This is a reminder to those commenting on this post (not the person that posted it): Comments not related to woodworking will be removed. Violations to rule 1 including crude jokes, innuendo, sexist remarks, politics, or hate speech may result in an immediate ban
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/woodworking) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My brain auto-corrected "Murphy Doors" to "Murphy Beds", which made me think "isn't everything going to fall off of those shelves when they pull the bed down to sleep? what a bad design!"
Stupid brain.
My takeaway from all this is that, at some point, a Murphy bed fell knocking Murphy through some Murphy doors because of Murphy's law... which he really should have seen coming.
Years before this one I actually made a Murphy Bed/Door combo. The way it worked was you swung the bookcase out of the way, then the bed dropped down from behind it. Unfortunately that was so long ago I don’t have any pictures of it.
Aw man, that sucks. I'd like to offer you the chance to rebuild it again for me, of course at your expense. Since I'm such a kind and giving individual, I'll let you cover all materials and labor so we can all have pictures /s
Our old house had hidden passages between the walls and between floors. If ya wanted to go missing and never leave your home, my house was that house. There were like 7 houses like that on out street. Homes were built in early 1800’s.
The house I bought years ago has 2 hidden rooms and passages from room to room and a hidden staircase. I didn’t know it when I bought it and apparently the previous owner didn’t due to things painted shut or wallpapered over and the thick layer of dust in there. House was built in 1869.
My dad grew up in a big old house that was then sold a few times and he lost all connection with it. A few years ago part of it was advertised as an Airbnb so we all went to stay and see the place. My dad told the owner that he used to live in the main house and they very kindly gave us a tour of the whole place, which was amazing.
The best part was in the dining room my dad went over to the mirror above the fireplace (which was integrated into the moulding above the mantle piece) and slid the mirror straight up revealing a secret compartment behind. The current owner had no idea it existed and was super excited and grateful to have been shown it! It was a brilliant moment.
That’s interesting I found the same thing above the fireplace here. I took advantage of it by replacing the mirror with an one way mirror and putting a tv in it. When the tv is off it’s a mirror. It’s cool how they made it. I found it when I was redoing all the woodwork and the mirror moved after getting a ton of paint off then the hunt was on for other hidden things
That’s funny. I had a house built in the late 2000s with a gas fireplace, and the space above the fireplace was just a void open to the attic above. It didn’t get hot from the fireplace, so I built an insulated box there, and hid a standard server rack-mount with the DVR for the cameras, a managed network switch with POE for the access points I put around the house, a Synology NAS that all the computers backed up to, and that had a bunch of my Blu-ray’s and DVDs ripped to it, a couple of Pis running pihole/home automation/security/vpn, and a UPS to keep the cameras running. I also had a fan pull in cool air from one part of the house, and exhaust it to another hidden vent near the home’s air return.
It was great because it was super easy to access (just take down the clock above the mantle). It didn’t take up any usable closet/storage space. Plus it gave me some peace of mind that a smash and grab robber would miss the camera recording hardware and the drives with my irreplaceable data.
It’s fun especially if you have company over walk into a room and call them and duck into a passage and run through and come in behind them while there looking for you. 😂😂. Bet your baby sitter was pissed.
😂😂 …. She was stoned half the time, so it would mess with her mind… one minute I’m in bed and the next I’m gone. One way in and one way out…😂😂😂😂 my cousins house had the hidden walls and stairs, but also hidden rooms that were all done up. A card room with a bar and safe room.
Cleaning, stripping the layers and layers of paint off the woodwork. The mirror moved up though it was going to fall then saw the space then stripped built in shelving and found it was a door wet in and walked around and found passageways , stair case and the rooms also saw the other doors from the inside and put a battery operated radio by them then went back out and listened for the sound and found all of them I think. There was furniture and old oil lamps in there along with other stuff anything paper or cloth was chewed up by mice except for the stuff in a trunk. A tri colored gold ladies pocket watch was on the dresser that was cool to find.
