The back door at Michael and Liannes’s house gets more use than the front. It’s the route for most departures and arrivals, and often a package needs to park somewhere. They needed to add a shelf. Shelves at about waist height always seem to get used, even if right in the flow, so this is the very place we located it.
When extended, the shelf’s shape allows easy passage around it, and the screen door can still open. Though not used every day, it’s invaluable when coming home with groceries or when staging items destined for the garden or for meals on the deck.
The shelf is made from the same stained 1x cedar boards as on the walls. When not in use, the shelf folds down on piano hinges, hiding the pair of supports that get tucked between battens.
Foldaway storage. Swinging on piano hinges, the shelf and its brackets tuck against the house in plane with the trim.
Photos: Charles Miller