in this video I’m going to show you how
to build a super secret shelf that’ll
hide spare keys cash passports or
anything else you don’t want people
knowing about for this project we’re
going to need a four-foot length of one
by twelve common board a length of
quarter inch by one inch hardwood
embossed rope and a four-foot length of
four and a half inch hardwood embossed
crown molding all of which you can find
at the hardware store crown molding is
the stuff that has angled ends and is
typically used for decoration to make
the corner under your ceiling look fancy
we can get away with using a 12 inch
chop saw to cut out all the pieces we
need but if you don’t have one of those
you could maybe borrow one from your
neighbor or just use hand tools instead
start by cutting out the common board
into a rectangle 24 inches long by 11
and a quarter inches wide then use the
same board to cut another piece 18 and a
quarter inches long by 8 and 3/8 inches
wide if you do it right you can use the
rest of the board to get an 18 inch by
two and a half inch piece and two six
inch by two inch pieces like these and
go ahead and turn a 45-degree cut from
the tips of those pieces while you’re at
it with your pieces of board cut you
should have just enough scrap left over
to make a few prism shapes and you’ll
see what these are for in just a minute
now when it comes to crown molding it
can be extremely difficult to cut
corners that actually line up but here’s
a cool little trick for making perfect
cuts every time simply by using a bit of
masking tape place some tape on both
sides of your cutting base and lay the
crown molding with the top side facing
down and when the molding feels like
it’s locked squarely into place use a
pen to mark a line on the tape along the
top edge do the same thing on the other
side so you have reference lines to
guide you and this should save you about
twenty dollars from having to buy a
cutting jig now the easiest way to
measure the walls for our custom shelf
is by lining the bottoms of the moldings
up with the eight and 3/8 inch wide
board then using a pen to mark where the
bottoms meet the front edge when you’re
confident you understand how it’s going
together rotate the table of your miter
saw clockwise so the blade is cutting at
a 45 degree angle set your crown molding
in place with the top facing downward
and make sure it’s perfectly aligned
with the marks on your tape then
carefully cut the crown molding so the
blade slices exactly through your
marking this will give your side piece a
nice angle and you can double check the
length by lining the bottom of the
molding back with the edge of the board
and making sure the edges at the back of
the front are perfectly flush okay
that’s looking great so let’s flip the
saw round to 45 degrees the other
direction and do the same thing with the
other side of the board
line up the molding with the tape marks
and cut it
it’s custom length like you did before
but this time make sure you use the
other end of the board so you keep one
of the edges flat at this point we’ve
got the two sides of our shelf finished
so let’s move on to making the front
piece next since we’ve already got the
saw angle to the right let’s go ahead
and trim a new piece so it’s pointing
the right direction then use the length
of 18 and quarter-inch board to mark the
bottom of the molding exactly where we
need the other end cut flip the saw back
the other way one more time and make
your custom cut and that’s it the front
wall of our shelf is finished and now if
you try pressing two of the pieces
together it should make a near-perfect
joint without any special tools or
training let’s move on to working the
trim next the trim I’m using is a 4-foot
length of quarter inch by one inch
hardwood emboss row and I’m using it as
decoration for the top part of my shelf
measure it to where it matches the front
and sides of the larger board then cut
them at 45-degree angles the front edges
join together as they wrap around the
board with these final cuts the hard
work is over and we’ve got all the
pieces we need to start putting our
shelf together so let’s get ready to
assemble now for a strong and sturdy
shelf it’s a good idea to run a bead of
wood glue between all your connections
and I like to start assembly with the
smaller blocks and the 18-inch board
make sure the flat sides of the board
are all flush except for the undersides
where it should be slightly offset from
the bottom with the 1-inch angled cut
pointing down now we’ll need to fasten
these pieces together and while you
could just use a hammer and finishing
nails i’m using a brad nailer I found at
a garage sale for 35 dollars instead
because it’s a lot faster and much
easier to use punch one small nail in
from the back to hold the pieces
together then drill a couple of pilot
holes so you can add two inch wood
screws to hold the pieces firmly
together this just makes a shelf a lot
more durable the next step is to add
