Hidden book compartment espresso box

Idea generation and final inspiration

Initially, I struggled with ideas due to the vast number of possibilities. I was drawn to brutalist art and first designed a brutalist-style coffee coaster resembling a two-story structure. The top half mimicked a brutalist prison room, while the bottom half held the coffee cup, using heat as part of the concept. However, I discarded this idea because i wanted something more simple than dealing with concrete.

I then considered a brutalist-inspired acoustic guitar wall mount and a bedside holder for a phone, wallet, and keys. However, I realized I was forcing the brutalist theme rather than focusing on the project’s purpose.

Looking around my room, I found an old Lord of the Rings book, which reminded me of my interest in hidden compartments. With many books ready for recycling, I chose them as my material.

Inspired by light and dark academia, I envisioned a barista serving coffee on a book tray, imagining the mixed reactions it would provoke—making the design both functional and intriguing. After further thought, It seemed like the book tray was somewhat useless because I would need a small book which means i would not have space for pastry dishes and most coffee is not served on a plate.  While walking around my kitchen making coffee, I was inspired by a particular object. I have a 6 foot tall green cabinet that holds all the coffee cups, plants, books, and games.  On the main shelf of the cabinet, I have a small wooden box that holds our espresso making items including tamper, scoop, and different handle cups.  I realized the cabinet generally fits the light academia aesthetic with a touch of cottage-core. Therefore despite my original idea of the coffee tray, I decided to alter my project direction to a secret compartment espresso book box that works with my aesthetic.

After I decided on the espresso box, I wanted to focus on the opening mechanism.  This was really where I needed to be aware of how complex the project was getting as the time tradeoff would not always be worth it. My three ideas were the basic use of the book cover, a drawer on a track that would pull out from the book spine with the book layed flat, and another drawer track but for the book standing upright.  Based on time constraints and outside life events, I decided to keep it simple and stick with the traditional book opening option

Vision

While my project artifact changed, my vision stayed relatively consistent.  I wanted a light academia  hidden compartment artifact that could sit on my coffee shelf disguised as a book. The function obviously changed from a tray to an espresso box, however due to the nature of the secret book, the form remained the same.  Additionally, my main principle of design was to keep it simple yet fun!

Fabrication

In terms of fabrication, the first step was to find a book and remove the pages.  My wife had an old book that she was going to recycle so I had easy access to materials.  I chose to remove the pages down to the spine rather than bore out a shape inside the pages because getting a square shape in the pages would be challenging by hand I did not want to deal with gluing down all the pages.  I ran into some issues removing the pages due to starting with a box cutter which did not get the cut close enough to the spine.  After changing methods and ripping out small segments of pages by hand, I was able to get the book spine separated.

The next step was to make a wooden frame.  I measured the length, width, and height of the book pages as my model for the frame. I sourced my recycled wood from the ITLL scrap section and cut the four sections that formed the inside frame.  I decided to use squared off corners for the frame rather than miter cuts to avoid the hassle of mating miter cuts and be more time efficient.  I setup the frame by hand, applied wood glue at the interfaces, and used clamps to keep the structure in place overnight to let the wood glue set properly.  

The next day, it was time to start step three, wallpapering. I was unsure whether to use a wooden floor piece or another method.  After scouring my house for material that we were not going to use, I found some old Harry Potter/marauders map wallpaper which I loved because it fit the general mischievous nature of the hidden compartment.  To fit the wallpaper, i set the frame overtop and traced out the space inside the box. I then added side cutouts to allow myself to just fold over the paper onto the side walls.  The only issue I ran into on this step was the walls were not perfectly even so I had excess material and needed to trim off paper around the rim.

Next, I glued down all my pieces.  I started glueing the wallpaper floor through the frame and attached to the book cover.  Next, I folded back and glued the wallpaper onto the frame side walls.  Finally, I glued the frame bottom to the cover. Finally, I placed the espresso items in the box and put the box onto the shelf for a light academia aesthetic vibe check!

Final Artifact

The final artifact was a 11×9 inch book with a thin wooden frame taking the place of the book pages.  Once opened, the book features some marauders map wallpaper lining the frame, allowing for a fun mischievous connect to Harry Potter and giving a barrier between the espresso objects and the cover.

Functional Comparison

I successfully achieved the functional nature of my project.  I was able to place all the objects inside the book and tuck the book into my coffee shelf in an unassuming way. 

Artistic Goals

Artistically, my final project met the basic standards but left something to be desired. I wanted to have a slightly more refined frame as well as a mechanical component like a drawer.

 

References

Pictures 1, 4-10 are all my photos.

(2) Sarah Mirth, Artifox.  2020.  https://theartifox.com/products/monument-stand-natural

(3) David Malan. 2010. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/book-with-house-in-cut-out-compartment-royalty-free-image/103129964?adppopup=true