First Wonder Door: Stonefields Case Study

The first Wonder Door was installed in Stephen and Holly’s Stonefields home in May 2026. It hides the entrance to Stephen’s home office and was intentionally built for our own place before we started taking customer orders.

We wanted somewhere we could use the door every day, load the shelves with real books and be honest about what worked and what needed adjustment. This is the only completed Wonder Doors installation so far, and it is the practical starting point for every door we quote next.

The brief

The goal was to turn an ordinary home-office entrance into a working bookcase that could still be used as a reliable everyday door.

The important points were simple:

• the bookcase needed to fit the existing opening
• the shelves needed to hold real books and objects
• the door needed to open cleanly with the shelves loaded
• the hidden book handle and catches needed to feel straightforward
• the finished bookcase needed to sit naturally in the room

The frame and bookcase door were built as a matched pair. The door uses adjustable shelving, heavy-duty hinge hardware and a concealed latch system released through the book handle.

From the workshop to the opening

Before installation, the door was assembled and tested in the workshop. That let the team check the carcass, shelf positions and hardware before taking it to Stonefields.

The existing opening then had to be prepared so the frame sat correctly and the loaded bookcase could move without catching the floor or surrounding trim.

What we learned from the first door

The big lesson was that the bookcase, latch and opening all need to be treated as one system. A door can look right while it is empty, but the useful test is how it behaves with books in place.

We spent time adjusting and living with:

• The book handle. Its position and action need to be easy to find and use without making the mechanism obvious.
• The catches. Small changes affect how confidently the door releases and closes.
• The loaded swing. Books add real weight, so the hinge setup and clearances have to work under everyday load.
• The shelf layout. Adjustable shelves make it easier to use the bookcase for different books and objects.
• The daily experience. The reveal is fun, but the door still needs to be practical when it is opened repeatedly as part of a normal workday.

Some ideas worked immediately and others needed adjustment. Living with the first door gave us a much better basis for the specifications and pre-build checks we now use.

The finished result

Dani and the crew completed the installation, the shelves were loaded and the door opened cleanly. The bookcase now hides the home office while adding useful shelving to the room.

You can also watch the short video walkthrough to see the book handle, catches, shelving and opening action.

What happens next

We are starting to take a small number of custom door orders as we head towards the end of 2026. For now, we are focused on inward and outward single bookcase doors and are prioritising Auckland installations while we keep refining the process.

Read how custom bookcase door installation works in Auckland, including the current process, door options and areas we cover.

If you would like us to review an opening, request a quote and send photos of the front, back and surrounding wall. Rough measurements help, but we complete a pre-build measurement before manufacture.