glue to the bottoms of the crown molding
then press them into place around the
sides of the board then fasten them to
the base with finishing nails to hold
them securely in place it’s a good idea
to glue and tack the corner joints as
well to help reinforce them and I found
that spacing the nails around two inches
apart seemed to work pretty well okay
the bottom of our shelf is finished so
we can start adding the 1 inch trim
around the top plank and for best
results you’ll want to glue it in place
as well so it’s hanging half way off the
bottom edge set the top of your shelf so
it’s resting on the base you’ll see how
the overlap gives a wonderfully
decorative feel to the shelf and
completely conceals any visible gaps
that might give it away
all right our shelf is framed and
looking good so let’s install some
functionality next the secret to making
the Shelf open and close properly or
very specific cabinet hinges I found in
the hardware dial of my hardware store
they’re called mortise full overlay cup
hinges for frameless cabinets some come
in a pack of two for under six dollars a
small adjustment needs to be made to
lengthen out the hinges which can be
done quickly and easily by loosing the
bottom screw clockwise loosening the top
screw counterclockwise and sliding it up
as far as it’ll go
then simply retighten the screws again
so the hinge is locked into position
just for reference this is what the
hinge looks like before the adjustment
and here’s what it looks like after a
nice feature of cabinet hinges as they
come with templates and you’ll need to
Center them three and a half inches in
from the sides and use something like a
screw to mark the center of the circles
do the same thing from the other side as
well then you use a 1 and 3/8 inch
Forstner bit to drill out the hole
according to the instructions if you
don’t have a Forstner bit you can always
chip the wood out with a chisel or knife
as well but only go deep enough to just
barely press the hinges into place so
they rest firmly on top of the board
when you’ve secured the hinges to the
base of the shelf then it’s time to
bring it all together the hinges need to
be attached to the inside of the support
bar and I found the best way to align
them perfectly is to stand everything
upright with hinges slightly overlapping
then using the top of the shelf that
gently close the container all the way
shut when you pull the top off again
your hinges should be in the perfect
position so let’s mark their location
and screw them into place with the
support bar secured on the top side
flush and flat we can join it to the top
of the shell finishing off this basic
assembly the top of the shelf needs to
be glued and nailed down along the back
edge of the board and secure to where
the arms are extending underneath with
this final step the most basic version
of our shelf is finished and all for
around $35 and materials now before we
move on it’s a really good idea to test
out the hinge mechanism by propping the
shelf upright on a table and gently
opening and closing it so you can study
the movement of the bottom corner notice
how it doesn’t actually contact the
table through the testing cycles this
means it shouldn’t make any denser holes
in your walls once it’s installed which
is really important it should also fit
snugly and symmetrically inside the trim
around the top and if it does then
you’re ready to install the secret
magnetic locking system that makes this
whole thing work I found some magnetic
locks at my hardware store in the
cabinet aisle sold as child safety locks
for kid proof
cupboards you can see that when a super
strong rare earth magnet comes within
about an inch of the lock it’ll
magnetically activate the mechanism
allowing it to open and close you can
get away with using just one or use as
many as you want and by hiding them
inside the compartment no one will even
know they exist at all
okay it’s time to bring back the wooden
prisms we saved from earlier and choose
where we want our locks to go glue and
nail the prisms to the inside walls of
the crown molding anywhere you want but
make sure they’re flush with the top lip
because this will create a flat inner
edge for us to screw the locking plates
into position now go and find something
like a tube of toothpaste because we’re
going to lifehack these locks into place
add a generous amount of toothpaste to
the top ridges of the locking plates and
you’ll see that when we close the shelf
and open it again it leaves markings
exactly where the locks need to go use
these marks as a reference point for
securing the main part of the unit to
the underside of the shell and don’t
worry if you’re a little off because
there is some wiggle room you can play
with until you get it perfected oh yeah
I have to mention here it is extremely
important to manually move the lock into
the closed position so you don’t
accidentally close the shelf and lock
yourself out prematurely with the
