How to Make a Secret Drawer in a Drawer

Antique furniture often includes secret compartments and drawers for money, love letters and other sensitive items. If you are lucky enough to own an antique furniture piece, you may find these compartments hidden beneath removable panels, behind a drawer’s false back or underneath a drawer. Hidden panels add an element of whimsy and mischief to furniture, and serve a functional purpose in hiding valuables and important documents from thieves or nosy housemates. Unfortunately, modern mass-produced furniture rarely contains hidden compartments. Build a false back and a narrow compartment to make a customized hidden drawer for any drawer you choose.

Measuring tape
Wood board
Wood stain or paint
Lacquer or varnish
Handsaw
Jigsaw
¼ inch plywood
Router and rabbeting bit
Wood glue

Instructions

- 1
  Pull the existing drawer out and measure the back panel’s length and width.
- 2
  Cut a wood board to match the dimensions of the back panel, using a handsaw. This is your secret drawer’s front panel. Use the same type and thickness of wood used to make the original drawer panel.
- 3
  Fit the false panel into the back of the original drawer and trim it to size until it fits snugly and looks like a true back panel.
- 4
  Stain, paint or finish the panel to make it identical to the original. This makes the false back panel convincingly blend in with the rest of the drawer.
- 5
  Using a handsaw, cut a second wood board as wide as the first panel, but 1 inch shorter. This is the back of the hidden drawer. Cut two 1-inch wide side pieces equal in length to the width of the other drawer panels, and cut a 1-inch wide piece of plywood as long as the back panel, minus 1/2 inch. This will be the bottom of the secret drawer.
- 6
  Measure and mark two lines parallel to and 1 inch in from each of the front panel’s short ends. The length of each line should equal the length of the panel's short ends. Cut 1/4 inch deep notches out of these sections, using a router and 1/4 inch rabbeting bit. Measure, mark and cut two identical 1/4 inch notches parallel to and 1/2 inch in from each of the back panel’s short ends. The lines on the back panel should be as long as the length of the panel's short ends.
- 7
  Measure and mark a 1/4 inch thick line parallel to and 1/4 inch in from one of the short ends on each side piece. Each line should equal the length of the short end of the side piece. Cut 1/4 inch deep notches out of these sections, using a router and rabbeting bit.
- 8
  Measure and mark a 1/4 inch thick horizontal line parallel to and 1/4 inch in from one of the long ends of the back and front panels. Cut 1/4 inch deep notches out of these sections, using a router and rabbeting bit. The line should extend between the two shorter lines carved in previous steps.
- 9
  Round the short edges of the secret drawer’s front and back panels using a jigsaw. Only round the edges on the sides where you cut the notches. This will make it easier to slide the false drawer in and out.
- 10
  Fit the short ends of the plywood piece into the notches you cut in the side pieces and secure them with wood glue. This is the middle part of the drawer.
- 11
  Fit the middle part of the drawer into the notches you cut in the front and back panels. The plywood piece should fit into the long horizontal notch, and the side pieces should fit into the vertical notches. Secure the wood in place with wood glue.
- 12
  Place the secret drawer against the back of the original drawer. To pop it out, press on one side of the hidden drawer’s front panel.

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