement – Place the 6′ level along the outer edge of each jamb (the side that is facing the room) and make sure that the bubble is level. This is four total measurements, two on each side of the opening. 

 Check Head Jam level – Hold 2′ level flat against the top jam (the side facing downwards. Check this in multiple places. 

 Check the Sill (or in my case floor) – My concrete floor was not level and I toyed with a few ways to correct for this. In the end the easiest way to correct this was to match the angle with a door seal that matched the color of the bookcase. If you are working with something other than concrete then do your best to level out the sill.

 If things don’t line up, use shims to get things right. I used my nailgun to shoot a few nails into the frame to hold it in place. 

Step 2 – Square

 Run the a tape measurer from one corner to the opposite corner and take a measurement.

Run the tape measurer a second time from the two other corners. 

 If the two measurements match, then your door is square. 

 Once the frame is plumb and square hit the frame with more nails until it is secure.

 I can’t emphasize enough that this is a critical step in this process. It is easy to focus on and get excited about the bookcase door itself but without a plumb and square doorframe the rest of the project is doomed.

 This is also a great milestone in the project.  If you are a DIY’er you know that messy common areas are stressful. The wide casing provides a nice passthrough and is not an eyesore. The majority of the rest of the hidden bookcase door project will be built in your workshop, so your common area can be clean and relatively nice looking while you take on the rest of the project. 

The Murphy Door

Width of the sides of the bookcase & shelves: We are using 1/4″ plywood for the back and the thickness of the rails (face frame) is 3/4″ thick. This gives us 1″ inch of thickness. If we don’t want to exceed 8″ in total depth then we should subtract 1″ from 8″ leaving the width of the sides equal to 7″.

Width of the sides & shelves: 8″ – 1/4″ – 3/4″ = 7″. ( see pics below

We are building a sturdy bookcase and we want more support than simply drilling/nailing the shelves into the sides – because of this we need to account for dado cuts that are 3/8″ on each side. We will get into this on the next step but for now just trust me that we need to add 3/4″ onto the length of the shelves. 

Shelf length: 32 1/2″

Final Dimensions: 

• Shelves: 3/4 thickness, 7″ width, 32 1/2″ length

• Sides: 3/4″ thickness, 7″ width, 77 1/2″ length

It doesn’t benefit us to cut the back panel yet. We will save this for a later step.

In this step, we will attach the shelves to the sides of the bookcase. First, we will dry fit everything. This involves pushing the shelves into the dado cuts then laying the face frame on top of the case. You want to make sure that neither the sides nor the shelves are sticking out, if they are and it can’t be corrected then you will have to sand things down to make them flush. 

If everything looks good then put a bead of glue in every dado cut. Use a mallet to hammer the shelves into the dado cuts and then tack nails through the sides of the bookcase into the shelves. The cabinet should now look like a wide ladder. 

With the cabinet laying flat put a bead of glue on all surface areas that point upward (where the frame will rest). This helps the frame stay in place when drilling pocket holes. 

Lay the face frame on to the casing and ensure that everything lines up and is square. ] Once you confirm this, secure the frame with as many clamps as possible. I only had three but it did the job. 

Tack a few 16 gauge nails into the face frame to hold it in place. 

Now that the frame is in place we can start to drill the pocket holes through the casing into the face frame. 

If you are like me and have a limited number of clamps then work down the side of the case moving the furthest clamp ahead of you. For example, in the picture above, I  moved the clamp on the right to the other side of my pocket hole jig then drilled. you want the frame to be as tight as possible when drilling. Once that hole was made I moved the red clamp a bit further down the line, I repeated that process around the case. 

I drilled pocket holes every 12-16″, once all the holes were drilled I went back and screwed everything together. I like putting a bit of wood glue in the hole before screwing – a little extra support never hurt anyone. 

Now that the face frame is secured to the case it’s time to tack the back panel on. For this step, I put a piece of 1/4″ plywood against the casing and then I marked the outline with a pencil. This gives you nice clean lines. Attach the back panel with wood glue and finish nails. 

Optional: I decided to use wood filler to cover up larger imperfections on the plywood. I did this obsessively starting at this step and many times after but wood filler is completely optional. If you want to do this, take a putty knife and run wood filler over and imperfections that you have. 

