Where do you hide your preps in 540 square feet.

[Grinnan Barrett]

I am posting this one for my youngest daughter. She wanted to get a bit farther away from Dad and Mom so she moved about 25 miles away to an efficiency apartment of just over 500 square feet. It is one big room with a closet and the closet has a window in it. Where does she hide her preps? I am at a loss on this one. the place was not my choice but she had to do it. She has guns, food, water, and other gear of her own. Her plan is to come home if all things go south. In a real SHTF situation it may not be that easy. On a good day the route takes over an hour to drive any of four ways there.

How would you hide or disguise your preps in an apartment community like this one. Also the place has no built in alarm system. Thanks in advance. GB

[MustangGal]

Can she build a platform bed that could hold her preps underneath. It would be relatively easy to construct and you wouldn't have to have a box spring for the bottom. If you made it a bit higher than a five gallon bucket you could have quite a bit of storage space. You could even put a drawer that pulls out for access. It would provide some regular storage and disguise the hidden storage even further.

check out ana-white's site for more ideas. I'm not sure of the address anymore, but you can google it.

[Jerry D Young]

I agree with the underbed storage. Can also make tables with the boxes and throw a cover over them.

A couple of medium size book cases with additional depth sides and top to create a hidden space behind it for narrow item storage.

[Grinnan Barrett]

Both are good ideas. I am just trying to get her on her feet and be sure her gear is covered up and not on display for the world to see. I think I can build some supports to lift the bed up. I don't want to have the bed frame sit on the boxes directly. this comes back to trying to live in an apartment. By the way it is good to hear from Jerry D Young again. GB Also thanks to MustangGal.

[arcangel911]

Supports... why not use cinder blocks.... I did when I was doing the college routine. Lifted the bed up enough for several rubbermaid totes to be under it.

As for preps, why not just have them in buckets that look ordinary. I do like the suggestion of hiding things in furniture.

[MustangGal]

Here is the link to ana's site. This gal knows her way around a shop! Lots of DIY furniture. I particularly like her storage stuff.

ana-white dot com/category/plans/collections/storage-bed-collection

[WiseOwl]

Enroll in Ninja school....only ninjas are allowed the "tarps of invisibility".......:)

Using it as a box spring sounds the best to me......make sure she has a long bed skirt to cover up the buckets.

[Grinnan Barrett]

I will pass that on to my daughter. thanks, GB

[CLT46910]

Try using a large travel trunk for a coffee table. Throw a pretty table cloth or fancy rug over it to hide what it is. lots of storage in one of those. You can also find the square trunks for side tables for the couch and chairs. Again cover them with something and put a lamp on top of them.

Most people would think she is just a poor single gal trying to get by with what she can find for furniture. Lots of hidden storage in plain sight.

[brokedownbiker]

Stack boxes or buckets to make a variety of 'furniture'; coffee table, end tables, add a few planks and buckets and you have some bookshelves. Like others said, build a bed base from preps. If you have enough boxes of similar sizes a desk could be arranged- think legos!!

[eeyore]

When i was growing up we lived in apartments. So had wired cage storage units with them, does she have that option? How about an off site self storage place, they are expensive, but might be an option. If she has a balcony (if she is above the ground floor) might be able to hold totes. Most apartments have a mechanical room, that hold hot water tank and such, it might hold non flammable stuff.

Some thing i have used and works well (beside what is mentioned already) is putting a couch about a foot away from the wall and building shelf behind it, this would gives you a lot of area it is only a foot wide but i can hold a lot of canned food. If you put shelving above on the wall for nick nacks and pictures, it looks like you built the sheelve so people would not hit their head on the feeling when they were sitting down and getting up.

[Elpasotom]

Since she plans on coming home if things get bad maybe just a really good bug out bag like a colorful student's backpack hung in the closet. Gun, well it should be on her person anyway if allowed. Much of food and stable goods, some ammo could be stored in the trunk of her car too.

[Yeti]

All the above are good ideas.
Things we used to do in the barracks was raise the bed up in some way. A bed waist high is just as comfortable as one knee level.
This is an instant storage cubby.
Being a girl she instantly gets a bye on any long frilly bed skirt she wants on it.
It wouldn't be hard to build cabinetry to fit under the bed.

Her plan is to be or come home for an event. But if the event doesn't allow her travel you need that storage space to allow for the week or so she will need for you to get her or her to clear out.

At least she is on board with this.

Go get the old milk carton crates, they hold a lot of weight and stack nicely. With a slip cover over them they they make good coffee/end tables if you put a board across them.

Water and food will be her big prep items from your description. Perhaps as a house warming gift you could get her one of those 5 gallon water dispensers. They fit into those same milk crates on the side for stacking purposes.

[Grinnan Barrett]

All the above are good ideas.
Things we used to do in the barracks was raise the bed up in some way. A bed waist high is just as comfortable as one knee level.
This is an instant storage cubby.
Being a girl she instantly gets a bye on any long frilly bed skirt she wants on it.
It wouldn't be hard to build cabinetry to fit under the bed.

Her plan is to be or come home for an event. But if the event doesn't allow her travel you need that storage space to allow for the week or so she will need for you to get her or her to clear out.

At least she is on board with this.

Go get the old milk carton crates, they hold a lot of weight and stack nicely. With a slip cover over them they they make good coffee/end tables if you put a board across them.

Water and food will be her big prep items from your description. Perhaps as a house warming gift you could get her one of those 5 gallon water dispensers. They fit into those same milk crates on the side for stacking purposes.

good idea about the water dispenser. I had given her some of the Reliance 7 gallon containers.

[Mikeg175]

I would just make them obvious storage . I would just get rubber maid totes and stack them . I would be sneaky and write simple stuff on it though , like winter clothes , vhs tapes , something that people will look at and then it will just slide through the memory banks . She lives in a small place and no one would even think twice if she had totes stacks with stuff in them .