Super-Secret Hiding Place: The Toe-Kick

I've been obsessed with hiding things since I was a kid, and over the years have developed what I like to think are some pretty sophisticated, yet easily made, spots that most people will never find.

Kitchen (and bathroom) cabinets usually have what is called a "toe-kick" - the area between the floor and the bottom of the cabinet. The toe-kick is most often recessed - and guess what? There's nothing there but space waiting to be used.

You can do this in a rented apartment as long as you are careful - take your time, and you'll end up with an awesome stash spot.

Best of all, this doesn't cost more than a buck!

Here's what you need to get started:

Tools:

Razor knife
Putty knife with a thin blade
Some sort of pry tool, putty knife with thicker blade or flat piece of metal
A trim tool - used to pry molding from base boards
Diagonal cutters or tin snips
Hammer or mallet
Safety glasses
File and sandpaper
Block of wood to protect the surface you're going to hammer
Vacuum cleaner or broom (optional)


Materials:

4 rare earth magnets
Four screws or nails with heads - make sure they're attracted to magnets
Epoxy
Small piece of thin plywood (optional)
Box or other container to fit the spot (optional)

Step 1 Identify the spot

Look around your kitchen or bathroom to find a corner or end floor cabinet with just a foot or so of recessed baseboard. In my case, I had a corner cabinet in the kitchen that was perfect for this.

The baseboard needs to be a separate piece of wood, i.e., not attached to the cabinet itself. Most floor cabinets are set up this way.

Comments

[jellybean10122]

 Bad thing is, in my house, that's where those big*ss rats live, and they are persistent little buggers.

[Nasubi77]

I realize this comment is old, but you could put your "stash" inside a PVC pipe capped off at both ends (whatever size fits your stash and fits inside the secret place) to prevent the rodents from getting to it.

[brandegor]

Don't see why not - I scored a lead box used at hospitals for transporting something for radiology - they use them once and toss them. It's a long flat thing and seals tight as a drum. Good point on the rodents - I didn't think of that.

[brandegor]

Yeah, that's a bummer. Sorry, mate.

[qmounts]

man, you are genius i never would have thought of taking off the toe kick and rigging an easy reatachment thing im 13 and im definately going to use this

[ralphywiggum]

This is a great post! Thanks for sharing one of your secret spots.  

I found these online, and use one in the house and one in my truck for emergency cash.  I don't think you could find them, even if you were looking for them.  

http://www.toysfrommyattic.com/StashableStorageTube

[framistan]

I found someones SECRET STASH once !!!  It was a wad of aluminum foil folded up into a kind of a square shape and hung under an OLD OLD kitchen sink.  It looked like a piece of JUNK.  We were tearing out the kitchen sink... and tossing the junk into the center of the kitchen.  The sink was so old it was one of those heavy iron ones.  Something struck me as the aluminum foil looked OUT OF PLACE and very ODD.  So I peeled back the foil and there was $1400.00 inside !  The guy who owned it must have died suddenly, and never retrieved it.  By the dates on the money i figured it must have been under the sink for at least 20 years. I gave the money to my brother because it was his house. 

[Chirpoff]

WOW! That's awesome! I think I'll stick around the next time my family rips out the sink! LOL

[brandegor]

Sweet!

[evinsask]

This is brilliant.  Love it!

[l96470fps]

ha! ive been doing this for years and other bits and pieces, great minds think alike! currently i have one under the bookshelf in my hallway and no-one has ever found it!  mine is just friction held so you just kick it (toe kick) and walla its open, great ible! 5/5

[brb112988]

another good place i used to stach my money so my older brother couldentfind it was in the back of a ps2 theres a place for an expansion bay andi never had an expansion bay so i figured what the heck and startedputtin it in there and he evan used to take my whole ps2 and stiff neverfound it ha ha dummy

[Re-design]

I went to tech school in the Air Force in Denver.  All the dorm rooms had a cabinet like this in the room.  Every one of them had the panel below fixed for extra hidden storage.  There was an understanding that the Sergeants never checked there.

[brandegor]

Interesting - two of my brothers and my dad were all in the AF and never told me...

[rimar2000]

Where do you live? Street, number, city, state, etc... ;)

[brandegor]

1600 Pennsylvania Ave .. . Washington, DC.

[rimar2000]

I live in Argentine and speak Spanish, not English. Then I don't understand if there is a joke in your response, but I suppose YES. LAST MOMENT!! I found it in Google, it is the White House address... Good response!

[cammel8]

his response was the address of the Whitehouse....where the president of the USA lives. And I thought rather funny myself....

[rimar2000]

Yes , yes, I found it in Google. Thanks.

[brandegor]

Escribir bien el idioma Inglés - better than most Americans.

[rimar2000]

Thanks. That happens here in Argentina too, I have fellow professionals who can not write in Spanish. I use Google Translator and after I correct some words. Gracias. Eso ocurre también acá en Argentina, tengo compañeros profesionales que no saben escribir en español. Yo uso el Traductor Google y luego corrijo algunas palabras.

[jbaroni]

aqui no Brasil usamos muito o GOOGLE CHROME, é perfeito para tradução...

[vegettopotato]

This is a great idea. Thanks for sharing such a good secret!

[aseaheru]

sweetness!

[partyone]

To paraphrase a book I read once, "The best secret is one that stays secret." Now I know your secret. Actually that is an awesome idea! Thanks for the tip. I would have never thought of this. I have seen hidden drawers in stairs before. Mayhaps you could use shelf slides and make a hidden drawer and use magnets to hold it closed.

[brandegor]

Ha - I know - I thought about that before I published!

[dchall8]

I had my carpenter build a toekick drawer when he built the cabinet in my bathroom. Never told anyone about it but now I have new cabinets without the hidden drawer, so... This can be done behind the baseboard, too. I've also seen a stash behind the wall adjacent to a hanging ceiling.

[Weissensteinburg]

This is awesome! The screws were a great, cheap way to attach it, instead of using 4 magnets.