Tip: For smaller holes, I took my finger and rubbed the filler in. This minimized the amount of material needed and reduced the sanding time. 

Clean up any drips and then let the wood glue and filler dry overnight. After things dry check your bookcase for any glue runs, clean them up and sand the wood filler. Wipe the surface areas down with a lint free rag.

It’s at this point that I put my first and second coat of white paint on to the hidden bookcase door. I put an additional coat on at the end of the project

Optional materials: 

• Wifi USB powered LED strips (TV backlight)
• Push button sound card
• Metallic Copper spray paint
• Magnets

Book and Effect 

My bookcase opens up into an unfinished portion of our basement. My Wife got the office and in exchange I negotiated to be able to do what I wanted with the unfinished space. So, I obviously decided to turn it into an arcade. 

Because of this, I wanted the latch to incorporate the cheat code that every warm blooded 80’s baby knows – the Konami Code. I programmed google to run a series of commands based on the command “Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start”. 

• Saying the Konami Code turns off all of the lights in the basement except the one directly in front of the bookcase. If you don’t have WiFi controllable lights then I highly recommend looking at Phillips Color tunable lights. They are simple to install and much cheaper than the Philips Hue line.

• I “installed” (i.e., put a ball of) a usb powered WiFi LED strip lights inside of the book. These are incredibly cheap on amazon ($7.99). To power them, I had a spare portable charger laying around. I ran the power cable out of the back of the book and drilled a hole in the shelf so that I could run the charging wire under the shelf to hide the power bank. I then cut a few squares out of the front of the book (the part that faces the back of the bookcase, i.e., not the part you see when you look at the bookcase). It’s really up to you how many and how large you drill. I kept adding holes until I got the glow that I was looking for. Because the LED strip lights are WiFi enabled I was able to have these lights turn on when I said the Konami Code. This creates a glow around the book and indicates which one you need to pull to open the secret door.
  

I paid $21.99 for this book set but at the time of writing this is seems that the price went up: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009MMWBEU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I liked this option because the book was hollow with a solid outer shell. If this book is still over $21.99 when you read this then just look for one that is a side that you want. 

3. To pay for this part of the bookcase door I actually decided to sell my Gold Edition Ocarina of Time N64 games. This is hands down my favorite game of all time and so to honor and incorporate it into the project I bought this sound recorder (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WLLMSHR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)  

It took some trial and error but the push button version of this device worked perfect. I recorded the hidden door sound from Zelda and then tucked the card portion of the device under the book and taped it down. The little red button sits snugly under the lip of the book and out of sight.  

It sits well enough that just a little nudge of the book will trigger the satisfying and classic sound. I couldn’t be happier with the result.

Book Placement 

Placement of the book is critical in it functioning correctly. My door opens towards me, this means that the book needs to be placed on the right side (right when facing towards the bookcase). I also wanted it on a lower shelf  so that my 2 year old could pull it by standing on a stool. You could place it on one of a few shelves but refer to my pictures to see what I determined to be optimal placement. You can not install the book on the left hand side but feel free to put other non latchy books wherever you want.  

The book sits on the smallest hinge that I could find. The hinge fit perfectly inside the books lip. I screwed the hinge into the book first then the shelf. Check to make sure that you get good motion before you screw it in.  

• Install an eyelet to the back of the book by marking the dead center of the fake book pages then move up an inch or two.
  

• Loop and twist two separate strands of 16 gauge wire through the eyelet with pliers. You really want to get these good and secure.
  

• Drill a hole through the back of the bookcase big enough to fit your 90 degree pipe. You want this hole to be directly in line with your eyehook. This is important, if the hole is too low or too high in comparison to the eyehook then you risk causing unnecessary friction on the wire. We are running two separate wires as a failsafe against one breaking.

Optional: I spray painted the elbow, pipe and the chain bolt copper. I really liked the way it came out. You could use copper pipe but we ain’t made of money and it wasn’t worth the price to me. If you want to do the same then you will want to spray paint the 90 degree elbow and chain bolt before the next step.  

• Wedge your 90 degree elbow into the hole, making sure that the back end (backside of the bookcase) is pointing straight up.

