Let’s be honest: a burglar gets one night in your house and leaves. Your kids get all of December, they know every creaky floorboard, and they have nothing but time and motive.
I have written before about hiding places for valuables, and the same rule applies here: a hiding spot only works when nobody expects anything of it. The bedroom closet fails that test, badly.
The storage company Neighbor surveyed 1,000 people about where presents get hidden, and Motherly reported the results. The bedroom closet was the most common hiding spot, half of those asked said a hidden present had been found, and kids look first in the very place most parents use, the bedroom closet.
So the closet is out, and so is anything that looks like a hiding place. What works is boring, locked, or technically not your house.
Each spot below is sorted by what it fits, and every one comes with a catch, because a hiding place with no catch does not exist. Links to gear are affiliate links; the full disclosure is at the end.
1. Empty Luggage: The Suitcase That Does Nothing All Year
Suitcases spend most of the year doing nothing, which makes them ideal storage. A flat box of presents sits in there undisturbed until the day you travel.
A small luggage lock keeps honest kids honest if the zip is the determined sort.
Forge TSA Approved Luggage Locks, 4 Pack
Small cable locks for the suitcase zips. You get your travel locks back in January.
- Pack of 4
- TSA approved cable locks
- Open-alert indicator
We may earn a commission if you buy through this link. It costs you nothing extra.
Fits: medium boxes | The catch: you pack for a trip and forget.
2. The “Tax Records” Tote: Boring on Purpose
Nobody under 18 has ever opened a box of paperwork, and that is the whole plan. Opaque, lidded, and labelled like the most tedious object in the house.
Keep the totes somewhere dry, since damp turns gift wrap into a crumpled mess. And tell your partner, unless you enjoy watching them nearly donate your December.
If you like the idea of storage that hides in plain sight, this is the same principle.
Sterilite Stacker Totes With Latching Lids, 6 Pack
The listing says the opaque base keeps items out of sight, which is the whole job here. These are the small size, so they suit small and medium boxes.
- 4 gallon, about 18 x 12.6 x 7.1 inches outside
- Latching lids, stackable
- Pack of 6
- Bring your own masking tape and a boring label
We may earn a commission if you buy through this link. It costs you nothing extra.
Fits: medium boxes | The catch: keep the totes somewhere dry, and tell your partner.
3. Under the Lights: The Decoration Bin Blind Spot
Kids know the decoration bins hold decorations, so they stop looking after the first disappointing peek. Presents lie flat under the strings of lights and the tangle of fake garland.
The catch is timing. The bins come out in late November, so this is an early-shopper spot, and anything added after the tree goes up might as well be labelled.
Fits: medium boxes | The catch: the bins come out in late November, so this is an early-shopper spot.
4. Under-Bed Bags: Sweaters on Top, Secrets Below
A zipped bag of sweaters reads as a bag of sweaters, even to a suspicious ten-year-old. Presents lie flat underneath the clothes, and nobody unzips a bag just to check for knitwear.
The catch is age. Teenagers look under beds, so the clothes on top are doing all the work and they need to stay believable.
Under-Bed Storage Bags, 4 Pack
Zipped fabric bags that slide under the bed. Sweaters on top, presents underneath.
- Pack of 4
- Foldable when empty
- Sizes are on the listing
We may earn a commission if you buy through this link. It costs you nothing extra.
Fits: small to medium, flat | The catch: teenagers look under beds; the clothes on top are doing the work.
5. Old Handbags and Boot Boxes: The Closet, Done Properly
The closet fails when gifts sit on the shelf in plain view. Done properly, the gift goes inside something: an old handbag, or a boot box pushed to the back where the dust lives.
The catch is your own memory. You will forget one, which is why the list at the end of this article exists.
Fits: small gifts | The catch: you will forget one. Keep a list.
6. The Filing Cabinet: Where Paperwork Protects Presents
Files at the front, presents behind, and no child wants to open a drawer of paperwork. It is the indoor version of the tax records tote.
The catch is a partner who tidies. If yours files things, warn them or lose the gifts until spring cleaning.
Fits: small gifts | The catch: a partner who tidies.
7. The Locked Tool Chest: The Garage’s One Off-Limits Object
The garage contains exactly one object children are told not to touch, and it is the tool chest. Small gifts sit in a drawer under the wrenches, effectively untouchable.
Hide the key somewhere else entirely, or the lock is decorative. If your garage freezes over winter, keep out anything with a battery, for reasons covered further down.
I go deeper on off-limits spots in my guide to hiding places for valuables.
Fits: small gifts, nothing with a battery if the garage freezes | The catch: hide the key somewhere else.
8. Top of the Kitchen Cabinets: Above the Five-Foot Line
Behind the baskets, above the sight line of anyone under five feet tall. Medium boxes disappear up there among the rarely used serving dishes.
This works for under-10s only, because a determined twelve-year-old owns a step stool. It is also warm up there, so no chocolate unless you want to explain the puddle on Christmas Eve.
Fits: medium boxes | The catch: works for under-10s only, and it is warm up there, so no chocolate.
9. The Locked Trunk: For Shared Bedrooms and Nosy Siblings
When kids share a bedroom, nothing in their space is safe, and this solves it. The trunk lives in your own closet, holds medium boxes, and only you have the key.
A locked trunk announces itself, so put a quilt on top and let it look like bedding storage.