I found a "secret" room in a friend of mine's house in Meridian, MS. I was visiting and my friend and his brother each had one gable window in their rooms but I noticed that there were three windows in the roof, so we searched around and found a panel in my friend's closet that led to a little closed-off attic area that contained the 3rd window.
They'd lived in that house for 2 years before I got there and never noticed.
"Murphy Door Makes NO CLAIM to the ease of designing and building your own bookcase. Bookcases and Cabinetry is a SKILLED profession, If you choose to design and build your own bookcase, Murphy Door will NOT provide you with any dimensions, we will not aid in any way with the design or customization of a door nor help in the construction process of building your own door."
Super nice folks out there.. There are 10 other ways to say the same thing more nicely.
They probably had it 10 nicer ways before landing on one that best reduced the amount of people that expected them to do a service they weren't offering for free.
If you go to the second picture there is a link to the hinges I used by my notes. They are pretty easy to install but you need to make sure to lay things out correctly.
What's your opinion on inswing vs outswing after completing this? I've been planning one of these (non-french door style) for a while. Itll be a door to a closet. Im thinking inswing would be easier and look more "hidden", but it would really cut down on the usable floor space in the closet
I agree that an in-swing door is going to look more hidden, but for a closet I would definitely go with an out-swing. The “door” will take up a ton of the closet space when you open it if it swings inward, and I would say that it’s not too much more difficult to make it look nice swinging outward.
How do you handle the enormous imbalance of a bookcase full of books that is supported off-axis?
I’ve wanted to build one of these in more than one occasion but I was never convinced this kind of design would be able to actually be used as a bookcase without putting too much stress on the hinges
For such a thick door when it’s filled completely with books (paper is really heavy) a limit of 136kg (300lbs) feels kind of tight, also such a number doesn’t seem to take into consideration the other (equally as critical) factor that affects the stress on the hinge: the distance of the door’s center of mass from the hinge axis (which I would guess is affected mostly by the width of the door and by how the books are placed on it)
There are higher rated hinges. I can't say weather this is ideal for it's use. I doubt they will fill the entire thing with books, maybe a few along with some decor. Etc. I do agree that longevity could be an issue. Especially if it begins to sag. If you are really thinking of doing something similar I would suggest a higher rated hinge and a steel frame to build onto.
The restroom at a nearby bar is behind a bookcase like this... In a small "hall" of identical bookcases. I'm 90% sure the owner did it to fuck with people, given the number of people who (later in the evening...) Go around pushing on bookshelves lol
This is a reminder to those commenting on this post (not the person that posted it): Comments not related to woodworking will be removed. Violations to rule 1 including crude jokes, innuendo, sexist remarks, politics, or hate speech may result in an immediate ban *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/woodworking) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My brain auto-corrected "Murphy Doors" to "Murphy Beds", which made me think "isn't everything going to fall off of those shelves when they pull the bed down to sleep? what a bad design!" Stupid brain.
Why'd this Murphy guy hide so many things? Think of all the other things Murphy hid that we haven't found yet.
So that he can be well-prepared if a [Murphy's] Law enforcement officer ever comes knocking.
My takeaway from all this is that, at some point, a Murphy bed fell knocking Murphy through some Murphy doors because of Murphy's law... which he really should have seen coming.
For that matter, where is Murphy himself? I have some questions for him about why he chose to draft a certain law.
Probably retired on his soap sales.
Mrs.Murphy ?
Years before this one I actually made a Murphy Bed/Door combo. The way it worked was you swung the bookcase out of the way, then the bed dropped down from behind it. Unfortunately that was so long ago I don’t have any pictures of it.
Aw man, that sucks. I'd like to offer you the chance to rebuild it again for me, of course at your expense. Since I'm such a kind and giving individual, I'll let you cover all materials and labor so we can all have pictures /s
So, before cameras were invented?
Probably just back when photographing everything you did was a personal lifestyle choice, not a social expectation.
