While you cant use it to store books, it is much easier to make than some of the other designs. While this project is a little different than many items on this list, it is too fun to not include. This decorative dresser hides it all and has an automatic lift system. How? Im really attached to my secretary!!! If youd prefer a convertible table, in 1894 George Hunzinger patented an oak or mahogany table that had a pivoting top. Take the unused number keypad on your keyboard and use it to stash treasures. A free program that lights childrens creative fires and allows them to explore projects in areas such as arts & crafts, science & engineering, design, and technology.
I bought a Chippendale Secretary with a book case a few years ago. This project is perfect for hiding away those boxes and storing additional things for your pet. There were 2 devices about 2 inches long. For contrary to fiction, I have yet to hear of a secret compartment in any piece of antique furniture that has yielded anything of real value or even of much interest. We follow the exact concepts and building techniques Thomas Chippendale and the masters followed to build their ageless masterpieces. Thanks, just bought an ordinary oak office desk (pretty beat up) and there is a large space, about 6 deep and the depth of the desk behind the drawers..why? Next are the chests; then come sideboards, highboys and chests on chests. Be on the lookout for folding beds from Hale & Kilburn, Stickley-Brandt, or Samuels.
Access is through the sliding panel built into the writing surface, which has been pushed back. At the back of the well is a hiding spot the full width of the desk interior which is concealed by a thin panel that moves forward when the central cabinet has been taken out. Which was at that time, a first in English history. Many people have shelves all around their homes already and this floating shelf with a secret compartment is the perfect way to hide things in plain sight. Your email (will not be published) (required), Finding Secret Drawers and HiddenCompartments, The International Influences of Buffalo Furniture, Chippendale Designs as Reflected in English and American Furniture. 
Some were large enough for several letters; others were so small that only a coin or two, or possibly a half-dozen pieces of Continental currency folded in half, could be accommodated. Not only was this bookcase built to smoothly slide open for entry, but these shelves were also built from scratch! Maker-written books designed to inform and delight! All you really need to make one yourself is a board that matches your drawer (and is cut to fit) and supports to hold it up (wine corks are used here by M3G on Instructables). These features were excellent hiding places for jewelry. ILLUSTRATION IV: Fifteen Secret Places: This is the interior of the New England Queen Anne desk illustrated on the cover. If bookshelvesare too overdone, in your opinion, check out the last two doorsthat are very well hidden and pretty unique. I almost broke my neck going to look in my chest. But from about 1720 through the Sheraton years, secret places were much in vogue.
We offer a satisfaction guarantee because we stand by the quality of our workmanship. I was doing some research on that type of secretary. Lastly, keep an eye on painted pieces. I discovered a petite side table yesterday at a local thrift store. Sideboards may hide secret drawers with false backs, originally used for storing valuables like silver utensils.
Starting on the left, it was turned forward until you heard a click. I bought a sideboard made by William kimp furniture co. Grand Rapids Mich. Many people have decks just sitting around their house, but wouldnt look twice at them.
A Sliding Dovetail key is a small piece of wood set into a dovetailed groove that can slide and can also lock a hidden drawer of the compartment. The pilasters on both sides are firm. They also came in checkerboard or backgammon board models and would be a fun addition to any game room. When it came to hiding important ephemera tied to history, these compartments performed their duty as added security to keep secrets away from any who may wish to explore an office of an adversary or get lost into areas of a home or building where they should not be exploring. In the interior are shown the pair of document boxes and four small drawers concealed behind the cabinet. < ????? What can you tell me about the age of this desk from the information I have given you I was told that it is from England. That same blanket chest mentioned before likely traveled with an immigrant to America and hid his or her secret documents or valuables from prying eyes. My email is deewayland@gmail.com. Secret compartments for money, securities, documents, jewelry, perhaps a silver plate or a will or a place to hide carefully written confessions were often included in many of Chippendales' furniture. I have about decided that it is magnetic somehow but I have tried every suggestion I have found on the internet to no avail. Enter: furniture with hidden storage. Other places of hiding were small shallow drawers concealed behind the arched trim at the top of the regular pigeonholes. The highboy is another piece of furniture that frequently possessed a secret compartment. I actually started 4 months ago and pretty much immediately began to make more than $89.. per-hour .
The King of Random shows how you can install one of these with a blank panel in front of it or you can go the more hidden route and actually have a working outlet involved.
Some of these boards may only be slid open by carefully using a fingernail or thin knife to nudge and lift them. Next to desks, secret places are more frequently found in the bracket-footed chests in which linens, blankets, and clothing were stored.
