Hi, I'm Nils with learn to DIY. And today we're
going to look at seven genius hiding spots around your house. Number seven is the classic hollowed
out book. The idea here is pretty simple. You mark a square inside the book and then use a knife to
cut out several pages at a time. I started this, but realized maybe I could use some
power tools. So I use this oscillating tool to cut through larger sections at
a time, and it made quick work of it. Shake out all the loose debris, and then you're
going to use super glue to line the inside of the cutout. Then once you let this sit for
a little while, it's all set and you've got yourself a nice little hiding spot. This makes
a great hiding spot for emergency devices. Two-way radios, jump drives, jewelry, cash,
or whatever else you can fit in there.
Now, if you don't want to go through all of the
work of cutting out a book safe yourself, you can also just purchase them online. These ones are
ready to go. And then you've got plenty of room inside for storage. Links are in the description
below. Number six is the fake plant. Many fake plants are easy to pull apart and they actually
have a nice little storage area right inside where you can fit jewelry, cash, or other small
items like that. These are Ikea plants and they worked out particularly well. And when you put
them back in place, no one can tell what's there. Now for number five, sometimes you find
yourself in possession of a love letter that you wrote to Whitney Houston when you were
a teenager and you really don't want anyone to see that. So there's an easy tactic to hide
things that are flat like this. Find a drawer, whether it's in your dresser or in the kitchen or
elsewhere, grab an envelope and then some tape.
And you can actually just tape that envelope to
the back of the drawer where no one really ever looks. And then it's out of sight and out of mind
for hiding place. Number four, I'm just going to use an empty paint can. A lot of times we find
ourselves with extra paint cans from different jobs over the years, look for a can that has
little to no paint in it. And then once you pop the lid, make sure to get everything completely
cleaned out so that it's dry and clean in there. And with that, you have a lot of space to put
things like hard drives, backup DVDs, or CDs, jump drives, cash jewelry, you name it. It's a
pretty good sized space. Just make sure to seal it up really well when you're done once you're
ready to put it back with the other paint cans, just make sure you have some way
to remember which one it is.
Number three, on our hiding place list. We're
going to start out with an empty medicine bottle that has a screw on lid. And then we're going to
go into the garden or yard and find a rock that has a relatively flat side. On one side, I'm going
to use some gorilla glue hot glue sticks here. These are actually really strong and hold on for a
good long time. I'm going to put a generous amount on the lid, some more on the rock and then put
those together and then just sealing up any little gaps that might exist there to make sure it's on
really tight from there. We can take a house key, either a bicycle lock, key shed key, different
things like that. Pop those in the bottle, put the lid on, and then we just need to find
a good hiding spot outside. I'm clearing out a space here in my front yard where I can place
the bottle. The goal is to make sure the top is just aligned perfectly with the surface
of the material surrounding it so that all you can see is that little rock. Sometimes it's
hidden so well. You can barely see it at all,
But there it is.
Now, no one will likely ever see this, but when you do need it, if you're stuck outside
of your house, for example, you can just pull up on that rock, empty out the bottle, and then
you've got your spare keys ready for your use. Number two on our list is the multiple book
book safe. I'm going to start by grabbing some measurements from this lockable unit here. And
then I'm going to take two larger books from the thrift store and... Listen to the sound it makes
when you run it through the table, saw here...
Some interesting little popping noises,
but it does do a nice job and gives you a pretty clean cut that you can then just
remove a huge section of the book all at once. When you do this to both books, you're
left with a perfect size void for the safe, we'll apply some of that same hot gorilla glue
to the binding of both books and then seal it together. And then in no time, you've got a
finished product that you can stick up on the bookshelf and no one will ever be able to see that
it's there a safe like this that is lockable is a perfect place for putting weapons and things that
you want kept away from children and strangers as well as a good place for putting
things that are valuable, like passports, cash and other goods. And just like with all
of our books, it slides onto the bookshelf and no one can see that it's there.
Now a second option for a multiple book safe is we're going to actually cut out a large
box section out of several books, but you're left with this nice opening, which you can take the
measurements of to create a plywood box. I'm just using some half-inch plywood here, cutting
out all six sides. Using a combination of the table saw and the miter saw, and then I'm using
a Brad nailer with one inch Brads to secure them all together with a box completed. I can now use
that hot gorilla glue again to place the spines and the outsides of the book on the box. Like so
many of these, this one hides in plain sight and For our number one hiding place, I'm going
to place a safe inside the wall behind one of our pictures. You can see the multiple star
Wars pictures here and this large one in the center we'll hide the safe that we're about
to install. I'll use a stud finder to locate the studs on either side. Now this does require
that you have drywall or sheet rock installation, and then I'll use a drywall saw or a jab
saw to cut out three sides of the opening. Once I've got the three sides cut out, I'll
score the left side of the paper of the dry wall. And then I'll just give it a quick pop and that
should come free from there. I just need to score it all the way through, and then I can remove
that piece from there. You're ready to grab the safe and do a dry fit in the wall. The safe
comes with six large wood screws, and this makes a really sturdy fitting, as you can see here.
So I installed a couple of hinges, very carefully into the frame and then use drywall anchors to
drive some screws into the wall and then attach the frame with the hinges. I put some Velcro on
the opposite side, and this allows it to stay fastened and in place when I close it up. And
with that, we have a lovely hiding place behind this picture frame, which is an excellent
spot for hiding things like heavy gold bars, which you can use to barter for things
like toilet paper during a pandemic. Now, one word of advice. If you're going to
use this safe, you might want to remember to close it up behind you.
[inaudible] I had a lot of fun with that one. I hope
you enjoyed it. Now, if you want to see what happens when you 3d print a Bulletproof
stormtrooper, check out the video right here.
