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Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Video or Food Storage in the Hidden Wall

When we bought this house, we found an unusual space in the wall. The people we bought the house from told us that they wanted to make a rolling gun case that was in the wall so that kids or thieves wouldn't be able to find them.



They planned the basement around this hole in the wall. They suggested that we could put a ping pong table in there or store long tables. I personally didn't want to have either there as I didn't want to have to carry heavy tables upstairs when needed so I keep them in the garage.



For years, I had an idea to make a rolling bookshelf where I could place anything that I wanted in there keeping it safe with a fake wall. Even when you are in the room where it is located, you don't notice the hole in the wall unless you are looking for it. However, when I had a contractor and then a crafty neighbor come and give me bids on making one, it was out of my reach due to expenses.




When my basement flooded a few years ago, I figured it was the time to do something with that space. My mother getting sick around the same time was a blessing of sorts because we cleaned out her house and moved her. I found two heavy book cases in her home that would be able to stand up to the weight of books, food or videos and still be strong enough to move on wheels. I looked at purchasing some and couldn't ever find any sturdy enough.



Finding the bookshelves, I stained them to match the room, I then bolted them together so when I pulled on the end of one, it wouldn't pull the shelves apart.



I bought heavy duty wheels. On the front side that rolls into the wall first, I put stationary straight wheels so that the shelf wouldn't be steering itself into the wall. In the middle and other end, I put rotation wheels so that that end of the bookshelf could be rotated and guided.



I screwed the wheels on using another long piece of wood as a foundation for the bookshelves also stabilizing the shelves even more.



Then I put large hanging handles on the one end so that the bookshelves can be pulled out of the wall easily. I purchased some cull lumber (ones with flaws) that were inexpensive to make the fake wall. I lay down the fake wall which makes a track and makes it easy to wheel out the bookshelf as it would be hard to roll out the bookshelf on carpet with all the weight of the books, videos or food.


I figured if there were ever an emergency, I could put number 10 cans of food on the shelf hiding food for my family if needed. Or, like the family before mine moved in, I could put guns and ammunition in there keeping it safe. If worst came to worst, I could hide my family in there. Not what I like to think about but for now, it is a great place to hide all the videos that we have but don't always watch.



I can pull the whole bookshelf wall out by myself in about a minute. It really is a great idea. I am grateful I was able to find a way to make it work. I was able to purchase the videos for $1 a piece several years ago. It would be nice if they offered all the old movies in DVD but for now, we enjoy viewing them while working on projects. I am not a big TV person so if I am doing sewing or something, movies are the answer to keep me occupied while I work.


If you have an unfinished space, you may want to put in a "hidden wall" for emergency preparedness.

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