We thought we were pretty clever helping homeowners hide TVs in any room in the house. But the guys at Creative Home Engineering know how to hide a whole room! Check out the photo-rich article at Twisted Sifter showing 35 hidden passageways and compartments. We appreciate the creativity of hiding doorways in plain sight as well as the excellent craftsmanship involved. The concept used to conceal doors in stonework is a touch you could use for a floating lid on a TV lift as well. It would camouflage the lid even better than usual to have the edges follow the natural contours between the stones in the façade. In a way, we like to think of our TV lifts as hidden passageways to another realm too. Just push the button and get lost in “The Life of Pi” or the latest HBO special.

Does this compendium of hidden rooms spark any ideas for other stuff to hide in your home? Let us know in the comments.

The flicker of the fire plus the flicker from the TV screen equals one night of perfectly cozy entertainment! Check out this example sent by a customer who installed their TV close to their hearth. Some homeowners like their lift to really blend in, but this project shows how a cabinet that really stands out can be an outstanding choice. Check out those hinges! We also like other touches such as:

• The louvers on the front panels that enhance ventilation for components kept inside the cabinet
• The bookshelf behind the cabinet that makes excellent use of vertical storage space
• The white painted finish that brightens the fireplace area – it’s a nice change from a hearth of stone

(OK, we’ll stop with the hearth/heart puns and just let you enjoy the video).

Or do you just have too much stuff in your cabinet to make room for a TV lift? At Nexus 21, we make mechanisms that have a remarkably slim profile. They don’t take up much space in a cabinet. However, they don’t technically have to go inside a cabinet to work. In fact, they operate just as well attached to the back of a cabinet or to the floor behind one. This client has way too many components and extra speakers inside their cabinet to find room for a lift. So, they chose to hide the popup TV behind it instead. That’s a great option if space is limited or you want to convert an existing piece of furniture quickly and easily without cutting out a lid. However, we can also recommend some of our larger Smart TV lift cabinets like the buffet sized Accent if you simply need more interior space to store all your stuff. It comes with the lift pre-installed, so setup is even easier.

Unless you’re talking about a dumbwaiter, that is. We were bragging on one of our hidden liquor cabinet lifts on FaceBook when Mark Delzer from BlueWater Technologies dropped by to say he’d done us one better. In a project he worked on, the homeowner wanted a lift that went down into the basement wine cellar to be loaded up (presumably by the butler) with a dozen bottles of the finest vintage. We can just imagine the homeowners entertaining guests at a soirée. “Oh, my! We seem to have run out of wine. Be a dear and fetch a few more bottles from our extensive collection?” “Of course, darling, let me just push this little button here…” Way to impress the guests!

In fact, Mark’s comment is giving us all kinds of ideas for using our new automated storage lifts in multi-story applications. Stay tuned for new and exciting ideas!