This was such a fun project, even though it was unplanned. Here’s why…
The existing linen closet had a mirrored bi-fold door and builder grade wire shelving. I wasn’t planning on doing this closet right away, but during my bathroom Reno, I accidentally let some water leak into the linen closet while I was replacing the faucet and it ruined the baseboards inside the closet and some of the drywall too. While I was frantically removing the wet baseboards and damaged drywall, I broke the mirror on the door so now it’s all getting upgraded!
Peep those wire shelves that everybody has and loves to hate. There were two more shelves that I had to remove during the bathroom Reno because the drywall anchors had gone through the medicine cabinet and had to be patched.
First step is always getting everything out. I removed the soggy baseboards and all the wire shelves and drywall anchors.
We used some scrap 2×2’s that we had from a previous project to build the frame of the door.
Below is the frame layout for the floating shelves built from 1×2’s. The extra piece in the middle is so the front of the shelf has something more to attach too. I used my Kreg Jig to make pocket holes to connect all of the pieces.
The front of the door is 3/4″ plywood and the inside of the door is 1/4″ plywood.
Devin built the doorframe and shimmed it out to get everything square and plum. This was our first time building a door and doorframe and it was a bit tricky! Now I understand why pre-hung doors are a thing!
Floating shelf frames are in! They are attached to studs on all three walls so they’re very sturdy! I made the shelves 18″ deep to maximize the space. I also had some baskets that measured 18″ so I knew they would fit perfectly.
Ok, this was the really fun part! Have you ever heard of yakisugi? It’s a Japanese wood preservation technique where you burn wood to get this really beautiful finish. It’s also known as shou sugi ban in the West but I learned that’s actually a misinterpretation of the kanji. This technique is used mainly on exterior siding and fencing because of it’s resilience to weather as well as deterring bug infestations. It also makes it more fire resistant.
I used a small propane torch and this one bottle was more than enough for the entire project!
This is what the boards looked like after burning them. You can see it gives the wood a really beautiful texture and has a little shine to it. I used pine 1×2’s and did not sand them to give the wood as much variation as possible.
For the shelves I used 3/4″ plywood for the tops and 1/4″ plywood for the bottoms all cut to size. The front of the shelves are 1×3’s. I sanded everything down, pre-stained them with wood conditioner and stained them with Varathane Golden Oak and Varathane White Wash over the top. They were finished with 2 coats of semi-gloss polyurethane. For more of a tutorial on floating shelves, see my previous post: Mirror Dupe & Floating Shelves
Meanwhile the door has been assembled, sanded, wood-filled, primed and ready for paint!
I painted the door frame black to match the door. The inside of the closet was primed and painted white. I also put in a new floor tile.
I had just enough wallpaper left over from the bathroom to do the back wall and ceiling of the closet. I love how it ties the closet in with the bathroom and adds some depth and interest to the space.
I cut, primed and nailed in the new baseboards. This is before caulking the seams.
All the shelves were nailed in, tops first, then the bottoms, then the fronts. I filled all the nail holes and seams with wood filler and will caulk the shelves where they meet the walls.
The shelves are in and they look beautiful! Not bad for plywood!
The door is hung! We used three door hinges to hang it and a ball catch latch to keep it closed. Devin did a great job on the door. It’s a perfect fit and barely visible!
The last part was adding the yakisugi slats. I wanted this to be an accent wall with a hidden door and it turned out amazing! You really can’t tell it’s a door unless you look really closely you can see the hinges in between two of the slats.
For reference, this is the hallway view of the bathroom and the linen closet.
I love this project! It was so much fun to build and I’m so happy with how it turned out. I’ve always wanted a secret door. I feel like this gives our house something unique, a bit unexpected and interesting. And now the closet is more functional than before too! It’s a win-win.
Thanks for following along! If you want to see this build from start to finish, check out my story highlights on Instagram and be sure to follow @selenebuildsthings. Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss my next projects!