Seward 30 Inch Footlocker Trunk
A classic footlocker that the listing describes as lockable. It looks like dorm storage, which helps.
- 30 inches long
- Engineered wood with a vinyl covering
- Lockable, with nickel plated hardware
We may earn a commission if you buy through this link. It costs you nothing extra.
Fits: medium boxes | The catch: a locked trunk announces itself. Put a quilt on it.
10. Behind the Wardrobe: The Gap Nobody Checks
Flat things slide down the back of a wardrobe and vanish: board games, art sets, a scooter in its box. The gap has been there the whole time and nobody has ever had a reason to check it.
You need the house empty to get everything back out, so plan the extraction for a school day.
Fits: flat and large | The catch: you need the house empty to get it back out.
11. Your Desk at Work: The Office Advantage
Small gifts live in a drawer a commute away from the primary suspects. No child has ever searched an office, and that is the entire appeal.
The catch: remembering to bring them home on the last working day before Christmas. Set a phone alarm now and thank yourself later.
Fits: small gifts | The catch: remembering to bring them home on the last working day.
12. A Grandparent’s House: The Search-Proof Option
This is the only spot that is truly search-proof, and it is the answer to the bike problem. Grandparents will guard a bicycle like a state secret and enjoy every minute of it.
The catch is loose lips. Choose a co-conspirator who does not begin sentences with “guess what I know.”
Fits: anything | The catch: loose lips.
13. The Car Trunk: A Stop, Not a Storage Unit
Between the shop and a better hiding place, the trunk is fine. Police advice at the holidays is to keep gifts out of sight in a locked trunk, park somewhere lit, and not leave them in the car for long, because a trunk is not theft-proof (NBC Bay Area reported the warnings).
So treat the car as a one or two day stop. Gifts come indoors overnight, every night.
Fits: medium boxes | The catch: police advise against leaving gifts in a car; bring them in overnight.
14. The Garage Tarp: Bike-Sized Camouflage
For the bike, the garage is the realistic option. Park it behind the boxes you already have, throw a tarp over it, and it reads as clutter.
Only 15% of the people in that Neighbor survey used the garage, which helps.
The catch is the climate. Garages get cold and damp, so nothing with a battery and nothing edible goes out there.
If the tarp feels more camouflage than you need, a giant gift bag wraps the whole bike in one pull.
Aboofx Extra Large Christmas Gift Bag for a Bike
For Christmas Eve, when the tarp comes off. The listing says the material is non-transparent.
- 80 inches long, 40 wide, 20 deep
- Comes with a gift tag and string
- Sized for a kid's bike per the listing
We may earn a commission if you buy through this link. It costs you nothing extra.
Fits: bike-sized | The catch: cold and damp, so nothing with a battery and nothing edible.
15. In Plain Sight: Wrapped, Tagged, and Daring Them
Wrap early and put a cousin’s name on the tag. Gifts sit under the tree for weeks in full view and nobody studies the label, because the label says the gift is not theirs.
This needs nerve, and it needs a list of which tag is a lie. Mine lives in my phone next to the hiding list.
Fits: anything | The catch: needs nerve, and a list of which tag is a lie.
Where Not to Hide Christmas Presents
Never hide gifts in the oven or the dryer. Someone will preheat one or run a load.
Anything with a battery, from tablets to consoles to toys with built-in packs, does not belong in an attic, an unheated garage, or a shed. Lithium batteries are happiest around room temperature; one battery maker, Renogy, suggests storing them at about 40 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit, and freezing or high heat damages cells.
Chocolate and candles do not enjoy attic heat either.
The car, finally, is a stop and not a storage unit. Everything above about trunks and overnight indoor storage applies all December.
The Delivery Boxes Give You Away
The best hiding place in the house cannot save a box on the doorstep with a shipping label. Look for a plain-packaging option at checkout where one is offered.
Send parcels to a pickup point or to your workplace, and break the boxes down before the kids get home. The bin is part of the operation.
Keep a List
Keep a note on your phone of what is hidden where, including which tags are decoys. December memory is not to be trusted, and neither is your partner’s.
Once everything is hidden, you have earned a Christmas project, and these DIY ping pong ball lights are a good one for once the hiding is done.
FAQ
Where is the best place to hide Christmas presents from kids?
Somewhere boring, locked, or technically not your house. A decoy tote, a locked trunk in your own closet, or a grandparent’s house all beat the bedroom closet, which is both the most popular hiding spot and the first place kids look.
Where do you hide Christmas presents in a small apartment?
Empty luggage, under-bed bags behind out-of-season clothes, a locked trunk in your own closet, behind the wardrobe, and your desk at work. A grandparent’s or neighbour’s house counts too if you have one nearby.
How do you hide big gifts like bikes?
A grandparent’s or neighbour’s house is the search-proof answer. If the bike has to stay home, the garage, boxed and under a tarp behind the existing clutter, is the workable option.
Where do you hide presents from teenagers?
Decoy totes labelled as paperwork, a locked tool chest, your desk at work, or off-site entirely. Teenagers know the bedroom closet trick, and they look under beds.
Is it safe to hide presents in the car?
For a day or two, with gifts out of sight in a locked trunk. Police warn against leaving gifts in the car for long, a trunk is not theft-proof, and gifts should come indoors overnight.
This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through them I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