switches locked in the open position you
can close and reopen the shelf for
testing purposes without the headache of
having to magnetically unlock them each
time now at this point we’ve got a
high-quality and fully functional secret
shelf at a price point about as low as
it gets the only thing left to do now is
make it look good for my shelf I decided
to use a red chestnut wood stain and a
fast-drying polyurethane semi-gloss to
give it a nice rich color and make it
shine I removed all the hinges and
hardware before I stained my shelf so
they’d stay clean and
professional-looking then I went back to
the hardware store and got some diamond
plated aluminum tread for decoration I
got a place for the hinges then screwed
it on using small round head screws and
reattach the hinges and magnets in their
respective places now to prevent our
shelf from falling open and banging down
into the wall I’m using some number six
sheet metal screws that are half-inch
long
a couple number six flat washers and a
couple feet of jack chain
let’s cut two pieces of chain seven and
a half inches long then use the washers
and machine screws to secure one end of
the chain to the Centers of the
45-degree cuts on the tips of the
support arms the other end screw to the
bottom corners of the base with a simple
addition you can see that when the shelf
is opened it hangs neatly at a 45 degree
angle giving the whole system a smooth
and professional look and a bit more
functionality as well
all the magnetic key that came with my
child lock is a little too obvious for
the system so I got a couple of
neodymium magnets off the internet which
are really small but extremely strong
the cool thing about this approach is
now you can drill a few small holes into
random decorations and instantly convert
them into covert magnetic keys I left my
magnets exposed so you could see them
but if you stick a price tag or glue a
piece of felt to the bottom no one would
ever know with that final step our
stealth shelf is completely finished and
ready for testing so let’s explore how
it works in the real world when you want
to open your shelf simply position your
select decorations and the secret
locations that only you know about to
activate the child locks inside then
push up gently from the bottom and if
you got the combination right it’ll
click open and reveal your secret stash
inside as easy as that you’ve got quick
and easy access to whatever you need and
if you want you can even install a
little motion activated LED little
turn-on whenever you crack the case this
turns your shelf into a cool looking
display case but also doubles as an
emergency flashlight if the power ever
goes out or if you need to locate
intruder in the dark I found mine online
for about $10 and I’ll put a link in the
description to where you can get it by
the way they’re also magnetic so they
conveniently clip back into place in
seconds now if you’re concerned about
kids getting into your shelf then simply
hide your magnets and heavier objects
heavier objects won’t respond to the
magnetic fields the same way so it’d be
a lot more difficult to find any secret
lock locations and if you install more
than one lock in your system it’ll make
it exponentially trickier to figure out
when you’ve got your secret safe loaded
up and ready to close simply move your
covert keys out of the way and press the
bottom the Shelf back into place until
you hear it click it instantly
transforms into a nice piece of home
decor while secretly keeping your
valuables tucked away inside now if you
want to go one step further you could
always make a magnetic base plate as
well I ordered a few magnets with
countersink holes and screwed them onto
the bottom then covered them with sticky
back foam from the craft store the
magnets are more than strong enough to
hold defensive weapons securely in place
and make it easy to click them out then
lock them back on again when they’re
ready to go back into hiding now of
course you can customize your shelf any
way you want and even make it any color
you desire
I used a can of black spray-paint to
make this one and you can see it looks
just as good and nicely complements my
workshop the magnetic lock for this one
is in a difference
and hides my co2-powered BB gun out of
sight and out of mind these shelves also
hide things like spare keys passports or
any extra cash you don’t want anyone
knowing about it’ll make electronics
virtually disappear when your kids need
a break or conceal those little
indulgences you might have that you
don’t want anyone getting into well now
you know how to use commonly available
materials from the hardware store to
make a decorative functional and
multi-purpose floating shelf on a budget
and don’t forget they still work as
shelves for displaying pictures and
other random trinkets as well well
that’s it for now if you liked this
project perhaps you’ll like some of my
others check them out at the king of
random Calm
[Music]
