22 Sneaky Spots to Hide Valuables Around Your Home

Toilet Paper Dispenser

There are plenty of small hiding places around your home where you can stash an extra roll of cash. If you want some hidden in your bathroom, take apart the spring bar that holds your toilet paper. Roll up a stack of bills, stash them inside and reassemble the bar for a hidden away safe.

This hint isn’t limited to your toilet paper dispenser, though; you can hide extra cash in any cylindrical container. Pop the end cap off a marker and remove the ink cartridge so you can hide some bills there. Or keep some emergency cash rolled up in a clean, empty sunblock tube. Tuck it in a drawer or medicine cabinet where you can easily grab it when you need it.

Drawers

There are several different ways to hide valuables in furniture. Drawers don’t go all the way to the back of a cabinet, and there’s typically a little space on the underside, too. Put cash or important papers in an envelope and tape them to the back or underside of a drawer.

Alternatively, you can create a false bottom in your drawers. Pick a deep drawer so the depth change won’t be obvious. Cut 1/4-in. plywood 1/16-in. smaller than the drawer opening, and rest it on a couple of wood strips that are hot-glued to the drawer sides. Then, hot glue some items you’d expect to find in that drawer to the bottom so you have a handle to lift the false bottom secret compartment and reveal the booty.

Under Ground

One of the easiest ways to hide valuables in your home is to bury them somewhere unexpected. Put small containers of valuables in a tub of unused cat litter and then pour the cat litter back into the tub. Thieves are unlikely to dig through your cat’s bathroom supplies.

If hiding items in litter makes your squeamish, opt for dirt instead. Roll up some cash, stick it in a medicine bottle or any other watertight container, and bury it in a potted plant. For quicker access and to keep dirt from getting under your fingernails, place a stone or pine cone over it.

Right Out in the Open

Any common household item that has a cavity will work as a secret compartment. Think old printers, computer towers, children’s toys, etc. Just be sure family members know about it so your valuables don’t get donated or tossed! For easy hidden storage access, choose an item that opens instantly, like a vacuum cleaner bag compartment. For more security, choose an item with a cover that screws shut.

Vents

People are unlikely to go digging around in your vents or circulation systems. If you’re looking for clever and small hiding places for a spare key, consider your dryer vent. Use hot glue to stick a magnet to the key, then tuck it up out of sight inside the dryer vent hood. If your vent hood is aluminum or plastic, glue a magnet and key to the inside of the hood.

You can also create a false vent to hide valuables. Cut out a stud space opening to fit a return air grille. Cut off the grille screws and glue just the heads in place. Run four drywall screws into the corners of the opening so they fit just inside the rim of the grille. Then glue rare earth magnets to the back of the grille so they line up with the screw heads.

False Stair Tread

It takes some effort, but if you can, free a tread from your stairs. Then, attach a piano hinge to the back. It’ll be almost invisible and you’ll have a good small hiding place to stash valuables.

Old Clocks

Store a few small items in a wall or mantel clock, as long as the clock itself isn’t worth stealing! Tape them to the back or put them in any open cavities.

Box Inside a Box

Store a container of valuables inside a larger bin full of unappealing stuff. Label it accordingly for one of the best places to hide large amounts of cash.

Cabinetry

There’s a four-inch-tall cavity under all those kitchen cabinets behind the toe kicks. It takes a few carpentry skills, but you can pull the toe-kicks free and make them removable. Most are 1/4-in. plywood held in place with one-inch brads, and they’re relatively easy to pull off. If you have a secondary 3/4-in. toe kick, you’ll have to cut it out at both ends. An oscillating tool works well for that task.

Stick both halves of round hook-and-loop self-adhesive tape to the toe kick. Then, push the toe kick into place. The adhesive will stick to the cabinet base and leave half of the hook-and-loop tape in place when you pull it free. You can store plenty of valuables under two average-size cabinets.

Don’t limit yourself to the bottoms of your cabinets, either. Between almost every pair of upper cabinets, there’s a 1/2-in. gap. Take advantage of that gap by hanging a manila envelope containing, oh, I don’t know, about two grand in hundred-dollar bills? Hang the cash with binder clips that are too wide to fall through the crack.

Garage Door Opener Shroud

Believe it or not, you can hide items like passports and cash under the shroud that covers the garage door opener for a hidden compartment stash box.

Counterfeit Containers

Go online and type in “secret hiding places,” and you’ll be amazed by how many brand-name phony secret stash containers are available. Comet, Coca-Cola, Bush Beans — whatever. But you can craft a homemade version, too. This mayonnaise jar had its interior spray-painted with cream-colored paint for plastic.

Spare Tire

Pick up a spare wheelbarrow wheel and tire at a home center. Deflate the tire, tuck in your goods and re-inflate it.

Old Paint Cans

Next time you use up a can of paint, save the empty can and fill it up with valuables. Then, put it back on the shelf with all your other cans.

Dining Chair Seats

Dining chairs often have a false bottom box space under the seat for a drop-down hinged panel. These can be one of the best places to hide large amounts of cash.

Fake Plumbing Pipes

Put in a fake PVC pipe, complete with a cleanout plug somewhere in your basement. Unscrew the plug and there are the secret compartment items.

Hole in the Door

Drill a hole in the top of any interior door. Size it to fit a cylinder such as an old film container or a cigar tube. Roll up some bills and keep them there.

• • Editor’s Note: If you want to do this trick on a hollow-core door, you have to stick close to the outside edges. Look at the door from the top and you’ll see how wide the solid internal frame is.

Hide a Key In Plain Sight

Say you want to hide a key somewhere other than under the rug or over the door. How about mounting a phony plastic LB fitting? Screw it to the wall and run a bit of 1/2-in. conduit to the ground so it looks official. Cut the head off the bottom screw and glue it in place. That’s it. Swing the cover aside and there’s the key.

If you’re feeling particularly handy, you can build a home for your key instead. Unoccupied birdhouses make handy small hiding places. If you build one, just be sure to screen off the bird entrance to keep out tenants.

Safe in the Wall or Floor

Install a wall hidden safe or cylinder floor safe by bolting it to the floor. (Most hidden safes have holes inside for just that purpose). Hide it in the corner of a closet or other inconspicuous area. Or mount the wall safe inside a wall and cover it with a picture. Or chip out a hole in your concrete slab, stick in the floor hidden safe, then pour new concrete around it.

False Top (or Bottom)

When you build a piece of furniture, build in a stash spot. For example, when you assemble a dresser, put a piece of 1/4-in. plywood just above the top drawers and install a piano hinge on the top. Now you have a spot to hide precious items.

Soccer Ball

A soccer ball makes a perfect spot for little items. Let some air out of the ball and cut one of the seams using a utility knife. After inserting your items, tuck the seam back into place.

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