Ingenious Places To Hide And Store Items Around Your Home
One of the things most of us fear is being the victim of burglary — not only because it could endanger your life, but also because of the many valuables you keep at home. To that end, you may consider hiding places for your important stuff due to the potential for being burglarized.
When you start considering the perfect hiding place, you should consider three things. The first one is what exactly you want to hide and the second thing is who you need to hide it from; or, in other words, how well does that person know you and do they know where you would stash your important stuff? The last thing to do is to pick several hiding places to make sure you are completely safe. Let's face it, it is not exactly smart when you hide all of your valuable stuff in the same place — this is just like using the same password for all of your accounts.
Policy Advice shares that burglars usually spend less than 10 minutes in any house they break into; this makes it clear that they won't have a lot of time to search houses thoroughly. Arguably, this time element is the reason why burglars will head for obvious locations rather than searching difficult-to-reach or unexpected areas. So, we have rounded up 15 ingenious hiding places in your home for you to use.
1. Old vacuum cleaner
Just because it isn't wise to hide items in obvious places doesn't mean that you can't use this to your advantage. Sometimes the best way to outsmart burglars is by using hiding spots that are out in the open, but not predictable. For that, we suggest looking for one of your old vacuum cleaners. Simply remove the bag from the vacuum cleaner and after you hide whatever you want to inside it, put the cover back in its place, and that's it!
2. Air vent
Another obvious, but not so obvious, option is to use your home's air vent. It shouldn't be difficult for you to remove your air vent's cover; the only issue you could face is having some screws to undo every time you use this hiding spot. This is handy if you want to hide heavy items; if they are not so heavy and could fly with the air, like money, then you shouldn't forget to put them in an envelope and place something heavy on top.
3. Electrical outlet
Since we are speaking about hiding small stuff, like money, we can mention another suggestion that won't include using an envelope and putting something heavy on top of it. One perfect option for small valuables is an electric outlet — just make sure it isn't actually connected to electricity. You can also use a fake one; bear in mind, however, the importance of picking a fake outlet that has the same color as other outlets in your home. Otherwise it would be like pointing out to burglars where your hiding spot is.
4. In a clock
Continuing our advice on how to hide small items, you can use this unusual option: You can use any wall clock you have as your secret hiding place. If it doesn't have a removable back then you could use some tape and stick any small item there. If it does have a removable back then you can:
- Remove the back.
- Add whatever you want to hide.
- Then put it back on.
Avoid using this option if the clock is rather expensive.
5. False-bottomed drawer
If you are looking for some way to impress your family, then nothing is better than this hiding option: Here's how to create a false bottomed drawer:
- Get a thin wooden board that has the same color of the real drawer.
- Make sure that the board will fit into the drawer; if not then you can simply cut it.
- The board would be useless if it wasn't possible to separate it from the actual drawer. To avoid that, use some supports, which will do the trick.
6. Potted plant
If you are a plant lover then you probably would like this next spot: You can use a potted plant to hide your valuables. However, you shouldn't take the risk and leave whatever you stored without any protection. To solve this, put them inside a waterproof container. Pro-tip: put the soil in a waterproof liner; that way you can easily remove it at any time you want to use what you have hidden.
7. Hollowed-out book storage
For any book lover reading this, you should know that this isn't the easiest of options. Still, you can make and use hollowed-out book storage. The simple steps are:
- You need a ruler, a utility knife, and glue.
- Take a book and divide its pages into three sections.
- Open the book into the second third, then use the knife and ruler to cut a hollow square in the middle.
- Remove the square you just cut.
- Put glue on the pages inside the square and when it dries, you have your own book safe.
8. Cat litter container
We definitely love this coming spot because it's cat-related; if you are only on dogs' team then never mind us. We believe that you could deceive any burglar by hiding what's precious to you inside of a cat litter box. Of course, it should be fresh litter unless you want to hide that item from yourself as well; we ourselves won't be touching whatever is in there if the litter was used. So only use this trick if you can keep the box unused.
9. Back of a drawer
This next suggestion is like an alternative to number five on our list, especially if you are not a fan of doing some DIY projects; seriously how do you spend your free time? We suggest using the back of any drawer you have. You will put the item you are going to hide inside an envelope and then use some tape to stick it on the back. This spot is perfect for you since the idea of looking behind drawers won't cross burglars' minds.
10. Inside the pockets of your winter jackets
If you don't store your winter clothes away when summer starts then you could try our next spot. Consider using your winter jackets as your safe spot if you keep them hanging even during summer. Hiding objects inside their pockets is easy enough, and just like the last tip, burglars won't think of spending their time searching through some winter jackets. We also recommend checking any jacket you use before going out just to make sure you won't accidentally lose whatever you hid there.
11. Inside of a pen
Did your family ever tease you about having way too many pens? Well, if they do then this could be your favorite suggestion so far: Stash your money inside any pen you have. You only need to:
- Remove the ink cartridge.
- Roll your money around it.
- Then assemble the pen's parts again.
That will be it. Easy, right? Other than being a secretive and unexpected hiding spot, you also have the advantage of being able to keep using your pen even with money inside it.
12. Toilet paper tube
If you were unfortunate enough to be assigned the chore of changing your toilet paper with a new roll then maybe you can turn this into an advantage. How so? Create your own hiding spot which nobody will find, except you of course. We suggest this one especially if you are planning on hiding small items like money for a short time. So you will:
- Remove the tube (make sure it's hollow though).
- Put what you want to hide.
- Put the tube back in its place.
13. Hidden chair compartment
We believe that most of us looked up at the bottom of the chairs we had at home while we were kids. Some of us might have been surprised to find a secret compartment. This made us include the option of using the secret compartment at the bottom of a chair to hide your valuables. However, if your chair does not include this compartment then you can add this to the list of DIY projects you want to try doing.
14. Murphy door
This one spot makes us feel like we are inside some adventure novel; if you chose this one then you will feel like us, too. We suggest having a murphy door inside your home as your safe spot. That way you won't face any hassle when you use it since you know where exactly it is. At the same time, the only people who will be bothered are burglars trying to figure out where you hide your valuable items — this is your goal.
15. VHS tape
You know when you keep stuff you don't use anymore just because it feels right? Well, if you happened to keep some VHS tapes then this is your time to shine. You should consider hiding your valuable items inside any old VHS tapes you have laying around; this will only work if those items fit inside. We also advise you to display a collection of VHS tapes even if you are only using one. The reason? If you only have a few tapes then it might be obvious that you are hiding something.