to build a super secret shelf that’ll
hide spare keys cash passports or
anything else you don’t want people
knowing about for this project we’re
going to need a four-foot length of one
by twelve common board a length of
quarter inch by one inch hardwood
embossed rope and a four-foot length of
four and a half inch hardwood embossed
crown molding all of which you can find
at the hardware store crown molding is
the stuff that has angled ends and is
typically used for decoration to make
the corner under your ceiling look fancy
we can get away with using a 12 inch
chop saw to cut out all the pieces we
need but if you don’t have one of those
you could maybe borrow one from your
neighbor or just use hand tools instead
start by cutting out the common board
into a rectangle 24 inches long by 11
and a quarter inches wide then use the
same board to cut another piece 18 and a
quarter inches long by 8 and 3/8 inches
wide if you do it right you can use the
rest of the board to get an 18 inch by
two and a half inch piece and two six
inch by two inch pieces like these and
go ahead and turn a 45-degree cut from
the tips of those pieces while you’re at
it with your pieces of board cut you
should have just enough scrap left over
to make a few prism shapes and you’ll
see what these are for in just a minute
now when it comes to crown molding it
can be extremely difficult to cut
corners that actually line up but here’s
a cool little trick for making perfect
cuts every time simply by using a bit of
masking tape place some tape on both
sides of your cutting base and lay the
crown molding with the top side facing
down and when the molding feels like
it’s locked squarely into place use a
pen to mark a line on the tape along the
top edge do the same thing on the other
side so you have reference lines to
guide you and this should save you about
twenty dollars from having to buy a
cutting jig now the easiest way to
measure the walls for our custom shelf
is by lining the bottoms of the moldings
up with the eight and 3/8 inch wide
board then using a pen to mark where the
bottoms meet the front edge when you’re
confident you understand how it’s going
together rotate the table of your miter
saw clockwise so the blade is cutting at
a 45 degree angle set your crown molding
in place with the top facing downward
and make sure it’s perfectly aligned
with the marks on your tape then
carefully cut the crown molding so the
blade slices exactly through your
marking this will give your side piece a
nice angle and you can double check the
length by lining the bottom of the
molding back with the edge of the board
and making sure the edges at the back of
the front are perfectly flush okay
that’s looking great so let’s flip the
saw round to 45 degrees the other
direction and do the same thing with the
other side of the board
line up the molding with the tape marks
and cut it
it’s custom length like you did before
but this time make sure you use the
other end of the board so you keep one
of the edges flat at this point we’ve
got the two sides of our shelf finished
so let’s move on to making the front
piece next since we’ve already got the
saw angle to the right let’s go ahead
and trim a new piece so it’s pointing
the right direction then use the length
of 18 and quarter-inch board to mark the
bottom of the molding exactly where we
need the other end cut flip the saw back
the other way one more time and make
your custom cut and that’s it the front
wall of our shelf is finished and now if
you try pressing two of the pieces
together it should make a near-perfect
joint without any special tools or
training let’s move on to working the
trim next the trim I’m using is a 4-foot
length of quarter inch by one inch
hardwood emboss row and I’m using it as
decoration for the top part of my shelf
measure it to where it matches the front
and sides of the larger board then cut
them at 45-degree angles the front edges
join together as they wrap around the
board with these final cuts the hard
work is over and we’ve got all the
pieces we need to start putting our
shelf together so let’s get ready to
assemble now for a strong and sturdy
shelf it’s a good idea to run a bead of
wood glue between all your connections
and I like to start assembly with the
smaller blocks and the 18-inch board
make sure the flat sides of the board
are all flush except for the undersides
where it should be slightly offset from
the bottom with the 1-inch angled cut
pointing down now we’ll need to fasten
these pieces together and while you
could just use a hammer and finishing
nails i’m using a brad nailer I found at
a garage sale for 35 dollars instead
because it’s a lot faster and much
easier to use punch one small nail in
from the back to hold the pieces
together then drill a couple of pilot
holes so you can add two inch wood
screws to hold the pieces firmly
together this just makes a shelf a lot
more durable the next step is to add
glue to the bottoms of the crown molding
