We all want to keep our homes and our valuables safe, but burglaries can happen at any time. If your valuables aren’t safely hidden, you could lose everything in one night. However, these 18 sneaky places can outsmart burglars and keep your items safe.
Inside a Vacuum Cleaner
Forbes states that “on average, 3,062 burglaries happen in the U.S. every day.” So, where’s an unexpected place to hide your valuables? Using a second vacuum cleaner’s dust compartment or bag can be a smart idea as long as your belongings are sealed up tight.
Behind Fake Electrical Outlets
Another ingenious solution to hiding your valuables is installing fake electrical outlets with small compartments behind them. As long as they blend in with the other electrical outlets in your home, you’ll be able to safely hide cash, jewelry, and small important documents from any burglars.
Within Hollowed-Out Books
As much as it might pain book lovers, burglars usually won’t be browsing your bookshelves for an interesting read, so hollowing out a book can be an interesting hiding place for valuables. Money, passports, and small heirlooms can be hidden in a book that blends in with others on your shelf.
In a Box of Frozen Food
Although it sounds strange, a frozen food box – without the food inside, of course – can be a good hiding place in your freezer. You’ll need to wrap your valuables in plastic and make sure they won’t be damaged by cold or condensation, but this tactic will likely go over the heads of most burglars.
Inside a Potted Plant
Waterproof containers buried in the soil of a large indoor plant can be a great place to hide valuables. According to Newsweek, more burglaries occur in “the West Coast and the South,” so citizens in those states should try out this hiding place. Make sure the valuables can withstand some moisture.
Behind Detachable Baseboards
Detachable baseboards can often be removed and replaced without causing any damage, so you could store some documents or small electronics behind them. It’s best to do this in less frequented rooms, such as a laundry room. You’ll almost definitely fool any thieves with this method.
Inside Children’s Toys
You might think that a children’s toy is a bad idea for storing valuables, but think specifically about ones that are not often used. If they have a removable part, you can wrap up your belongings and put them inside – and try to store them out of reach of your children.
Underneath a Loose Floor Tile
A loose floor tile is usually an annoyance, but in this case, it can actually be a benefit. Easily liftable tiles can be secured with Velcro and used to hide small, flat objects under them. Examples of valuables you might want to store under a floor tile include cash and documents.
Behind A Fake Vent
Just like electrical outlets, you can use a fake vent to create a hiding space in your home. Make sure it matches the other vents in your house so you can disguise larger items like envelopes or small boxes of valuables inside. Or, try an existing vent that’s not in use.
Behind a Removable Cabinet Kick Plate
CNN advises that “even the kick plates at the bottom of kitchen cabinets can pull double duty” when it comes to storage. This can extend to being a useful hiding place for documents or folders, and you can even use magnets to ensure that the kick plate remains secure.
In the False Bottom of a Drawer
The classic false bottom is still a method that you could use to secure your belongings. Keeping the space shallow is a good idea to avoid detection, and means you can still fit small to medium-sized objects in there. Putting it in a non-lockable drawer can also lower suspicions.
Inside a Clock with a Hollow Interior
Wall or mantel clocks can be great choices for hiding small items as long as they’re hollow inside. To complete the ruse, it’s important to make sure that the clock works normally and you can hide things like cash, small jewelry, and keys inside.
In the Compartment of a Door
A clever way to trick burglars is to put valuables where they’d never expect them to be: in a door! With just a little bit of DIY, you can modify an interior door to include a small, hidden compartment. Subtle compartments can easily store flat items like important documents and cash.
Underneath a False Pan in the Kitchen
Taking the false drawer bottom to another level, why not modify an unused pan in your kitchen to become a hiding place for valuables? Store it with your other pans to make it seem like a normal piece of kitchenware, and this secret hiding place will blend in seamlessly.
Inside a Secured Garage Shelf Compartment
Your garage might be a key entry point for a burglar, but you can still cleverly hide valuables there. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says, “a significant percentage of our residential burglaries occur in open garages.” A secret compartment in garage shelving can hide larger valuables easily.
Behind the Water Tank in a Toilet
An important part of this tactic is to make sure you put your valuables in a waterproof container before putting them in the water tank. Small containers that don’t mess with how your toilet functions can be safely hidden here, and it’s a place most burglars will overlook, especially in smaller bathrooms.
In a Custom-Built Birdhouse
With this method, you’ll have to make sure your valuables are safe from backyard birds, but it can easily puzzle burglars. An inconspicuous birdhouse with a concealed compartment can hide smaller valuables. You’ll have to weatherproof them first in a sealed container to keep them undamaged.
Within the Lining of a Curtain
Our last hiding place is another unorthodox one. Some sewing skills will come in handy if you want to make a small pocket in the lining of heavier curtains, especially higher up. Thin, flat items like documents and cash can be hidden here, and burglars are unlikely to even think of this one.
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