What is it that compels us about a secret door? It’s almost as if the door itself and the promise of mystery is more exciting than whatever could lay beyond. In any case, [Scott Monaghan] is a lover of the form, and built his own secret door hidden in a bookshelf, as all good secret doors should be.
The door is activated by pulling down on the correct book. This then reveals a fingerprint scanner. Upon presenting the right digit, the door will elegantly swing open to reveal the room beyond. Secret door experts will note there’s an obvious tell due to the light spilling through the cracks, however [Scott] reports that the finishing stages of the build solved this issue. The door was also fitted with a manual release for easier daily use.
Details are light, but the basics are all there. Really all you need is a cheap hardware store door opener, a secret activation lever or authentication method, and a well-hinged bookcase to achieve this feat yourself. We’ve seen some other great secret doors before, too. Video after the break.
Bookshelf secret door with thumb scanner—ran on AAs. https://t.co/2F1843nUME pic.twitter.com/HQqO329N80
— 🤖ScottsRobots🤖 @ OPEN SAUCE (SF 7/15-16) (@scottmonaghan) May 24, 2023
i mean, it’s a hack!
for something like this, security through obscurity really is more effective imo. the entrance looks like a door frame and seems to be exactly where you’d expect a door to be in a house. it doesn’t really hide anything, it’s a dressed up fingerprint-protected door latch.
i saw a regular basement where the entrance goes to a claustrophobic utility room with a shelf covered in old paint cans, and you can swing the shelf to the side and reveal the vast rest of the basement. it was an effective illusion because a lot of houses around here really do have a tiny partial basement just big enough for a water heater and a furnace. and there was no framing around to make it look like a doorway. so someone could come in there and really not have any expectation that there’s more to the story that they’re missing. of course anyone that already had an idea they were looking for something hidden would be able to figure it out
it just impressed me because it was such a trivial hack (just a regular particle board shelf mounted to a few hinges) but it really worked as an illusion. people were always surprised the first time
Thanks! Ya this is just for fun.
The story goes like this:
– I always hoped that “someday” I’d live in a fancy house where I can add a secret door.
– A few years back I realized that the “someday” would probably never come so why not just go for it in the small apartment I have.
– So as a Father’s Day present to myself, I turned my daughter’s door entrance into a thumbprint scanner hidden door.
– Once I finished it, it really looks like a built-in shelf to anyone who’s not looking too closely, and folks have a lot of fun seeing it in action.
– One of my favorite things is that I realized that I could make it only semi permanent. I can always take down the shelf and the facade frame and put the door back up to sell the place to boring people who prefer boring doors to the secret variety.
Looks like a fun little project! But no longer ‘secret’ as it is on the internet now ;) . Ha!
Hey this is me! Thanks for all the kind words.
Let me know if anyone has any questions!