Check out thesedifferent ways to create your own secret doors. Traveling desks and small boxes sometimes have their secret compartments, usually in the form of false bottoms. Susan in new bern nc, I am a descendant of William Duer, 1st asst/sec treasurer under Pres. Its a curly walnut Chippendale, with secret compartments. Some Chippendale antique owners have had their Chippendale desks for generations and are just discovering these secret places either on accident or after attempts at refurbishment by a professional. We strongly urge caution with any sharp objects near your exceedingly valuable Chippendale! Learn About Antique Furniture and Reproductions, Reproduction Elegant Chippendale Cabinets, How to Find Hidden Compartments in Chippendale Furniture. When this central section is released and pulled out behind it, either as part of the section itself or built into the available space, will be tiers of small drawers and sometimes narrow but deep pockets of the right proportions for letters or folded documents (Illustration II). It is obviously hand, rather than machine crafted, with three very small drawers across the front. Beneath the central section can be seen the well that occupies the space of the large false drawer. The best way is to examine the interior by the Braille method in order to find a slight depression for a fingertip. Thank you Wilamina. Behind it is a little compartment, removable if pressed carefully, and back of that two tiers of four very small drawers. Our websites use cookies to improve your browsing experience. The space in between the upper and lower sections of a secretary could masquerade as decorative trim, but hide a gap perfect for currency, documents, or treasure maps. Many of the original examples enclosed within beautiful pieces of utilitarian and not-so-utilitarian furniture can still be used today, and many are incorporated into contemporary furniture for the same reasons they were created originally keeping secrets. Not all hidden areas in Chippendale furniture were large enough for documents either. storage secret hidden prepping compartment compartments compact spaces br living At times shallow hiding places were all you needed for a secret document.
We do that too, just give us a call.
I freelance online from my home! It came with a the original info saying its from 1820-1830 . The feather and pineapple carvings and twist columns are very characteristic of this period. 
Floating panels indoors were given sufficient room to shrink over time without splitting, which is one of the many reasons why authentic Chippendale furniture remains in superb conditions even today. Look for Sliding Dovetail keys that slips into matching mortise or attempt to slide pieces in areas youve never thought to before to see if any of them move. Don't see what you want? Today, sensible people keep their current funds in banks and their stocks and bonds and the like in safe-deposit boxes. There is a certain amount of bulk of space to be accounted for in every cabinet. If a drawer looks too shallow for the space it occupies and doesnt quite make sense, further investigation might be in order. Let me show you what i do <-. As these pieces of furniture were being created, some examples demonstrated a cabinet makers crafting and engineering skills or entertained with their frivolity. Shanons email at zip auction is no longer active. Most were useful, offering hiding places at a time when advanced security, or space, wasnt available. hidden safes furniture couch ottoman bed safe
Is it me, or is this not mobile friendly for IOS ? Outwardly false, there is a sliding panel immediately below the central cabinet which gives access to a well such as is frequently found in desks of the William and Mary period. Some intricate pieces even had a set of stairs that folded down to allow the owner to access items hidden in the uppermost parts of the cabinet. And now I am also hitting up with mold removal from the stock up water in there. Can somebody tell me something different to try???
Seems similar to device described by Lynn Wilkins. How To Make A Super Secret Wall Outlet Safe, Get dozens of projects in every issue covering DIY electronics, 3D printing, craft, and more, Learn tips and skill-building tutorials from experts in the maker community. The Queen Anne style, Escritoire, or Secretary Desks often had many hidden compartments built into them. Fine hardwoods, solid joinery techniques, hand-tied upholsteryjust a few ways we build our furniture to last through wear and tear over the years. find out here now ->.
Gavels 'n' Paddles: Empire Gasoline sign $10,450 Matthews, Kellys Old Cabin bottle, $45,360, American Bottle, Antiques Peek: I Like My Tables On the Side, Crafting a Legacy: The Life and Work of Olof Althin, Gavels n Paddles: Leicaflex 35mm camera, $1,280, Crescent City. She once showed me a secret compartment and I had forgotton about it until recently, There are 2 holes, one each side when you open or remove the top drawer. Does anyone have any idea what the value of this is, or where I can find out Please let me know by email if you can help me. While it can be difficult to construct secret passageways, there are many ways to hide your privatetreasures from prying eyes. Just how early English and French cabinetmakers began to turn their attention to adding these hiding places to the furniture they made is a question, but I do not think it began until after the Italian furniture influence reached them, coming either directly or via France or the Low Countries. One side lifts up to show a mirror. . An example of this arrangement (Illustration IV) has such a box on the right and in the base of it is a second concealed pocket that is only found if the box is removed and the outer side studied carefully. The flat-top highboy of the sort made during the William and Mary, Queen Anne, and Early Georgian periods, with a broad cornice molding, was sometimes constructed with a shallow drawer, the width of the piece, concealed behind this cornice molding (Illustration VI) . Gauge the size of your furniture. Unlike the previous projects, instead of hiding a door behind an other object, this individual took on the challenge of simply making the door disappear, literally, into the woodwork. Such a section is an inch or two shallower than the pigeonholes and drawers on either side.
It was between the top drawer and the desk lid.
