Secret Playroom Closet Reveal

Storage bins were starting to overflow in the playroom. I was running out of space to put their toys, so I knocked out a wall and made a closet! Two years ago, when finished off part of our storage area to make this playroom, I didn’t plan on including a closet when designing it. I thought to myself, “this is a pretty good sized playroom… I don’t see me ever needing extra storage in here…” L O L. The crazy part is that I recently went through everything and donated three huge boxes of toys. Even after getting rid of so much clutter, I still had to stuff things in boxes. Everything else, we genuinely play with (I talk about dramatic play here)!

The wall that I knocked out to make the closet had these picture ledges from Target to hold their books. I loved this little book wall that served as their “library”, so I was a little disappointed to get rid of it… until I had to think of a door idea! Instead of having a plain closet door, I thought I would make a secret door to look like a built in book case! It would serve both as the “library book wall” and the closet door all-in-one!

The area where I needed to knock out the wall, already had electrical running through the studs on the back side, so it was a perfect opportunity to add some outlets inside of the closet! I framed up the walls and ran new wiring through the new studs to connect all the way back to the extended outlet on a completely different wall (Hopefully that made sense).

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Back when I finished the playroom myself, my LEAST favorite part was the taping and mudding process. It took FOREVER, so I was dreading this part! Fortunately, since it was a smaller closet, it went super fast and was actually kind of therapeutic.

I went back and forth on a couple different designs for the “secret door”. One being with a open shelving and cabinet at the bottom with two side by side doors… but the cabinet part was solely for aesthetics and not too practical since the depth is only 4 1/2 inches. I then just decided to do a full open bookcase and started the building process! (I will write a separate blog post about the building plans and materials I used later!)

I used 3 door hinges to attach it to the frame. The outer door frame/trim was tricky for me, because I had to make it functional but also seamless. The hinges are on the left side of the door and it swings open towards the green chalkboard. With the door hinges, I couldn’t cover the left side seam and it was just way too noticeable for my liking. It didn’t look “built in” at all. I had to think of a way to add a full and seamless door trim that covers the huge gap for the hinges, but also allows the door to function properly.

{ PICTURE HERE of trim hinge?? }

I came up with the perfect solution! I could put the left side of trim on hinges as well. This would hide the main door hinge gap and still allow that framed look around the book case door. To open the closet door, you simply open the left side trim and it allows you to open the door freely. The trim is 3/4″ thick so it essentially locks it self when closed! –Which is exciting because maybe the closet will actually stay clean and organized… (we all know it won’t, but it’s wishful thinking.)

I added these golden rods (used from 1/2″ wooden dowels– again I will write about every detail of the door in a different post). They are perfect because the previous black book ledges didn’t have anything to stop the books from falling and they could never stay on the shelves. I think it’s a really cute touch and looks even more custom.

…And here is the finished product!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!! It pretty AND practical — which is what I was hoping for. I’ve always loved the idea of a secret room, but I’ll take a secret closet for now!