Chain Bolt main body installation: 

1. Toss aside the chain that comes with it, we wont be using it. Also, the chain bolt was too tight for my liking. To resolve this, I removed the spring and heated it up with a long nose lighter (I don’t know the real name, calm down). You could also use some tongs and your gas stove. Heat relaxes the springs tension. Do not overdo this, just do it a little bit at a time until the bolt moves smoothly. 

To avoid unnecessary friction you want the pull portion of the chain bolt to be installed directly in line with the 90 degree pipe. You can use the steel wires as guidance but don’t attach them yet. Once you are certain the pull is in line with the 90 degree elbow secure the main body of the chain bolt to the back of the bookcase. I decided to add a piece of scrap wood between the back of the bookcase and the bolt – this made things more sturdy. This needs to be as close to the top of the bookcase as possible. This is because the bolt will be stretching up to a latch that will be mounted above it on some scrap wood. 

2. Put your steel pipe into the end of the 90 degree elbow that is on the backside of the bookcase.  I cut the pipe to be about an inch below the chain bolt and then spray painted it. If you did things right then the opening of the pipe should sit right below the pull of the chain bolt. 

I used my Dewalt DW788 scroll saw https://amzn.to/3wn3KCs to cut the pipe but there are much simpler ways to do this, like a hacksaw. That being said I love my scroll saw – it gets a ton of nuanced jobs done for me and cuts like butter. 

3. Now that the pipe is cut to length, run your wires from through the pipe and secure the pipe to the back of the bookshelf with pipe hanger straps. Twist the wires exactly one million times through the hole in the bolts pull. Okay, not a million but you want to make sure that this is an absurdly good and sturdy connection. It isn’t the end of the world if the wire comes off of the eyelet attached to the book (because you can still pull it) but if it detaches from the bolt you will have no way of opening the door and you may be forced to break the back of your bookcase to get to the latch. 

4. Test the books functionality. You should be able to pull the book and have the bolt draw down. Make sure that the pipe is secure to the back of the bookcase and that the wires aren’t under unnecessary strain. You are pulling them through a 90 degree bend so expect some resistance. If the latch is still too tough then remove the spring and heat it up some more. In extreme cases you could heat then pull the spring but again this is irreversible. If you loosen it too much there is no going back. It’s best to try in small increments. 

Chain Bolt – Latch installation:

1. The latch needs to line up with the bolt. Because of the fear of locking myself out of the arcade I decided to mount the latch in a place where the bolt just grabs it enough to shut the door. The thought process is that in a worst case scenario I could probably shake it off of the latch.  

2. This is where my unfinished wall helped me out a bit. I screwed a piece of scrap wood into the top of the stud above my doorway I then lined the latch up with the bolt and marked the second piece of scrap. I then screwed the two pieces together to create a bracket for the latch to screw into. I screwed the latch into the second piece of scrap wood in a place that allowed the bolt to catch it. Reference my pics and videos for help. This is another example where the 3D model might help you out. 

If your wall is finished then you will need to change this part around a bit. You could cut into the drywall then patch up the hole around your scrapwood – you won’t see that part anyway. The point is that your latch needs to line up with the bolt that is screwed into the back of your bookcase door. The scrap wood serves as a means to hold the latch securely in that place. To state the obvious, the latch can not be a part of the bookcase, it needs to be mounted separately. 

From the outside you will pull the book to open the door. From the inside you just need to reach up and release the bolt from the latch. 

As of right now I still have unfinished pieces of scrap wood but I plan to paint them and I may even put a bar sign (or exit sign) in front of it to make it look better. It doesn’t bother me as is and it doesn’t seem to bother anyone else which is why it is they way that it is.  

3. This is it, the grand finale. Pull your book and test the motion before you shut the door. I strongly suggest that you have help for this stage. You want someone tall enough to stay on the inside as a failsafe. I had my wife on the inside and I opened and closed the door a hundred times to make sure that things were right.  

Note: I adjusted the latch a bunch of times. At first the door drifted a little away from the wall ruining the effect. I backed the latch up and lowered it enough to have the door “click” in. In fact, when you open or close my door it does make a little click sound. It now sits flush with the wall but for a little added comfort I added some magnets to the top of the door to help it make a clean seal. 

You made it this far, let’s not get you locked out. Keep tinkering with the latch until it looks and feels right.