Getting a safe is the first step towards securing your valuables. However, a safe that is lying in plain sight is the easiest invitation for an intruder to attack it and steal all your valuables.
As an additional layer of security, by hiding your safe, you protect yourself slightly better against unwanted intrusion.
In the following section of this article, we discuss some ingenious ways of hiding your home safes.
How to Hide a Home Safe?
In the following list, we list some tips regarding the ingenious ways in which you can leverage your house’s construction and furniture to hide your safe.
Tip 1: In a second refrigerator
One of the most unexpected places where you can stash your safe is inside a second fridge.
If you have an old unused fridge or a big sized freezer in your home, you can place your safe inside a bag and place this bag inside the refrigerator.
Be sure to ensure that the refrigerator isn’t operational or turned on.
These fridges are usually stored in basements, garages or attics and are infrequently accessed. Therefore they prove to be one of the unlikely places for a burglar to explore for valuables.
Tip 2: In the attic
One of the primary motives of a burglar is to explore the house as fast as possible and get out of there before alerting anyone.
Therefore it is evident that the thief will prefer searching the rooms of the house instead of heading for spaces like the attic wherein their quick exit would become compromised.
Weighing the cost-benefit of exploring an attic in a house, it is common that the thief would skip such a tricky place.
In an unexpected occurrence, if the burglar does happen to step into the attic, make it as difficult as possible to get there.
You can remove the ladders needed to climb into the attic and place a firm lock on the attic door to discourage unwanted entry.
Also, an attic would usually be storing a lot of old furniture, storage boxes, etc.
Leverage this clutter to hide the safe amongst the many belongings making it challenging to spot in one go.
Tip 3: Built into your house
The best way to make a burglar’s job difficult is to make use of your house’s construction to make space for your space.
By this, we mean to make use of the ceilings, walls, and floors to stow away your safe.
If you have wooden flooring, it takes a little handiwork to cut out a small space in the flooring (being careful to avoid any electrical work or plumbing).
This space can be used to store a little safe. The wooden flooring can then be replaced again. The whole area can be covered with a rug or carpeting to create a genius hiding space.
Walls are such an attractive location to hide a safe that companies have manufactured wall safes for this purpose.
A wall will have sufficient spaces between studs to accommodate a safe and also affix it, which provides a reasonable assurance that even upon discovery, it will be a tough job for the thief to remove the safe.
If you have a false ceiling or paneling, you can leverage this space to store a small, lightweight safe. Since the roof spans the entire house area, it will be nearly impossible for a thief to figure out where to look!
Tip 4: Behind bookshelves
Bookshelves are massive and cannot be moved without requiring the help of a few others.
If you plan on having irregular or very infrequent contents stored in your safe, then locating it behind a bookshelf is the best idea.
Firstly it will be tough for the thief to be sure if there is a safe behind the bookshelf.
Additionally, it is also challenging to move a massive bookshelf without needing extra hands, making it one of the fail-proof locations for storing your safe.
Tip 5: In the garage
A garage is one of the places in a house where people usually store a lot of their extra stuff (mostly in cardboard boxes).
It is one of the first places where extra stuff is stowed away after moving. Therefore, you can easily make use of a similar empty cardboard box, keeping a safe inside. Surround this safe by other cardboard boxes.
This is one of the most unsuspecting places to hide a safe.
Tip 6: Hidden behind a door
There must be several spaces in your house where you rarely step foot in. Such spaces come handy for hiding a safe from sight.
Sliding doors are trendy when it comes to this, as they are easy to install and use.
Cordon off a small space with the help of a sliding door and use the space behind to store the safe.
Tip 7: In the staircase
By this we mean, using the steps in your staircase to create sufficient space for storing a small safe.
The easiest way to do this is to remove the tread of the step and slide the safe in.
The tread can then be replaced with the help of a piano hinge.
This way, the step can act as a secret drawer. A thief will never think of looking into each of the staircase steps where there are many available in the house.
Tip 8: Under the stairs
If you have some space under the staircase, then you can use this effectively to store a safe inside discreetly.
The walled area can be replaced with a door or drawers.
It can also double up as a room for you to hide in (in case of an intrusion) provided sufficient space is available.
Tip 9: In a fake air vent
Modern house designs have air vents running throughout the house.
These spaces are one of the best spots to hide you safe as it gives easy access to you whenever needed, but the thief would not be able to figure out where to look.
There are also safe designs available in the markets that look like air vent.
This is a brilliant concept as the thief may even take a look at the safe and mistake it for an air vent (completely overlooking it).
Tip 10: In a bucket of pet food
Pet food usually comes in huge containers.
If, by any chance, you have managed to preserve these containers, you will be able to place a small-sized safe in them.
What’s more is that if the safe doesn’t need to be accessed frequently, you can even fill the container up with kibble to completely ward off any suspicion that it may contain your prized possessions.
Tip 11: False bottoms
Deep drawers are one of the best options for executing this trick.
Replace the bottom of the drawer with a temporary wooden board with a handle.
With this trick, you will be able to store a small-sized safe or valuable inside the hollowed-out space, and it won’t be visible to eyesight in one go making it hard to discover.
Tip 12: Hidden space inside the furniture
Some furniture pieces have space at the bottom where they are supported by stands.
This space can be easily covered up with a small wooden plank that matches the color of the furniture. Behind this plank, space can be used to hide a small-sized safe.
Tip 13: Inside the bed
Beds have a lot of space under the mattress.
In the newer variants, it is ensured that there is sufficient space available for storing a safe comfortably.
The most common areas where a robber will look are under the bed or in any drawers that can be pulled out.
Therefore storing the safe under the mattress inside the bed frame is a less obvious choice.
The modern designs of beds are equipped with a lifting mechanism that makes it easier for you to lift the entire mattress and store things under it.
Summary
The choice of location for hiding a home safe is up to you. This is not a definitive or conclusive list by any measure. The entire list of ingenious spots for protecting your home safe is only limited by your imagination.
Every house is different, and you, as the owner, will have a better knowledge about its nooks and crannies and therefore, will able to leverage it to the fullest!