Hidden Space Prep Storage.

     I have posted several notes on lifting beds to get storage space in the past, but there is another dilemma in storage, when it comes to hiding your prep goods.  If you are lucky enough to have a room in your home you can fill with supplies, you can maintain security with a lock on the door.  But, doesn't that make the curious guest or rummaging thief that much more curious?  

     False walls inside a room with the same color paint on them and paintings and family photos are easy to overlook.  Access to this space should be only after the Crunch comes, your perimeter security is set and YOU need your supplies.  Before walls go up, a list of supplies you want stored for the longest time must be made.  

note the 'H' of closet on the left

    I have just interviewed a carpenter with a "history".  He has explained to me not only how new homes are constructed but several tricks used by illegal 'growers' to conceal their activity.  His best suggestion for a hidden room is to study your floor plan.  In homes where two bedrooms share a closet wall with a closet for each room on the same wall will appear as an H on the plans.  Remove the closet door from one closet.  Frame and drywall over the opening.  Go to the other room and cut into the connecting wall of the other closet and build a removable frame and drywall and paint the frame.  

http://uhurufurniture.blogspot.com

    He tells me this is ideal for a safe room or a grow room when no electricity is used in either room except for grow lights.  Okay, that was too much information, but that is what he said!  Occasionally his company did build a soundproof room/hide in case of home invasion, complete with security cameras and separate air vents.  The room that loses it's closet, can be decorated with a wardrobe for storage of clothes.

www.motherearthnews.com 

     Secondly, he states the addition of window seats is a popular waste of space in home building.  these devices are constructed and finished before the carpet guy comes in and are usually bare floor dead space.  If you do not have window seats, consider getting rid of some superfluous furniture and create some 'reading nooks' or cat napping platforms!  

chestofbooks.com

     Build a box from the corner of a room under the window and extended the same distance as from the window to the wall.  Hinges for the access door should be located in the area of the window.  They can be easily concealed with cushions and a cat!  Continue making sense of having a big box in the living area by building bookcases in the areas beside the window all the way to the ceiling.  Occasionally, sit there and read a book.    Note: Hanging a mirror on each side of the bookcases to amplify light and add virtual space back into the room also hides the BOX in the room full of supplies! The picture at the right is a window seat sewing box, but you know better what to put in your new storage space!

     Good places to place window boxes:  A window wall at the end of a hall, In front of a bay window
or even an unused entryway space

     If you are a carpenter, you can make those lovely working doors on the cabinets, but I am a box builder.  I have made window seats for my mother (my mother's cats) and I used the lift top piano hinge on top.  She stores picture frames and projects she is going to do in hers.  (It kills me a little:()  The point is, you can dress the front of your window box with false doors.  Glue the doors to the front and paint over them to match.  

hunchmag.com 

     Almost any space at the end of a hall without windows or entryway is a good place for a false wall or hidden room.

homes.yahoo.com

There is more than one way to use the space under stairs.


     If you are using the crawlspace above your head, the famous FLorida 'half attic', secure the opening by making it look like an air conditioner return or filter.

Secret room: Norwegian tenants discover secret 'WWII bolt hole ...www.miaminewsday.com 

If the Norwegians could secret a resistance in this room for more than sixty years, you too can put away a little something for the future.  Look into this article, there was a WWII map of Britain and Northern France on the wall!