Secret Door

This is a project that will be included in the next "Roll For Project" post, but I was too excited (and it was way too much work to not have its own post. This is actually the reason I started "Roll For Project," because I wanted to drop everything and immediately start on it. 

Mel Brooks is my interior design hero... not really, but ever since I saw "Young Frankenstein, I wanted to have a secret door that goes somewhere cool. 

So my "somewhere cool" is my pantry. 

My pantry is the size of a coat closet and is right next to the coat closet with the doors being on opposite sides. My original plan involved tearing down the walls and turning it into something like this: 

Unfortunately, my pantry closet is a load-bearing wall. I checked the attic at least five times to make sure. 

You are not going to get a before because everything looks like we close our eyes and chuck groceries in and see where it lands. 

1. This is not an easy project. This took so many attempts and measurements. 

Everything, the casing and bookcase, needs to be perfectly square. No matter how many times I leveled, took the width away, positioned and repositioned, I could not get the bookcase to clear the casing without being crooked. Back and forth I went with the bookcase to the garage to readjust. I almost was just going to live with it, but decided to give it one more attempt.

After getting rid of a little bit more width, I decided to focus on measuring the distance between the door and casing instead of using a level. It seems obvious now, but I was so focused on keeping it straight, it kept me from keeping it straight. 

Way better. And yes, the blanket is hiding my shame. 

Okay.. not perfect... but it's in the lines! 

Let's skip to the fun stuff...

I added leftover beadboard I used for my backsplash, as well as a snack drawer, and painted. 

Secret door closed

pantry door open

I will show you the final result with the trim and decor in the next "Roll For Project" post.