Scavenger Chic

Repurposed Books and a Hidden Lockbox

• By Joan
• April 18, 2016
• 13 Comments

If you look at this picture you may think this is a post for a great upcycled bookend. Can you tell it’s a dump rescue? But, if you looked at the title, you would know that it’s actually the books that are repurposed.

For months our insurance advisor has been telling us we should get a safe in the house to store all our valuable papers. The safe was not necessarily for theft prevention but to keep papers safe in case of flood or fire.

We finally heeded her advice and bought one.

They really are not that expensive. This SentrySafe was from Walmart for about $20. It claims to be fire and water proof and it comes in several different sizes, I just wanted a small one because I really don’t own anything that is safe worthy.

That being said, she gave us a list of things we might consider putting in our lockbox.

• wills
• titles, vehicles and home
• homeowner documents
• cash
• collectibles
• insurance policies
• social security cards
• birth certificates
• passports

If you have more papers than I do, you might want to consider a bigger safe.

Now that I had it home, I really didn’t want it sitting around. While it just looks like a small suitcase, it does nothing for my decor so I needed to hide it.

I’ve used this set of books before, first for “book shelves” and more recently for a chandelier. When my husband and I first got married we got a great set of old books at a yard sale for the sole purpose of filling up our then empty bookshelves. We had no intention of ever reading the books, and now that our shelves are full of books that we have actually read or want to read, those old books are slowly being repurposed…this time to hide my safe.

Use the lockbox as a rough template for where you should cut your books then make your actual cut line 1/2 inch above that line.

I used a scroll saw to make my cuts but I eventually found it was quicker to start the long straight cuts with a chop saw then switch over to the scroll saw for cutting just the corners. You may want to use a dust mask, that paper pulp goes everywhere.

Hint: I don’t know if it’s needed, but I used a couple of nails from the nail gun, to hold my book together while I sawed.

Once you have one book cut, use that book as a template for the rest of your books.

For the ends, leave one of the covers intact.

When all my books were cut, I tacked them together with 2 1/2″ finish nails, again with the aid of a nail gun.

Some leftover scraps of 1/4″ mdf  secured with builders adhesive reinforces the books. 

The mdf was clamped until dry.

My box was still larger than my books, but it really disappears into the shadows of the shelf. 

If you choose a larger lockbox you may need larger books to hide your secret treasures.

Half the battle is over, I’ve bought the safe and now it looks great in our office.  It doesn’t actually have anything in it yet, but that’s a project for another day.

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