10 Genius Secret Room Ideas From HGTV Stars That'll Transform Your Home

Interior design doesn't always have to fit the mold of what is considered a typical layout for a home. If there is one thing that HGTV stars have proven over the years, it's that thinking outside the box will not only make your space feel unique, but also make it more efficient. One trick favored by the cast is to hide certain rooms behind bookshelves, gallery walls, and cabinets. This can be the key to unlock awkward floor plans or hide unsightly, mostly functional, and messy spaces like a pantry, laundry room or kid's play area. It's been used by the likes of Jasmine Roth of "Hidden Potential," Dave and Jenny Marrs of "Fixer to Fabulous," Mina Starsiak Hawk of "Good Bones," and even Ben and Erin Napier of "Home Town." 

The clever design, possible added storage, and enhanced aesthetic are all perks of secret rooms that may increase the value of your home or otherwise improve your living experience. They're fun, unexpected, and tailored to each space, bringing an intentional and bespoke look to your home. Hidden doors, like bookcase doors, wall panel doors, or mirror doors, can be bought in kits or made-to-order by companies like Murphy Door and Vallisco. Alternatively, with a little adroitness and hard work, you can even DIY them.

In her California home, HGTV celebrity designer Jasmine Roth installed a bookcase door leading to a lounge space next to the designated bar area. The narrow room would have looked awkward tucked away in the corner. This way, it's hidden away by the bookcase, which also gives it a forbidden speakeasy vibe that's perfect for sharing drinks with loved ones. Roth loves a secret room project and has incorporated them often in both her personal homes and her professional efforts for shows like "Hidden Potential" and "HELP! I Wrecked My House."

On "Good Bones," Mina Starsiak Hawk knows that any tricks to add storage or hide clutter are instant value-boosters in modern kitchens. In this episode from Season 8, the realtor transformed the entry to the pantry into a hidden cabinet door. With this hack, the door doesn't take away from the storage space because it functions as both. Other hidden pantry ideas simply design the door in the style of the rest cabinetry for a seamless whole, but, here, Hawk took it a step further by including functional shelves.

HGTV's Dave and Jenny Marrs' hidden wine cellar is a fan favorite reveal for good reason. This is the most inventive secret room on this list because it's not hidden behind a bookcase or anything else that's pretending to be a door. Instead, it's concealed by the kitchen island. In Season 2, Episode 13 of "Fixer to Fabulous," the team found a basement hidden below some floorboards. Through extensive construction work, they turned it into a spectacular wine cellar that can only be entered by sliding open the island's countertop. So cool.

Also pretty ingenious is another one of Jasmine Roth's secret rooms. The designer decided to conceal the entry to her daughter's playroom in her Utah home using a dresser. She showed the basics of building this secret room on her socials. The home already had a closet in the basement by the stairs, so Roth removed its door, and placed a gorgeous black dresser, stripped of its bottom shelves and back panel, right in front of it. Her kid now has a dream Narnia-like play space she can enter through the furniture's doors.

Because Jasmine Roth is the queen of secret rooms, here is another one of her projects from Season 2 of HGTV's "Hidden Potential." Just like the entry above, this is also a hidden play area, this time concealed by built-in shelving underneath the stairs. Think Harry Potter's bedroom in the first film, but less cagey and more magical. Here, instead of having a mean cousin wake up the kids by jumping on the stairs, they get to hang out in a secret nook filled with their favorite things for as long as they'd like. 

Sometimes, the most practical floor plans are not the most attractive. Take this home from Season 2, Episode 3 of "Fixer to Fabulous." The homeowners wanted to bring the laundry room and dog kennels upstairs from the basement, so Dave and Jenny Marrs turned the guest room into the kitchen and used some of that extra new space to materialize their vision. The problem was that the entry to this new room was now right in the middle of the dining area, so they covered it up by installing a secret bookcase door.

On the topic of awkward layouts, in this home from Season 6, Episode 9 of "Home Town," the door to the main bedroom was right in the entryway, which was both distracting and a little exposing. The way Ben And Erin Napier made a bedroom by the front door more private was by hiding it behind an unassuming gallery wall. Because the wall is so adorned, framed by decorative molding, paintings, and an antique dresser, no one would guess that there was a door somewhere within it. 

While this isn't exactly a hidden passage for humans, it still deserves a place on this list as a hidden passage for dirty clothes. This clever contraption was idealized by Mina Starsiak Hawk in Season 8, Episode 4 of "Good Bones" to transport laundry directly from the closet on the top floor to the laundry room on the bottom floor of this Indianapolis home. Laundry chutes are far from a new concept, but Hawk took it a step further by hiding the entrance inside a makeshift hamper.

This coastal home from Season 4 of "Battle on the Beach" had the most inconvenient bathroom off of the living room, so competitors Samantha and Sean Kilgore, with the guidance of Taniya Nayak of "Build it Forward" fame, hid it behind a bookshelf. The bookshelf door is by far the most utilized type of hidden door, because this piece of furniture is easy to integrate in myriad rooms and design styles. Installing one can be as simple as hinging it to the door frame as you would a normal door.

It was only fitting to conclude this list with one more Jasmine Roth secret room. The designer wanted to include a dark green ribbed accent wall in the entryway of this "Help! I Wrecked My House" Season 4, Episode 7 home, and she wasn't going to let a closet stand in her way. She didn't pass on it entirely, however, integrating it into the wall via a hidden push-to-open door, instead. This very functional storage for coats, hats, and shoes by the door could now contribute to the space's interior design rather than interrupt it.