then press them into place around the
sides of the board then fasten them to
the base with finishing nails to hold
them securely in place it’s a good idea
to glue and tack the corner joints as
well to help reinforce them and I found
that spacing the nails around two inches
apart seemed to work pretty well okay
the bottom of our shelf is finished so
we can start adding the 1 inch trim
around the top plank and for best
results you’ll want to glue it in place
as well so it’s hanging half way off the
bottom edge set the top of your shelf so
it’s resting on the base you’ll see how
the overlap gives a wonderfully
decorative feel to the shelf and
completely conceals any visible gaps
that might give it away
all right our shelf is framed and
looking good so let’s install some
functionality next the secret to making
the Shelf open and close properly or
very specific cabinet hinges I found in
the hardware dial of my hardware store
they’re called mortise full overlay cup
hinges for frameless cabinets some come
in a pack of two for under six dollars a
small adjustment needs to be made to
lengthen out the hinges which can be
done quickly and easily by loosing the
bottom screw clockwise loosening the top
screw counterclockwise and sliding it up
as far as it’ll go
then simply retighten the screws again
so the hinge is locked into position
just for reference this is what the
hinge looks like before the adjustment
and here’s what it looks like after a
nice feature of cabinet hinges as they
come with templates and you’ll need to
Center them three and a half inches in
from the sides and use something like a
screw to mark the center of the circles
do the same thing from the other side as
well then you use a 1 and 3/8 inch
Forstner bit to drill out the hole
according to the instructions if you
don’t have a Forstner bit you can always
chip the wood out with a chisel or knife
as well but only go deep enough to just
barely press the hinges into place so
they rest firmly on top of the board
when you’ve secured the hinges to the
base of the shelf then it’s time to
bring it all together the hinges need to
be attached to the inside of the support
bar and I found the best way to align
them perfectly is to stand everything
upright with hinges slightly overlapping
then using the top of the shelf that
gently close the container all the way
shut when you pull the top off again
your hinges should be in the perfect
position so let’s mark their location
and screw them into place with the
support bar secured on the top side
flush and flat we can join it to the top
of the shell finishing off this basic
assembly the top of the shelf needs to
be glued and nailed down along the back
edge of the board and secure to where
the arms are extending underneath with
this final step the most basic version
of our shelf is finished and all for
around $35 and materials now before we
move on it’s a really good idea to test
out the hinge mechanism by propping the
shelf upright on a table and gently
opening and closing it so you can study
the movement of the bottom corner notice
how it doesn’t actually contact the
table through the testing cycles this
means it shouldn’t make any denser holes
in your walls once it’s installed which
is really important it should also fit
snugly and symmetrically inside the trim
around the top and if it does then
you’re ready to install the secret
magnetic locking system that makes this
whole thing work I found some magnetic
locks at my hardware store in the
cabinet aisle sold as child safety locks
for kid proof
cupboards you can see that when a super
strong rare earth magnet comes within
about an inch of the lock it’ll
magnetically activate the mechanism
allowing it to open and close you can
get away with using just one or use as
many as you want and by hiding them
inside the compartment no one will even
know they exist at all
okay it’s time to bring back the wooden
prisms we saved from earlier and choose
where we want our locks to go glue and
nail the prisms to the inside walls of
the crown molding anywhere you want but
make sure they’re flush with the top lip
because this will create a flat inner
edge for us to screw the locking plates
into position now go and find something
like a tube of toothpaste because we’re
going to lifehack these locks into place
add a generous amount of toothpaste to
the top ridges of the locking plates and
you’ll see that when we close the shelf
and open it again it leaves markings
exactly where the locks need to go use
these marks as a reference point for
securing the main part of the unit to
the underside of the shell and don’t
worry if you’re a little off because
there is some wiggle room you can play
with until you get it perfected oh yeah
I have to mention here it is extremely
important to manually move the lock into
the closed position so you don’t
accidentally close the shelf and lock
yourself out prematurely with the
switches locked in the open position you
