More than Millwork: Hidden Bookshelf Doors

One of the more exciting features a bookshelf can have is a hidden door, leading to a secret room. We're highlighting what's behind some of our favorite hidden doors!

Brooklyn Heights Carriage House: A Casual Den

In some cases, the millwork is also a staircase. In others, it’s a bookcase that conceals a door to a secret room. In this Brooklyn Heights carriage house, it was both. A combination of an incredibly creative client, Peter Steinberg, and Taffera Fine Building & Finishes, contractors with the ability to hand craft many elements on site, allowed for a high degree of originality and customization in our design. Shelves line the wall along the staircase and are integrated into the staircase itself, blending some reclaimed elements and using the vocabulary of existing details throughout the house.

When in the living room, you are greeted by custom millwork that starts as a bookshelf and becomes a window seat along one wall, a bench in another, and a hidden door on yet another. We used reclaimed joists to top the bench and allowed the original architecture of the building to drive the details. A light-filled atrium allows light to pour into the center of what was once a very dark carriage house.

Manhattan Apartment: A Cozy Guest Bedroom

The hidden bookcase in this apartment on the Upper East Side's Gold Coast allowed for an incredibly cozy, serene, and private guest bedroom to seamlessly connect to the lively entertainment space on the other side. We took care to ensure that the door feels fully resolved in both its open and closed positions.

We collaborated closely with the client and an incredible fabricator to ensure that every detail was perfect. From the living area, the millwork, with cove lighting, was designed to highlight an impressive collection of books and art. The hidden doorway blends seamlessly with the rest of the millwork and allowed the family to take full advantage of the square footage in their living room. In the guest bedroom, fabric-covered walls help create a serene environment.

Cobble Hill Passive House: A Bold Entertainment Space

On the garden level of this Cobble Hill townhouse, this bookshelf arrangement and detailing allowed for a creative powder room. Walking by, you’d never know that the shelves also hide a door to a truly wonderful entertainment space in the cellar.

Beyond the door, you enter into a truly wonderful entertainment space. One of the fun aspects of bookshelf doors is that they allow for a complete departure in design aesthetic between the areas on either side. In this space, polished concrete floors, large format blackened steel grille serving as the stair railing, and acoustic ceiling treatments create space that is quiet and inviting yet fun and edgy. A cozy seating area sits across a gorgeous bar area, designed to be reminiscent of a classic bar.