3. Put a book shelf or display case over the door.
If you are fortunate enough to have a home, a family, and a few assets, then you have a lot worth protecting. Like many people, you may be thinking about ways to protect your most valuable asset: your family. A safe room is a secret reinforced room where you and your family can go and hide in the event of a home invasion or burglary and they are one of the latest trends in home defense. A large part of a safe room’s effectiveness lies in its ability to remain a secret. To that end, here are some ideas for concealing your safe room.
1. Make the door look like a gun safe. A gun safe door may be a little smaller than the average door, but since you don’t plan to use it often—and especially since you will be in an emergency situation when you do use it—a slightly shorter or narrower doorway is a minor inconvenience. Additionally, a heavy duty door with a heavy duty lock is likely to put off any would-be burglar or home invader. And that heavy door with its intimidating lock may just be what will save your family in the end.
2. Hide your safe room behind a paneled door. Camouflage is a great way to conceal anything you want to keep hidden. If the door to your panic room looks like a part of the wall, a criminal is not likely to ever see it. Cover the door to your secret room with the same paneling used to cover the surrounding wall. As long as it blends in, no one will ever be the wiser.
3. Put a book shelf or display case over the door. Another option is to hide something in plain sight. An intruder is probably not going to bother himself with your china collection, nor will he have any idea that you are in the reinforced bonus room on the other side of that china hutch watching his movements on a television linked to hidden cameras.
4. Sometimes a little technology can go a long way. One example of a really ingenious hiding place for a safe room is right under a stair case. A motorized device can lift the stairs to reveal the entry to the secret room below. You will require the assistance of technology to lift your stairs but you will be able to take comfort in the knowledge that no one is ever likely to go looking for your family there.
Next to providing for your family, keeping them safe should be your top priority. Many people are joining the growing trend of installing a safe room in their homes. Keeping your safe room a secret is an important part of maintaining its usefulness and, ultimately, keeping your family safe.