The 10 Safest Places to Store Valuables at Home—Ranked from Best to Worst

Bank Safe Deposit Box - The Gold Standard

Let's be real here - if you're looking for maximum security, nothing beats a safe deposit box at your local bank. Apart from its primary purpose, a safety deposit box protects the items stored in it from fire, theft, and damage.

Since the box is kept in a secured area, its contents will be much more protected than if they were kept at home. Safe deposit boxes are undoubtedly more secure than most people's homes.

Bank vaults, of course, are harder to break into and are located in secure areas with alarms, video cameras, and top-notch locks. They're also reinforced to withstand fire, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters.

Think of it like having your own personal Fort Knox - Alarms and cameras are not the only means that private vaults and banks use to safeguard your valuables. In addition, they have restricted access to ensure that only authorized personnel are able to access your items.

The downside? You can't access your stuff outside banking hours, but for maximum protection, it's worth the inconvenience.

High-Quality Home Safe - Your Personal Vault

A proper home safe is like having a mini bank vault in your house. The most secure residential safes are tough enough to keep both thieves and fire out.

A burglary safe, constructed with thick, insulated walls; a heavy door; and other safety features, may provide both theft protection and fire resistance. Look for safes with UL ratings - Basically you want to avoid safes that have a B, C, or B/C rating because no testing is required and these designations only mean the safes have a lock.

Look for safes with a UL RSC, TL-15, TL-30, TL-30X6, or TRTL-30X6 rating. Those ratings mean the safe has gone through actual testing and can protect your guns to a certain standard.

Here's the kicker: A safe is a secure space to store money, records, valuables, confidential documents, and more. But if it's not attached to the floor or a wall and is portable, it's easy for a burglar to walk off with the entire thing and everything inside.

If something is locked, it signals to a thief that there are valuable items inside, making it more tempting for the taking. So bolt that baby down!

Wall or Floor Safe - Hidden in Plain Sight

Wall and floor safes are the ninjas of home security - they're there, but nobody knows it. Wall safes are meant to be installed into a recess in the wall, usually between two wall studs.

Similarly, floor safes sit in a recess in the floor. You can conceeal these safes behind a painting or a cabinet or under a rug to add another layer of security.

The beauty of these is that burglars can't just grab and go - they'd need to know exactly where it is first. Plus, they're built into your home's structure, making them nearly impossible to remove without serious demolition work.

Just make sure you remember where you put it when you need to access your valuables!

False Bottom Drawer - DIY Security

This is where you get to channel your inner spy. 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 item 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.

It's like having a secret compartment that even your family won't discover. The key is making it look completely natural - if the drawer suddenly feels half as deep, that's a dead giveaway.

This method works great for documents and smaller valuable items, though it won't protect against fire or water damage.

Hollowed-Out Book - The Classic Deception

Here's a timeless trick that still works today. Criminals tend to be uneducated, which is why they've turned to crime to make their living.

They're practically allergic to books! But if you have only a couple of books on a bookshelf, this may be a clue that they're actually hiding places for your valuables, so make sure your library is large enough to serve as a tedious place to search.

The genius of this hiding spot is that There is no way that burglar is going to go around and check every single wall outlet so these hidden wall safes offer the perfect amount of protection. (This quote actually refers to wall outlets, but the principle applies - burglars won't check every book).

Just remember to pick a boring book that nobody would want to read, and make sure you have plenty of other books to camouflage it.

Inside Old Appliances - The Decoy Method

Got an old vacuum cleaner or computer tower collecting dust? Perfect!

It doesn't have to be an old vacuum cleaner. 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. The beauty of this method is that these items look worthless to thieves - they're not going to steal your broken printer to pawn it.

Just make sure to pick something that won't accidentally get thrown away during spring cleaning!

Potted Plants - Nature's Safe

This one's for the green thumbs out there, but honestly, it works for anyone. 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. Not many burglars are going to be excavating around your houseplants.

Plus, according to security experts, If you have some plants in your home, you can use those green decorations as a great cover to store valuables. Burglars will not target these plants when they break into your house through your garden, so you can store small items in your waterproof plant container.

Just make sure you use a waterproof container and don't forget which plant is your "bank"!

Children's Room - The Overlooked Zone

Here's something that might surprise you: the kids' room is actually a pretty smart hiding spot. Children typically only possess a few costly possessions, and parents often hesitate to allow them to keep anything valuable due to concerns about their judgment.

Most thieves will skip over their rooms. The kid's room would be an unexpected place for storing valuables.

But remember to keep smaller valuables (like jewelry) out of reach, as they may pose a choking hazard for the children. Think about it - burglars are looking for quick, high-value targets, and they don't expect to find diamond earrings in a toy box.

Just be smart about what you hide there and make sure it's safe for kids.

Between Kitchen Cabinets - The Gap Strategy

This is one of those "why didn't I think of that?" spots. 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. It's brilliant because it's literally invisible unless you know exactly where to look.

The envelope just hangs there in that dead space that nobody pays attention to. Perfect for documents or emergency cash, though obviously not suitable for bulky items.

The Freezer - Cold Storage

Now we're getting into the territory where things can get risky. The freezer trick is famous, which means burglars know about it too.

If you've thought of the freezer as a sneaky hiding spot, chances are a robber has, too. A burglar won't rummage through your entire stack of frozen peas and fish sticks, but if you leave your treasures in something out-of-place, such as a sock, the thief will be onto you.

"If you're going to put something in the freezer, you want to put it in with something that looks legit, like wrapping it in a bag that used to have blueberries in it," says Siciliano. If you have important documents at home, store them in the freezer.

These documents are usually not thick and can be taped to the bottom of a freezer shelf or rested against the back wall. Documents will blend well with the freezer due to the white color.

They are nearly indistinguishable if thieves search for valuables quickly. The key is making it look natural, but honestly, this method is becoming too well-known.

Are you starting to realize just how many options you have right in your own home? The statistics show that Homes without a security system are 300 percent more likely to be burglarized and 60 percent of convicted burglars said they looked for a new target if they saw a security system, but even the best security system can't protect everything.

That's why having multiple hiding strategies is so important - you're essentially creating layers of security that make it harder for criminals to find all your valuables in one place.