A customer contacted us with an interesting question. They had a small room that was perhaps intended as a walk-in closet but wasn't finished as such. Could it be closed off and hidden from the rest of the house?
We put a beautiful built-in bookshelf into the open doorway. The opening is in the center of the bookcase and both halves swing inward on hinges like a door. When the bookshelf is closed you would never suspect there is a doorway there! This was the first one of these we had built and it was a fun and interesting challenge to make it. The two halves of the bookshelves touch in the middle, and that seam had to be jointless in front to hide the opening and shaved down by hand in back so they would have room to swing open past each other.
Of course, opening in the middle means you only have half the doorway space. So it's best to decorate the room before it's hidden away, especially if you want a couch or other large furniture in there! The middle opening was chosen because the half-bookcases aren't as heavy and can be supported on hinges as opposed to dragging or rolling on the carpet and leaving a mark. This was an interesting project with lots of design considerations, we really enjoy doing this kind of work.
