If you’re thinking about buying a home security safe, it’s worth planning and preparing for where you will install a home security safe.
For the majority of people, you can install a home security safe yourself without too much hassle or drama; most home safes come with everything you need to install your safe on the floor or to the wall quickly and easily.
The benefits of having a home safe are easy to see, but where exactly is the best place to install a home security safe?
In this article, I’ll take a look at some of the best places you could install a home security safe, as well as some considerations you should make in the buying process to ensure you are buying the right safe for you, your home and your valuables.
Once you are sure and clear on where a safe would fit in your home, go ahead and check out the article here on the 5 of the best home safes to buy for your home.
For conveneinece, there’s a handy table of contents below. Click on one of the headings, and it will take you straight to the place on this page. We are Amazon Associates, and I make a commission on qualifying purchases.
Table of Contents
Home Safes – Size Matters
The grade of safe and cash rating type is an important part of the buying process, as you will need a safe that will protect your valuables, and if need be, buy a safe that is insurance approved if you have valuables or cash worth over several thousands of pounds.
But the size of the safe you buy is also an important decision you’ll make in the purchasing process, because the size of the safe impacts on two things; where you can install your safe, and what items you can put into your safe.
So it’s imperative that you take some time to consider the size and shape of the safe you want to buy.
Good preparation now will future proof your safe, and negate the need of buying a new safe down the line when you find it’s not big enough to hold your valuables.
Measuring Your Items
For example, if you want to store your laptop and iPad in your safe, you’ll need to measure the length and depth of each of these items, and cross reference it with the dimensions of the safe. It sounds common sense and like teaching someone to suck eggs, but it’s an easy trap to fall into.
For instance, some safes will market their safe as ‘ideal for laptops’. But then when you look into it, the safe will only accommodate laptops of a certain size.
So before purchase, make sure you list everything that you wish to store in your safe, and for anything big or bulky that you do want to store, like DSLR cameras or laptops, measure them and make sure they actually fit.
Measuring Spaces For Your Safe
As well as measuring the items you want to keep in your safe, you’ll of course also need to measure the actual space where you wish to install your safe.
If you’ve got a place in mind, then measure the length, width and depth of that space, and cross reference it with the dimensions of the safe you are buying. This will save a lot of hassle and stress when you find that the safe you just bought is 2 cm too wide for the location you had planned.
If you end up buying a safe that is too small, or too big, you’ll end up with the hassle of returning a big bulky safe, or placing your safe in a location that isn’t convenient for you.
Install A Home Security Safe – Common Locations
1. Inside Wardrobes
The most common location to install a home security safe is in a bedroom, inside of a built in wardrobe. And it’s easy to see why this is such a popular location for a home safe; it takes advantage of ‘dead’ space at the bottom or top of a wardrobe, it’s hidden within a wardrobe (maybe with clothing hanging over it/hiding it), it gives you easy access to it when you need it, and it is in the best location to bolt into a wall, floor or even both.
If you don’t have built-in wardrobes and you only have free-standing wardrobes, you can still place your safe inside one of these.
However, you are more than likely only going to be able to use the safe as a free-standing safe, because many free-standing wardrobes won’t have the desired thickness in the flooring of the wardrobe to be able to correctly secure a safe with its included fixtures
Leaving a safe free standing is acceptable, but then you are running the risk of a potential burglar finding the safe, and simply carrying it away with them – especially if the safe is lightweight and small.
They’ll take it away and take it to another location where they will have time and the necessary tools to breach the safe and access the contents.
Another consideration that must be thought of when placing a safe into free standing wardrobes is the risk of the wardrobes toppling over due to uneven balance. If you have children in the house this becomes a big risk, especially if the safe is heavy and leads to the wardrobes becoming wobbly or unstable.
So do take this into consideration when scoping out the perfect place for you to install your home security safe.
2. Inside Cupboards
Another popular location to install a home security safe is inside cupboards.
These cupboards can be located anywhere in the house, but most commonly in kitchen cupboards and cupboards found in living rooms/lounges or dining rooms.
The main reason for this is convenience. The safe is readily and easily accessible by you in a central location.
Kitchen cupboards are popular because these cupboard are usually filled with saucepans, cutlery and general kitchen utensils worth very little value – a burglar or intruder may not even bother looking through kitchen cupboards for this very reason.
If you have a kitchen cupboard that has some empty space at the bottom, then installing a home security safe in this location is a very good option.
Be warned though, you’ll probably need a fireproof safe for peace of mind, as fires tend to start in kitchens more than any other room according to Government data.
3. Under the Stairs
If you have under stair storage, then placing a safe in this location is practical and convenient.
Most people use this space for some sort of storage anyway – towels, vacuums, ironing boards etc.
A small space in the corner, under the stairs is ideal, because it gives you easy access to floors and walls (for securing to one or both), and it is generally convenient for a safe to be in there.
