Seventeen Sneaky Secret Compartments

To celebrate the publication of my little stash project in Make: Volume 34, I’ve rounded up a pseudorandom smattering of some of my favorite secret hiding place posts from our online archives. Some of these link to Make: articles, some to outside content, and a few don’t link anywhere and are just included for inspiration. The sneaky state-of-the-art is always advancing—hopefully one of these secret compartments will drive you to new depths of deviousness!

A doortop stash may not be able to store a lot, but you are pretty much guaranteed that no one is going to find it. This tutorial was recently updated with a video to make it even easier for you to follow along. Link: Door Stash

This veeeeery devious concealment, which opens with a detachable magnetic clasp, is one of eight produced by design student Yi-Ting Ching as part of her Master’s thesis, “Secret Stash 2010.” Link: Plywood Secret Compartment

How to sew a hidden pocket in a pair of pants or shorts. Great for hiding credit cards or cash. Link: How to Make an Easy Hidden Pocket[Instructables]

Made a Cold War-era dead drop out of a bolt. Link: Cold War Dead Drop Bolt [Instrucables]

John Park uses a Dremel oscillating tool to create a hollowed-out secret book safe/stash. Link: Make a Secret Hollowed-out Book.

Recycle castoff books and turn them into this sneaky, decorative book safe. Link: Vintage Book Stash.

Derek “Deek” Diedricksen brings us a lo-fi, how-to way of hiding your cash and valuables with his junction box stash. Link: Junction Box Stash Spot – Tiny Yellow House.

Hide your mini fridge by cutting out a side of a cardboard box (the size will vary depending on the size of your fridge) and glue or tape the cardboard to the front. Now, what was once your fridge just looks like a storage box.

Create this very sneaky hidden remote that activates your garage door when you lift a soda cup in your car. Link: Secret Garage Door Remote.

Hide your digital plans for world domination inside the walls of your lair with this phone jack USB data stash. Link: Hidden Phone Jack USB Storage [Instructables]

Turn a spent AA battery into a USB data stash with this little hack. Link: Weekend Project: Make a USBattery Data Stash

Unlock a secret compartment with magnetic chess pieces with this gorgeous homemade chess board. Link: Secret Chessboard Compartment.

A Portland contractor builds a secret playroom behind an armoire destined to launch a thousand Narnia jokes. Link: Secret Playroom Access Through Armoire

If you want to go completely nuts with secret rooms in your house, you may need to call in a hidden passageway consult. Yes, they exist. Check out Creative Home Engineering for all of your candlestick-controlled secret passageway needs.

Make a door disappear, literally into the woodwork. This video doesn’t give full instructions, but you a good idea of how to get started. The door has even been programmed to open at the push of a button (and there are other ways to open it). Link: Hidden Exterior Entrance Door.

This beautiful house didn’t have anywhere for the people to park. The bottom floor was essentially unused, so Beausoleil Architects came up with a unique garage idea. Theyput in a two-part door that perfectly matches the exterior of the house. More via this video.

For some additional secret compartment and hidden spaces projects, see our follow-up article 20 Secret Doors and Clever Hiding Places.