can close and reopen the shelf for
testing purposes without the headache of
having to magnetically unlock them each
time now at this point we’ve got a
high-quality and fully functional secret
shelf at a price point about as low as
it gets the only thing left to do now is
make it look good for my shelf I decided
to use a red chestnut wood stain and a
fast-drying polyurethane semi-gloss to
give it a nice rich color and make it
shine I removed all the hinges and
hardware before I stained my shelf so
they’d stay clean and
professional-looking then I went back to
the hardware store and got some diamond
plated aluminum tread for decoration I
got a place for the hinges then screwed
it on using small round head screws and
reattach the hinges and magnets in their
respective places now to prevent our
shelf from falling open and banging down
into the wall I’m using some number six
sheet metal screws that are half-inch
long
a couple number six flat washers and a
couple feet of jack chain
let’s cut two pieces of chain seven and
a half inches long then use the washers
and machine screws to secure one end of
the chain to the Centers of the
45-degree cuts on the tips of the
support arms the other end screw to the
bottom corners of the base with a simple
addition you can see that when the shelf
is opened it hangs neatly at a 45 degree
angle giving the whole system a smooth
and professional look and a bit more
functionality as well
all the magnetic key that came with my
child lock is a little too obvious for
the system so I got a couple of
neodymium magnets off the internet which
are really small but extremely strong
the cool thing about this approach is
now you can drill a few small holes into
random decorations and instantly convert
them into covert magnetic keys I left my
magnets exposed so you could see them
but if you stick a price tag or glue a
piece of felt to the bottom no one would
ever know with that final step our
stealth shelf is completely finished and
ready for testing so let’s explore how
it works in the real world when you want
to open your shelf simply position your
select decorations and the secret
locations that only you know about to
activate the child locks inside then
push up gently from the bottom and if
you got the combination right it’ll
click open and reveal your secret stash
inside as easy as that you’ve got quick
and easy access to whatever you need and
if you want you can even install a
little motion activated LED little
turn-on whenever you crack the case this
turns your shelf into a cool looking
display case but also doubles as an
emergency flashlight if the power ever
goes out or if you need to locate
intruder in the dark I found mine online
for about $10 and I’ll put a link in the
description to where you can get it by
the way they’re also magnetic so they
conveniently clip back into place in
seconds now if you’re concerned about
kids getting into your shelf then simply
hide your magnets and heavier objects
heavier objects won’t respond to the
magnetic fields the same way so it’d be
a lot more difficult to find any secret
lock locations and if you install more
than one lock in your system it’ll make
it exponentially trickier to figure out
when you’ve got your secret safe loaded
up and ready to close simply move your
covert keys out of the way and press the
bottom the Shelf back into place until
you hear it click it instantly
transforms into a nice piece of home
decor while secretly keeping your
valuables tucked away inside now if you
want to go one step further you could
always make a magnetic base plate as
well I ordered a few magnets with
countersink holes and screwed them onto
the bottom then covered them with sticky
back foam from the craft store the
magnets are more than strong enough to
hold defensive weapons securely in place
and make it easy to click them out then
lock them back on again when they’re
ready to go back into hiding now of
course you can customize your shelf any
way you want and even make it any color
you desire
I used a can of black spray-paint to
make this one and you can see it looks
just as good and nicely complements my
workshop the magnetic lock for this one
is in a difference
and hides my co2-powered BB gun out of
sight and out of mind these shelves also
hide things like spare keys passports or
any extra cash you don’t want anyone
knowing about it’ll make electronics
virtually disappear when your kids need
a break or conceal those little
indulgences you might have that you
don’t want anyone getting into well now
you know how to use commonly available
materials from the hardware store to
make a decorative functional and
multi-purpose floating shelf on a budget
and don’t forget they still work as
shelves for displaying pictures and
other random trinkets as well well
that’s it for now if you liked this
project perhaps you’ll like some of my
others check them out at the king of
random Calm
[Music]
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