So if you have space under the stairs, consider installing your home security safe under the stairs.
Remember though, if your RCD unit (electric fuse box) is situated in this same location, you may need to consider, again, a fireproof safe.
And in addition, this is one vital place where we recommend the placement of a smoke detector.
4. On A Shelf In A Home Office
It’s popular, but not recommended.
If it’s hidden behind a cupboard door or hidden out of sight, then that makes it more acceptable, but simply placing a safe on the shelf in a home office is problematic, mainly because you will be limited by weight if it’s on a shelf.
If you are placing it on a shelf, make sure that the shelf is strong, sturdy and is properly secured to the wall using the correct rawl plugs and screws.
If you really want your safe in your home office, then try and at least conceal it, and if not, affix it to the shelf itself or the wall behind it. A lot of people place it in this location for aesthetics more than security, as a safe on show in an office makes that office feel more important and formal.
Alternatively, if you only want a very small safe for storing memory cards and small jewellery, a covert safe may be for you.
Convenience vs Security
Having a safe in a easy to reach, central location will mean you will use it more regularly.
It’s just human nature that when it comes to habits and processes (like locking away expensive DSLR equipment in a safe when the equipment isn’t in use), the easier it is to carry out that habit or process, the higher the liklelihood that it is done.
If your safe is in your loft for instance, then locking those valuables away after use becomes a pain – and naturally, sometimes you just won’t do it.
You’ll think: ‘I can’t be bothered locking away this equipment in the safe this morning, I’m running late as it is, and I’ll just put them in the cupboard for today. I’ll lock them away tomorrow’.
Bet your last pound that it will be on those days that you are a victim of burglary, especially if you haven’t followed the guide to improving your general home security.
So make sure the safe is in a convenient location for you to access it on a regular basis.
But what about security? If I install a home security safe in an obvious place like the bottom of my wardrobes, won’t that make it easy for any potential burglars to find?
It will.
But no matter where you install your home safe, if someone wanted to find it, they would find it.
But the purpose of a safe is to secure the contents of that safe against anyone who doesn’t have the key to get into it, or anyone that doesn’t know the keypad combination.
If they find it, so be it.
But consider this. When a burglar sees a safe, they think a number of different things.
The first thing they think is time. On average, a burglary take between 8 and 12 minutes. They want to be in and out as quick as possible for obvious reasons.
They do not, under any circumstances, want to be held up by trying to get into a safe. And they probably won’t know how hard it will be to break into that safe, as the likelihood is they won’t know if your safe cost £30 or £300.
And this goes against their timescales – the more time a burglar is on a premises, the greater the chance they get caught – simple economics.
The next thing they are thinking is they have no key, or they don’t know the combination or keypad number. To get into that safe, they are going to have to break into using whatever they have come equipped with. And to break into a safe is going to make a lot of noise.
Again, most burglars want to be as quiet as possible as to not arouse suspicion with neighbours, anybody passing outside etc.
Installing A Home Security Safe – Recommendations
If you have a small and lightweight safe (like this one at just under 6 kilograms) then it’s imperative to bolt it down to the floor or attach it to the wall.
If it’s not, and the safe is discovered, then any intruder will simply lift it from its position, and take it away. Once in the comfort of their own surroundings, they will then break into it and access the contents that way.
The heavier and bulkier the safe, the less likely that this will happen.
However, we are talking about homes safes here, so it is highly possible that your safe will be small and lightweight – so once again, make every attempt possible to secure your safe to the floor or to the wall, using the instructions and fixings that your safe comes with.
But won’t they just try and rip it out anyway?
Possibly. But again, we go back to a couple of things intruders don’t like – ripping a safe from the floor boards will take extra time and create extra noise.
And with all this in mind, it comes back to something that is repeated time and time again on this site – when it comes to keeping your personal belongings, valuables, cash and important documents safe from theft, then having them in a home safe is exponentially more secure than not having them in a safe at all.
Buying A Safe
Once you’ve done your list of items of what you want to store in your safe, and you’ve measured, re-measured and taken note of all measurements, it’s now time to actually go and buy a safe.
I’ve also got this article here – 5 of the best home safes to buy for your home.
It’s also absolutely worth doing a mini security audit of your home before buying a safe. My article here shows you a number of things you should do before committing to buying a home safe.
It’s no good buying a home safe if all of your other security arrangements aren’t up to scratch.
Help Installing A Home Safe
If you believe you will struggle with the installation of your safe, or you are uncomfortable installing it, you could always ring a local tradesperson who will do it for you.
They will fit, secure and fix any safe to any part of your interior for a small fee, and the job will be done professionally and correctly the first time.
Questions & Comments
As always, I love to hear your thoughts, questions and comments. What advice would you give on where to install a home security safe? Where have you installed your safe? Where would you not install a safe?
Let me know in the comments below – I try and reply to each and every comment.
Stay Safe. Stay Secure.
