Help me redesign my living space please!

theoretica

If you convert the garage to bedrooms (maybe think about a downstairs loo too?) could you fit a dining table in the conservatory?  I don't know current or past legislation, but I once rented a flat with the boiler in a bedroom cupboard...

Henry2000

Mutton_Geoff said:

That's cool. I wanted to build a fake bookcase, secret door in my last house ..

Hi, 

I wonder if anyone has actually managed to build such a bookcase with a door? I like the concept. However, I'd like to keep the real paper books on the shelves. Are there any limitations to the weight of the books?

Thanks

gazfocus

Henry2000 said:

Mutton_Geoff said:

That's cool. I wanted to build a fake bookcase, secret door in my last house ..

Hi, 

I wonder if anyone has actually managed to build such a bookcase with a door? I like the concept. However, I'd like to keep the real paper books on the shelves. Are there any limitations to the weight of the books?

Thanks

I think the key in that example in the photo is the number of hinges. A normal door has 2 (or 3 max) hinges whereas that door has 5, presumably to hold the weight of the books

Henry2000

Thanks that makes sense.

I wonder if anyone can point me in the direction where I could find a skilled tradesperson capable of building a similar openable real books bookcase.

I'm having a difficult time trying to find someone here in London 🤓

Simonon77

Henry2000 said:

Thanks that makes sense.

I wonder if anyone can point me in the direction where I could find a skilled tradesperson capable of building a similar openable real books bookcase.

I'm having a difficult time trying to find someone here in London 🤓

If you look at the door you can see it isn't as deep as the shelves around it. The books on the door part aren't real complete books, they have been cut off so are probably only a couple of inches deep. A door full of actual books would weight a lot and be very hard to open ! ( imagine trying to move a full bookcase, even on hinges ). 

Any decent carpenter should be able to make the main structure as its pretty basic, then you would just need to get some books that fill the whole height of the door cubby holes ( to disguise that they aren't full depth ) and chop the ends off

ArbitraryRandom

Simonon77 said:

Henry2000 said:

Thanks that makes sense.

I wonder if anyone can point me in the direction where I could find a skilled tradesperson capable of building a similar openable real books bookcase.

I'm having a difficult time trying to find someone here in London 🤓

If you look at the door you can see it isn't as deep as the shelves around it. The books on the door part aren't real complete books, they have been cut off so are probably only a couple of inches deep. A door full of actual books would weight a lot and be very hard to open ! ( imagine trying to move a full bookcase, even on hinges ). 

Any decent carpenter should be able to make the main structure as its pretty basic, then you would just need to get some books that fill the whole height of the door cubby holes ( to disguise that they aren't full depth ) and chop the ends off

Which is surprisingly difficult to do and get a clean edge.

If you can find a professional print shop near you, then they should have an industrial guillotine that can cut neatly and precisely through a few inches of paper. I'd suggest you'd want to glue the pages together first though, or you're going to struggle to have a clean surface to attach to the door. 

Alternatively, these people are in London (I googled 'bookcace door London') 

https://www.solidcarpentry.co.uk/portfolio/secret-rooms

https://www.secretpassage.co.uk/

Alternatively again, these people are out of London (Wiltshire) but make fake books and post them to you... 

https://www.fauxbooks.co.uk/secret-doors/

Simonon77

ArbitraryRandom said:

Simonon77 said:

Henry2000 said:

Thanks that makes sense.

I wonder if anyone can point me in the direction where I could find a skilled tradesperson capable of building a similar openable real books bookcase.

I'm having a difficult time trying to find someone here in London 🤓

If you look at the door you can see it isn't as deep as the shelves around it. The books on the door part aren't real complete books, they have been cut off so are probably only a couple of inches deep. A door full of actual books would weight a lot and be very hard to open ! ( imagine trying to move a full bookcase, even on hinges ). 

Any decent carpenter should be able to make the main structure as its pretty basic, then you would just need to get some books that fill the whole height of the door cubby holes ( to disguise that they aren't full depth ) and chop the ends off

Which is surprisingly difficult to do and get a clean edge.

If you can find a professional print shop near you, then they should have an industrial guillotine that can cut neatly and precisely through a few inches of paper. I'd suggest you'd want to glue the pages together first though, or you're going to struggle to have a clean surface to attach to the door. 

Alternatively, these people are in London (I googled 'bookcace door London') 

https://www.solidcarpentry.co.uk/portfolio/secret-rooms

https://www.secretpassage.co.uk/

Alternatively again, these people are out of London (Wiltshire) but make fake books and post them to you... 

https://www.fauxbooks.co.uk/secret-doors/

You wouldn't actually have to cut the whole books. You could remove the pages, cut just the cover to depth and put a wooden block insert in place of the pages. This could then easily be glued to the door

chris_n

I have lived in a house that had an openable actual bookcase. Apart from the hinges there was a wheel at the other side to give support.

Henry2000

Thank you. This is very helpful!