Your Own Secret Hidden Safe! For Under $2

With over 6 million break-ins across the nation a year, Here's a cheap quick and easy way to hide your smaller more valuable goodies!

*DISCLAIMER* This method is just a type of security through obscurity, If found there is NOTHING preventing access. Remember people can't steal what they can't find, something like this would best be suited behind a dresser or other furniture.

Below you will find a list of tools and supplies that you will need to do this.

1 - Single Gang Duplex Wall Plate - $0.18
1 - 15 Amp, 120 Volt Residential Grade Duplex Receptacle - $0.37
1 - Single Gang Cut-in box - $1.19

Roofing Nails/ Washers (if you don't have them already they will only be a few pennies)

These can all be purchased at your local hardware store (Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, Valu)

Recommended Tools:
1.) Pliers
2.) Screwdriver
3.) Pencil
4.) Drywall Saw
5.) Small screwdriver (optional)

Step 1: Widen the hole

First you are going to take the cut-in box and widen the holes where the screws are supposed to go into, use the little screwdriver or a roofing nail to do this, (there is a little metal tab inside that hole which needs to be bent out of the way so the roofing nails can slide in and out eaisly.

Step 2: Assemble the Cover

Now you are going to take the box lay it flat on the table, place the electrical outlet so the holes line up with those of the box, take the roofing nails and slide them through the washers and through the outlet holes and into the box. Next screw down the faceplate.

Step 3: Trace, Cut & Install

Now your going to take the box, place it openside against the wall, trace it out, and then use the drywall saw to cut it out. Place the box in the hole and tighten down the screws.

Step 4: Done!

You're all done! The faceplate assemble should now slide in and out of the box you installed in the wall, leaving a little room for some smaller valuable items! Enjoy!

Comments

[Coyote8]

I really want to see one with a working wireless switch.

[tinker234]

sorry lost text meant that you plug in to it and it still works as a plug but inside there is a secret

[tinker234]

is there a way to take to and make this work

[mcaliber.50]

they make flat plates too. you could use one of those

[csantiago3]

Well I love the idea perfect to hide the nice jewelery, thnks (:

[crapflinger]

i bet you could remove the recepticle faces from the actual recepticle and maybe glue them into the face plate...or maybe put a small piece of cardboard or something behind them...that would give you more storage space

[zomfibame]

Yup, I've done that before; Paint the cardboard flat black so that the slots in the outlet face look more real. You can also make it wider by using a box that holds two or three outlets.

[madhops0620]

It just occurred to me that you could probably use a cable plug plate instead of an outlet, which would also give you more room

[iApple guy]

Like a phone jack.

[bbsux]

I did something similar to this when I needed a concealed place to mount a camera to watch my vending machine. I had to use what was in the room to avoid tipping the perp off. So I took the lightswitch out and wirenutted the lights on. I then took the switch apart and took the handle part of the switch and the mount bracket (attached them with a peice of wire) so the switch could move up and down. I used the faceplate screw hole as the lens hole. Works pretty good -- its been there for 5 years and no one has discovered it. I've caught 6 people vandalizing and 3 people stealing.

[PCfreak]

cool i might have to try that cuz ive had ppl rocking my machines....i had one of those anti-tip/ rocking brackets but who ever it was managed to cut it usin a cut off wheel or something. i thought about moving it 2 a different location or put a expanded metal cage around it only leavin the selection buttions an product door open

[inventorboy84]

 In 1812 the Canadians burned down the white house in your little city of Washington. GO SUCK ON THAT.

[Project D]

Suck on that? Suck on this: did you know that Tic-Tacs only have 1.5 calories?

Silly Canadians.

[punkhead58]

Actually, it wasn't the Canadians directly, but rather, British soldiers occupying Canadian provinces.

Don't you know yer history, eh?

[eneergcam]

Wasn't it because we burnt down there government buildings?

[reubyjay]

no ofence 4 yankee part u guys were just trying a take over of canada and we fought back

[reubyjay]

lol u go ahead and think that yankee

[eneergcam]

Hahaha, what a nerdy conversation,

[rodnrose]

Thanks to everybody for proving my own beliefs to be true...as follows...
All countries are awesome if they provide and take care of their own. Everyone should worry more about the people around you and your fellow countrymen(neihbors far and wide). The strength of a country is shown by the strength of its people and how they stick together, never by the strength of it's military.

Peace

[gmendoza38sc]

Hey a good place to hide me stash...i err mean valueables from the man!!

