Burglaries can strike anywhere at any time. We tend to hear about them occurring in predictable places but just because you live in a “nice neighbourhood” doesn’t mean your home is untouchable. Crime finds a way.
However, that doesn’t mean the loss of your valuables is inevitable. With the proper preparation, and by installing a safe suitable for your house, your valuables can remain safely out of a thief’s hands.
Your first line of defence is to make your home as unattractive to a burglar as you can. They will often scope out your home days or even weeks before the actual crime, even posing as deliverymen or landscapers. Make sure they don’t like what they see. Keep your yard clear of newspapers, toys and flyers. Remove any other indications that you aren’t around. Some even suggest you ask a neighbour to make tracks in fresh snow if you leave during the winter. Place security paraphernalia around your house like motion activated flood lights, cameras and security company stickers in the window. Real is better than fake, but false security equipment can be used as a deterrent.
If a burglar does happen to choose your home, make that a regrettable decision. You can make your valuables difficult to find and access by keeping them in a quality security safe especially if you keep cash and jewellery at home. Burglars are on a time limit as soon as they enter your home and they are always conscious of the time they take and the noise they make. If your valuables can’t be taken quickly and quietly they will have to leave without your treasures.
A good sturdy safe is often enough to deter criminals, but the most secure safe is the one that won't be found. Hidden safes increase the time it takes a thief to get to our locked up valuables because they have to find it first. This means the likelihood of your items remaining secure increases as well. Here are some inconspicuous places that you can hide your stash of prized possessions:
In the Library for a Literary Illusion
Photo by Casey Fleser via Flickr
Libraries are great places for hidden valuables, but you don’t need a lever that reveals a room behind a revolving bookshelf. Unless your burglar is a literary connoisseur looking for your priceless first editions, he probably won’t visit your library. Most criminals won’t want to take the time to rifle through your book collection. Many people hide things inside false books and place them on a shelf concealed among the rest of the real books. However, if someone were to find a false book, it would be easy to remove any valuables. Instead, get a backless shelf or cut your own whole and place a hidden wall safe behind your book collections. Just make sure it’s not behind anything interesting, place the Encyclopaedia in the way, or anything else that is big, heavy and boring.
Conceal it in the Kitchen
Burglars have been known to raid the fridge from time to time but it is not their primary target. If they visit your kitchen it will probably be toward the end of their troublesome tour of your home and they might not have time to try to break into it.
Another page out of the hidden goods playbook is to hide your valuables in a false food container or in the freezer wrapped in foil and disguised as old food. However, a false container is another easy thing to break into if it is found by chance and you probably don’t want to thaw out things like jewellery or cash every time you want to use it.
Instead, hide your safe under the sink (plumbing permitted) or in the wall in any kitchen cupboard. If a criminal does decide to look through all your cabinets and behind all your containers and cleaning supplies he will still have to crack open the safe.
In a Child’s Playroom
Photo by eren {sea+prairie} via Flickr
Burglars tend to avoid a young child’s room. They are cluttered with toys and various gadgets that don’t hold much value. Older children and teen’s rooms may be searched for gaming systems and expensive electronics but not much time is spent in a toddler’s room. Hiding a safe beneath a toy chest or behind a wardrobe is a brilliant place to secure your valuables.
Beneath False Foliage
A common place to hide valuables is in the soil of real or fake house plants. However, placing a heavy and cumbersome house plant in front or on top of a wall or underfloor safe can make your possessions more difficult to get to.
In the Garage or Attic
Spaces that are mainly used for storage may have valuables or they may not. Either way attics, basements and garages tend to have a lot of clutter and require plenty of digging to uncover anything worth any real value. This makes it a great place to hide a safe. If you can, disguise it as some sort of vent or electric box to make it even harder to see. If not, just bury it under a pile of boring old boxes labeled with things like “clothes” or “Christmas decorations.”
More Tips and Tricks
Before you set out to find the perfect hiding place in your home there are some other things you should keep in mind:
- When you are choosing your hiding spot avoid places that burglars routinely check for valuable goods. The first place they look is often the master bedroom because this is where people most often keep extra cash and jewellery. A safe in the master bedroom may be noticed right away.
- A jewellery box with a lock on it is probably not the most secure place for your precious metals and trinkets. Instead, consider special safes designed specifically for jewellery.
- If you want to be extra clever, make a decoy safe. Place a safe in a more obvious position and fill it with cheap jewellery and other nearly valueless objects. The thieves may think you have poor taste, but a robbery is no time to be warring about appearances.
If you are worried about your valuables, there is nothing better than multiple lines of defence. A security safe that is both hard to find and sturdy enough to resist human tampering is a great option for protecting your most prized possessions.
Check out our selection of hidden safes for your home here.