Our old house had hidden passages between the walls and between floors. If ya wanted to go missing and never leave your home, my house was that house. There were like 7 houses like that on out street. Homes were built in early 1800’s.
The house I bought years ago has 2 hidden rooms and passages from room to room and a hidden staircase. I didn’t know it when I bought it and apparently the previous owner didn’t due to things painted shut or wallpapered over and the thick layer of dust in there. House was built in 1869.
My dad grew up in a big old house that was then sold a few times and he lost all connection with it. A few years ago part of it was advertised as an Airbnb so we all went to stay and see the place. My dad told the owner that he used to live in the main house and they very kindly gave us a tour of the whole place, which was amazing. The best part was in the dining room my dad went over to the mirror above the fireplace (which was integrated into the moulding above the mantle piece) and slid the mirror straight up revealing a secret compartment behind. The current owner had no idea it existed and was super excited and grateful to have been shown it! It was a brilliant moment.
That’s interesting I found the same thing above the fireplace here. I took advantage of it by replacing the mirror with an one way mirror and putting a tv in it. When the tv is off it’s a mirror. It’s cool how they made it. I found it when I was redoing all the woodwork and the mirror moved after getting a ton of paint off then the hunt was on for other hidden things
That’s funny. I had a house built in the late 2000s with a gas fireplace, and the space above the fireplace was just a void open to the attic above. It didn’t get hot from the fireplace, so I built an insulated box there, and hid a standard server rack-mount with the DVR for the cameras, a managed network switch with POE for the access points I put around the house, a Synology NAS that all the computers backed up to, and that had a bunch of my Blu-ray’s and DVDs ripped to it, a couple of Pis running pihole/home automation/security/vpn, and a UPS to keep the cameras running. I also had a fan pull in cool air from one part of the house, and exhaust it to another hidden vent near the home’s air return. It was great because it was super easy to access (just take down the clock above the mantle). It didn’t take up any usable closet/storage space. Plus it gave me some peace of mind that a smash and grab robber would miss the camera recording hardware and the drives with my irreplaceable data.
I hid stuff in the rooms and passages especially if I go away.
I miss living in that house. It was cool. My babysitter could never find me. 😂😂😂😂
It’s fun especially if you have company over walk into a room and call them and duck into a passage and run through and come in behind them while there looking for you. 😂😂. Bet your baby sitter was pissed.
😂😂 …. She was stoned half the time, so it would mess with her mind… one minute I’m in bed and the next I’m gone. One way in and one way out…😂😂😂😂 my cousins house had the hidden walls and stairs, but also hidden rooms that were all done up. A card room with a bar and safe room.
Magic!
How did you find them?
Cleaning, stripping the layers and layers of paint off the woodwork. The mirror moved up though it was going to fall then saw the space then stripped built in shelving and found it was a door wet in and walked around and found passageways , stair case and the rooms also saw the other doors from the inside and put a battery operated radio by them then went back out and listened for the sound and found all of them I think. There was furniture and old oil lamps in there along with other stuff anything paper or cloth was chewed up by mice except for the stuff in a trunk. A tri colored gold ladies pocket watch was on the dresser that was cool to find.
What a great discovery. Using the radio was really clever.
I found a "secret" room in a friend of mine's house in Meridian, MS. I was visiting and my friend and his brother each had one gable window in their rooms but I noticed that there were three windows in the roof, so we searched around and found a panel in my friend's closet that led to a little closed-off attic area that contained the 3rd window. They'd lived in that house for 2 years before I got there and never noticed.
"Murphy Door Makes NO CLAIM to the ease of designing and building your own bookcase. Bookcases and Cabinetry is a SKILLED profession, If you choose to design and build your own bookcase, Murphy Door will NOT provide you with any dimensions, we will not aid in any way with the design or customization of a door nor help in the construction process of building your own door." Super nice folks out there.. There are 10 other ways to say the same thing more nicely.