[jbr2343]

you can tape, glue, staple (with weather stripping) with clear plastic over it for a water tight fit!! the plastic needs to be clear to be inconspicuous. :)

[jbluemast]

If you're ever in a hotel and you have a friend kick a hole in the wall....some epoxy and a outlet or phone jack for the wall will cover it nicely, too. Don't ask me how I know...

[dummy1977]

God damn morons.. I was going to scrapbook this article with the relevant comments, but my merge feature doesn't handle the comment structures on this site for some reason. So I either have to have two scraps for this article I will probably never use but still think is very cool, or I will just have to nuke all the polemic bullshit, to which I can't stop so I will say. If America wasn't taking up the majority of media the rest of the world exposes themselves to (a large portion of the internet, Hollywood, and a nice chunk of the music world) you wouldn't have these preconceptions. I understand this, I do. I live here and sometimes I expect it if I have been internet dwelling for too long, then I walk out of the door and get reacquainted with reality. If I was first coming here I'd expect walking down the street or into a store to be filled with all the arrogant blather youtube trolls dish out like confetti...but in reality, this crude garbage which dominates and flourishes in areas like a comment thread wilts like a paper bag in a fine mist if it tries going out and down the street in it's natural form, so they keep to their dwellings nicely. Break-in statistics? You've got to be out of your bloody skull, or don't know what per-capita + media coverage has to do with it. I live in a town that includes every traffic stop or officer helping someone locked of their car in the police blotter, along with the real garbage. There are plenty of places in the world (and in America) where even the "real garbage" goes unreported.

[zascecs]

nice..., i could use one of these...

[madhops0620]

Btw, it says the video has been removed from metacafe

[Uncle Kudzu]

i like the idea of this instructable. it reminds me of way back when i was a punka** kid and i would hide a bit of weed behind an unused phone wall jack.

now, as to what else is going on here, i gotta say that it is good to remember that folks from all over the world are reading and contributing to this site.

[metal-matt]

"With over 6 million break-ins across the nation a year" dont say that. we dont all live in USA, and usa isnt the whole world. im asuming your talking about usa because thats what people from usa do. kinda self-centered, realy...

[jimmytvf]

is basing in his country as the same you would do and i would do... i know the data of my country where i live, guess you also know yours

[kyannik]

I'm not American either..but if I was American, I would probably quote an American stat. I think you're reading a lot into a simple statistic and blaming this person for your views of the states.

[geekazoid]

omg... it was a stat. I don't live in the us, and i don't find myself offended. now if it said something racist, or implying something negative i would be - but it doesn't.

[Ninzerbean]

Yeah, it's really self centered to share a great idea but not not self centered to blast it for no reason other than to see yourself in print. duh.

[zomfibame]

I hope I don't come across as being a jerk, but I think the reason the statistic regarding break-ins was referring to the USA is because the person who made this was most likely an American. I doubt they meant to insult you by simply NOT telling the rest of the world the statistics on how many hood-rats and/or junkie/crack-heads your home land might or might not have stealing valuables from there neighbors homes. (if you look at the parts pictured, including the size/shape of the pinout on the outlet you can see the outlet is "American style") In closing I'd just like to say;Peace love and chicken grease to you and yours where ever you live, and what ever style outlets you might have.

[guitarman63mm]

It's not self-centered at all, this site is based in the United States, and it's predominantly made up of U.S. citizens, making it a true statement for the majority. If everyone wanted the number of home invasions in their respective countries, said list would be 190-something countries long. I can smell that air of superiority from across the pond, my friend. Don't be a hypocrite.

[metal-matt]

lols, im pretty sure its based in the uk. and anyway, this is a international site, if your gonna quote numbers, say where there from. i dont care much for where im from, infact i dont realy like it at all.

[guitarman63mm]

Instructables, Inc. 489 Clementina St., 3rd Floor San Francisco, CA 94103 I can't stand people criticizing my country for no reason, other than sheer ignorance. You're probably the same type that thinks Obama's a brilliant man, but that's another topic in itself. To jpvideo: Sorry for starting an argument that's unlikely to end...

[AMannedElk]

guitarman63mm, you are my hero.

[borat007]

usualy theres a lot of reason to critisize3 your country

[Father Christmas]

I agree whole-heartedly. We Americans tend to get very ethnocentric about the most trivial of things. Not to mention, the global break-in rate would have a much more profound effect on most people reading this.

[falkon]

it would be pretty neato if you had a key that you stuck into a lock behind the plug to unlock it. But then again, if you ever forgot which plug it was >_> maybe a round key you could stick in the ground plug....

[illdoyourdrugs]

Hah i was going to make this instructable and completely forgot! Nice work.