Here’s the links to a couple of my favorite posts with good photos to browse…
LivingLocurto: Secret Rooms For Kids
Houzz: Secret Rooms, Drawers and Doors
TwistedSifter: Secret Passage Ways By Creative Engineering
Building a secret room in your home is a great way to keep your kids entertained. Children and adults alike will really love the mystery of a secret room. Not to mention it’s a great place to store clutter and keep it out of sight. This guide will look at some of the best places to build a secret room in your home and show you how to keep it completely secret.
What is a Secret Room
Just in case you don’t know a secret room is a room you can’t normally see. They are commonly found in children’s bedrooms and can be hidden behind a bookcase or in the back of a wardrobe. Fortunately building these secret rooms is very easy and can be done by anyone. A secret room can have many purposes, whether it is as an extra occasional bedroom, a playroom or a study room.
Space Under the Stairs
The space under the stairs is rarely used for anything, it could be boxed up to make the hall look cleaner and tidier. This wastes a lot of space under the stairs though. This could be turned into a small secret room which is perfect for kids. The entrance could be covered by a bookcase or secret panel door which doesn’t look obvious to the untrained eye.
Closet
If there are any rooms with large walk in closets then this closet could be re-purposed as a hidden room in your house. This is actually something very easy to do since there will already be a door and opening into the space. If you are converting a closet into a room then you simply need to remove the door and find a way of concealing the opening. This can be accomplished by either covering the hole with a wardrobe, or turning the door into a bookcase which is still hinged and can be opened to reveal the secret room.
Attic Rooms
If you have had your attic converted into bedrooms then there’s a good chance there is some extra space you’re not using. If this is the case then this can easily be reclaimed and turned into a secret room which connects onto a bedroom.
Concealing the Entrance
The only way a hidden room will stay secret is if you conceal the entrance into the room. This can be done in a few different ways, although the easiest is to put a wardrobe against the wall and cut out a passage through to the secret room. This also means you don’t need to do anything complicated or get a bookcase specially made. The cut out doesn’t even need to be full door sized, children love crawling whatever their age, so would crawl through a tiny passage to their secret room.
Decorating Secret Rooms
Secret rooms can be decorated in a number of different styles depending on who is going to use the room. It’s normally easy to add lighting since it can be connected off the main rooms light, and electrical outlets can be connected as a spur off other sockets in the main room.
When done properly secret rooms create additional and practical space in your home. Your kids will also love the fact that the rooms are secret and they can disappear.
Additional Resources: Looking for more secret hideouts?
Don’t miss this article by FLAVORWIRE or these amazing rooms and passages at BuzzFeed.
