Have you ever wanted to live in a house with a secret room only accessible via a secret door? You know, with one of those bookshelves that slide open when you pull on the right book? I have (and still do!), but I have a problem:
- I don’t own a house (millennial problems…), and
- I don’t have the money to rent a house with a sliding bookshelf to a hidden room installed.
But that’s okay! I’ve found a nifty little item to fill that bookshelf sized hole in the soul… for now. If you too are definitely into false walls and hidden rooms, you’ll want to check into getting yourself one of these nifty little items. Hmmm… What could it be?
You’ve probably seen them without realizing, whether they’re hand made or purchased from an industrial manufacturer. Good news: That’s the point! You shouldn’t know they exist! But what, pray-tell, am I talking about? A Book Safe, of course!
What is a Book Safe?
In essence, Book Safes are hollow books. When closed, they appear to be real, authored books with words and paragraphs and chapters and well-worn pages. When opened, however, they reveal a secret cubby or “safe” to tuck your knicknacks and valuables into (be they chocolates, receipts, notecards, pens, report cards, old diplomas, playing cards, or any other miscellaneous items). The Book Safe can also be called a Secret Book Box.
These Book Safes are made of various materials, including cardboard, wood, and even real books! In the latter case, a book is purchased and the owner cuts a huge section of pages out of the center of the book; this is the simplified version of how they’re really made. Nevertheless, making your own Book Safe can be a fun and relatively cheap DIY project for a rainy day (that is, if you’ve got an old book you’re willing to recycle via dissection…).
If you’re interested in making your own Book Safe, check out this article: https://www.artofmanliness.com/2010/12/07/how-to-make-a-secret-book-safe/
Why Use a Book Safe?
Book Safes are awesome, decorative boxes that you can use to store various small items inside. Some people even use them to hide access phone chargers and electronic parts. Once filled, a Book Safe can be discreetly slip among a library of books on a bookshelf. It’s a way to store your stuff in an easily accessible and convenient location, yet keep it hidden from wandering eyes. In other words, it’s a way to hide something in plain sight (just like one of those sliding bookshelf doors to secret rooms!!!).
You can store your Book Safe on a desk or bookshelf in a home office, in a small home library, or even as a decorative piece on a coffee table or side table in the living room or TV room.
So now that you know you definitely want one of these bad boys, the big question is: Do you get cardboard or wood?
Cardboard or Wood?
So should you get a cardboard or wood Book Safe? Well, how rough you are with your books and boxes will determine which material build you should get. In general, the wooden Book Safes are more durable and last longer than the cardboard ones, but the cardboard ones are lighter and cheaper.
PERSONAL NOTE: I’ve been using Book Safes for over five years now, and even my oldest Book Safes doesn’t show signs of wear in tear (my oldest is a cardboard build). So in the end, if you like the price point and the feel of the cardboard better than the wood, it isn’t going to make too much of a difference. From my experience, either kind of Book Safe should last years and years (though this really depends on how rough you are with the “books”)!
Cardboard Book Safes
A cardboard built Book Safe is like an image with a glossy finish; the surface is slick and there is a bit of shine when the light hits it. I tend to think of it as high quality papier-mâché or reinforced, pressed cardboard. You have to be a little gentler with the edges of the Book Safe, as it can be easily dented or smashed, and the magnetic lock on the book cover is satisfactory, but gentle and easy to open.
The cardboard Book Safes are generally cheaper, but can still blend in nicely as real books on a bookshelf, especially if you get yourself one of the smaller sizes.
Wooden Book Safes
A wooden built Book Safe is slick with a more matte finish compared to a cardboard build. The surface is usually made of a type of canvas and has a rougher texture in both look and feel. With the wood build, manufacturers tend to line the insides with felt or similar products. You can be a little rougher with this kind of Book Safe, and the magnetic lock on the book cover is very strong and takes more effort to open.
The wooden Book Safes are generally more expensive and can sometimes appear more boxy and stiff than the cardboard build. However, their stiff “spines” blend in really nicely with a row of gigantion dictionaries or other kinds of mega books.
Conclusion
In the end, I tend to look at Book Safes as functional decor. Yes, you can hide your semi-valuables in them and stick them into a bookshelf to hide among the other books, but you can also set them on coffee or side tables for easy storage of playing cards or all those TV remotes and phone chargers. So if you’re looking for something to make your place look more homely in a functional and price effective way (and fulfill that craving for secrets you had as a child), get yourself a Book Safe!
I usually go to Marshalls, Ross, or TJ Maxx to get mine, but there are some specialty ones you can find online. With the internet, the sky’s the limit!
So go fill that bookshelf sized hole in your soul! I promise, it’ll be a cheap little thrill that we can remember each other by.
Happy shopping!
x 6.12 inches (D); which gives plenty of room to place my laptop, notebooks, a variety of snacks and other items that I carry around with me every day. I would not use this for everyday use though. Either that or I would not use it to carry super heavy books because it will take up a bunch of space too quickly and wear you down when you are walking around.
ContentLab Spring 18 Writing for the Web 