Remove visible, obvious drawers and begin looking for panels on the sides. For instance, the back of the central cabinet is false and the upper board neatly dovetailed in place; but if pressed slightly, it moves sidewise and the board is released. Thanks, One of our most beloved lines, our very own team of master carpenters has, for over three decades, been working to reproduce heirloom quality furniture above and beyond anything that can be mass-produced today. One of polished bone (Illustration VII) is typical of Italian work. Secretaries could also play host to compartments hiding in plain sight. This might be a small closet or a grouping of pigeonholes and small drawers with or without a front (Illustration II). All you need to do to activate them is touch the right book, or do the super secret knock. In some desks and secretaries, one finds the pilasters made as an integral part of the removable central section. Whoa, how about the button in the bust to open one of the trap doors! I posted a request to help me locate a family heirloom desk on collectors weekly website in 2010. then repeat the same process the other side. If the first large drawer in the lower part was taken out, the pin that stopped the slide when pulled forward could be removed. Using a deck of cards is a pretty clever idea. The most intricate have an end that slides up giving access to the drawers concealed in the false bottom (Illustration V). I really liked the content of this article thanks a lot. It should look much nicer now :), -> I left my 9-5 job and today I earn eighty five bucks hourly.
I just bought an old desk made from quarter sawed white oak it has a 2 1/2 inch hole on the top of the desk on each side that is behind the desk drawers it gives access to a plunger with a spring on the bottom, it pushes up and down but I have no idea what is for with the drawers removed I can see that these plungers arent connected to anything. kast haard openhaard Everyone is going digital nowadays, so why not use your old DVD cases for a nice little popout compartment? Bob Clagett from I Like to Make Stuff shows how he built an in-wall bookshelf that doubles as a hidden door. Secret compartments for money, securities, ancestral jewelry and silver plate, a missing will, or a carefully written confession of a crime committed years before, have served fiction writers well. 
Coming onto the scene in the 18th century, secretaries were a status symbol and writing desk wrapped into one, and were ideal for storing valuables. The interior of a New England Queen Anne desk. The social platform for antiquers, collectors, andenthusiasts. with-out a doubt this is the nicest-work Ive ever had . Here the owner wrote and transacted his business and here his money and papers could be put away. door hinges hidden secret doors concealed hinge ford 1932 rod hardware suicide bookcase street building bing barn rooms coupe diy At the front is a series of three hidden drawers without knobs that are released by using the fingernails along the upright cracks that separate them. Just want to change the upholstery or wood color?
Dividers may be hollow to create small spaces for extra drawers or a hidden compartment far at the back of a drawer itself. American cabinetmakers do not seem to have built secret places into their furniture much before the advent of the Queen Anne period, although I have heard rumors of such pieces in the William and Mary style. secret compartment compatment valuable stud between items
Most master craftsmen, including Thomas Chippendale, often felt they should take advantage of the, wasted, space occupied by structural elements and moldings by incorporating a hidden area or secret drawer. Topics such as microcontrollers including Arduino and Raspberry Pi, Drones and 3D Printing, and more. You cant really talk about secret compartments without having a false bottom drawer.
Whether for storage or concealment, these examples show that we cannot always take our vintage finds at face value. The theory is that not only did master carpenters and cabinetry makers not like to waste space, they often enjoyed building these extras within their formidable pieces. You can even use a book to hide your doorknob to really sell the illusion. Later as the sides or runs of these drawers wore, through use, the molding front had a tendency to sag slightly, thus giving a clue to what was hidden behind it. cockroach banded With English and American furniture, the pieces most liable to contain secret compartments are desks and secretaries. Read our story and our customer reviews to see why people love Laurel Crown. Those tricky volumes may actually be a door to a secret space or even a hidden bar.
how was it accessed? the devices are lost and I would love to hear from anyone who has anything similar.
Incredible and fanciful, sturdy and extremely well made Chinoiserie cabinets, the shift from Rococo to Neoclassical not only showcased his incredible design talent but a beautiful execution that has become timeless. I was wondering if its actually a bobbin table and if not what it is called. You can use this tutorial to make one to hide your cords as well, or you can use it as storage to hide something else. Challenge accepted! This sliding bookcase door might be a bit more than many people can tackle, but the end result is simply stunning. My family owned Duers Chippendale curly walnut secretary imported from England, with secret compartments & provanence until 1987 when it was sold at auction in Ct. Online businesses come and go, but our customers trust our 26 years of experience building fine furniture to deliver on our promises. Then the slide itself could be taken out and on the underside toward the rear was inset a small pocket just large enough to hold a half-dozen pieces of Continental currency when folded in half. When approaching an antique secretary, look first for a central cabinet.
The top overlaps the sides by about an inch. Sure enough all 7 little drawers were still there. One or two pieces of this type that I have examined have a wooden spring catch that locks the drawer and can only be released by removing the drawer below. These are arranged as they fit into the space in front of this miniature chest. Chippendales genius in timber has made for some interesting means of hiding compartments and areas. Springs were another trick; if pressed in the right place, a hinge would release to reveal a secret compartment. her mother passed away and she still does not know how to get into it. Just Check Out here for More information.. Want Success.? It is now 2016. Creating secret doors can be a pretty big project to tackle, but if you still want to have your own hidden placesin your house, try one of these six clever compartments. It may be time to do a little investigating and determine if we have any purloined letters hidden in cabinets, or want to add any secret storage to our decor. Hamilton was never president. 