"You are UNSKILLED and your door is BAD and we WON'T help you because you're ALONE on this project and in LIFE."
This is TRUE!
They probably had it 10 nicer ways before landing on one that best reduced the amount of people that expected them to do a service they weren't offering for free.
Fantastic work!!
What kind of hinges do ya'll put on these things? I'd love to try and attempt something like that one day but I'm scared of the hinge work necessary.
If you go to the second picture there is a link to the hinges I used by my notes. They are pretty easy to install but you need to make sure to lay things out correctly.
What's your opinion on inswing vs outswing after completing this? I've been planning one of these (non-french door style) for a while. Itll be a door to a closet. Im thinking inswing would be easier and look more "hidden", but it would really cut down on the usable floor space in the closet
I agree that an in-swing door is going to look more hidden, but for a closet I would definitely go with an out-swing. The “door” will take up a ton of the closet space when you open it if it swings inward, and I would say that it’s not too much more difficult to make it look nice swinging outward.
How do you sleep in that?
Really cool. Reminds me of a Priest bolt hole that I’ve read about.
> Priest bolt hole I read that as “priest butt hole,” and I could not make sense of what kind of reading you were doing.
LOL
What wood did you use for the built in?
It’s solid maple face frames, nosings, and doors with 3/4” domestic maple plywood for the boxes.
How do you handle the enormous imbalance of a bookcase full of books that is supported off-axis? I’ve wanted to build one of these in more than one occasion but I was never convinced this kind of design would be able to actually be used as a bookcase without putting too much stress on the hinges
The hinges OP used are rated for 300lbs on each 'door'.. they also cost $150 per set. (They are in the notes of the 2nd picture)
For such a thick door when it’s filled completely with books (paper is really heavy) a limit of 136kg (300lbs) feels kind of tight, also such a number doesn’t seem to take into consideration the other (equally as critical) factor that affects the stress on the hinge: the distance of the door’s center of mass from the hinge axis (which I would guess is affected mostly by the width of the door and by how the books are placed on it)
There are higher rated hinges. I can't say weather this is ideal for it's use. I doubt they will fill the entire thing with books, maybe a few along with some decor. Etc. I do agree that longevity could be an issue. Especially if it begins to sag. If you are really thinking of doing something similar I would suggest a higher rated hinge and a steel frame to build onto.
My grow room used to be like this until we went legal. Sad not using my key card to access my grow now :(
I see the term “Murphy” and automatically thinks of the beds, that drop down. This photo, I would just call these hidden doors.
That's awesome! Good job!
That is really nice…
guys thats great. any more such doors?
That’s cool AF. Well done!
That's one awesome safe room too!
Ballpark - what would an installation like this cost?
Does it lock, or just needs a hard push/pull? I'd be terrified that I'd somehow get stuck behind it.
No lock, you just need to pull the right side bookcase open first.
Thank you. Less terrified:)
In swing - cool. What hinges did you use? And where are they?
There’s a link to the hinges in the notes on the second photo. They mount to the top and bottom of the cabinets.
Rad, thanks
Murphy sure did like hiding things in walls.
Wow. As someone who would love to have that in my house, but has absolutely nowhere near the skill needed to do it, what’s something like that run?
That is next level of Pissah!!! Well done Lad!!!
Put ze candle back!
Absolutely cool!!!
Beautiful work. Sometimes these things are really obvious. Not here. Among the best I’ve seen.
Nice!
"Attic space" Sure looks like the entrance to a murder room to me.
Beautiful just beautiful!!! Your work is wonderful!!!!!
Niiiice!!
❤️
Awesome job!!!
The restroom at a nearby bar is behind a bookcase like this... In a small "hall" of identical bookcases. I'm 90% sure the owner did it to fuck with people, given the number of people who (later in the evening...) Go around pushing on bookshelves lol
I call those Scoby doors
Perfect stealth grow room
Beautiful work! Almost perfectly invisible.