5 Creative Hidden Camera Ideas For Home Surveillance

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Trying some hidden camera ideas is a wise and practical decision to attain maximum home surveillance. But how exactly can they help your home be secure? Also, what are some of the creative ways to keep cameras perfectly hidden from view? Read on to discover the answers to these questions and receive creative hidden camera ideas that can be adapted into any home.

Advantages of Having Hidden Cameras at Home

Placing security cameras on hidden areas is a discreet, effective way to monitor your home. As a result, keeping them in your home comes with various benefits that you’ll be thankful for. Let’s discuss some of them:

Great Features

Hidden cameras come with great features to help you maximize security. These cameras, for example, feature high-definition viewing quality. Standard hidden cameras can provide you with 780 to 1080 pixels which are essential to get a clear view of what is happening inside your home.

At the same time, hidden cameras offer a wide range of camera angles based on your preferences. You can have a spy camera that features a 125-degree view and higher. Needless to say, hidden cameras are equipped with automatic video recording, and sometimes, audio recording as well. Adding to these features are the camera’s motion detection, night vision, dependable memory card, and rechargeable battery. All these features guarantee that you are getting the maximum potential that a small hidden camera can offer.

Flexible

Another great benefit that comes with installing hidden cameras in your home is that the possibilities for placement are endless. You can hide them in your living room, bedroom, nursery, kitchen, and even pantry. These hidden cameras mainly come in small sizes too, making them perfect to fit and hide into tight corners of your furniture and other household items. What’s more, you can also install them outside your home, like on the patio or garden.

Less Risk of Camera Tampering

While a visible security camera can deter potential burglars from breaking into your home, a hidden camera, on the contrary, can help you document them doing it. Since a hidden camera is placed in an unknown location, criminals have less opportunity to tamper or disable it.

Additionally, some hidden cameras are disguised (and function) as other household items such as a clock, smoke detector, speakers, and radio. This makes the hidden cameras hardly noticeable. As a result, keeping hidden cameras at home gives you the chance to capture invaders with the video recording that was saved.

Furthermore, a hidden camera comes in handy if you wanted to monitor kids and pets at home. You can also use them to catch suspicious activity happening within and beyond your home.

Provides Peace of Mind

The presence of a hidden camera in your home can make you feel more secure. Having one can help you become more aware of what is going on in your home and your neighborhood. At the same time, you can have more control and capacity in protecting yourself and your loved ones. Thus, you’ll have a greater sense of security and peace of mind.

Dos and Don’ts of Installing Hidden Cameras at Home

To effectively incorporate home hidden camera ideas, here are some of the factors and tips that you should take into consideration:

Dos

Do go for wireless cameras as much as possible. Wireless hidden cameras are less likely to be discovered since they offer little to no trace of being a device in the first place. Be warned, though, that wireless cameras rely on rechargeable batteries. This means that they require constant checking and recharging when their battery runs out.

Do keep hidden cameras out of eye level. There will be fewer chances of them being discovered this way unless someone intentionally searches your place. You can place them high from the ground such as on the walls or the ceiling. Also, keeping hidden cameras out of eye level gives you a wider and fuller view of the room.

Do abide by legal laws regarding security camera installation in your state. While it is generally legal to use home surveillance for security purposes, legal and privacy precautions that come with installing security cameras need to be understood first. Hence, it is better to check them (and consult experts too, if possible) before installing hidden security cameras in your home, office, or other business establishments that you own.

Don’ts

Don’t put your hidden camera in a dark, unlit room. Unless your hidden camera is equipped with an infrared or a night vision feature, putting one in an obscured, dark location defeats the purpose of having such a device. It is better to keep a camera in a well-lit area of your house to make sure that you have a clear view of the surroundings.

Don’t limit the use of hidden cameras to only some areas of your home. All areas of your home are essential and can be a potential place for burglars to break-in. Hence, it is always best to also keep a hidden camera in many, if not all, major parts of your home.

Take advantage of the small size of hidden cameras and place them in a piece of furniture in every room inside your house. Aside from indoors, you can also install one at your patio or your outdoor tool shed. 

5 Best Hidden Camera Ideas

Now that we’ve discussed some general and helpful tips about security cameras, here are 5 additional reliable hidden camera ideas that you can try:

1. Place a hidden camera in the living room entertainment center

Manhattan Comforts Cabrini Entertainment Center

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First on our list of hidden camera ideas is to place a hidden camera in a piece of living room furniture. Take, for example, this entertainment center from Manhattan Comforts. Made from wood, the Cabrini serves as a TV stand and floating wall panel, as well as a stylish compartment for your other audio and video devices.

You’ll have a blast using this as your home theater center while also making it a strategic place to hide your surveillance camera. Since it has many lower compartments, you can fix your hidden camera behind one of your audio equipment located in one of them. Plus, these lower compartments are equipped with holes for cable wires which are perfect if you’re using non-wireless hidden cameras.

Likewise, you can opt to hide a camera in Cabrini’s upper shelf. Placing it in this location is more effective too since it is not easily accessible and out of eye level. To do this, you can use the upper shelf as a bookcase; making it easy to put the hidden camera behind one of the books. You can also fill the upper shelf with other home decorations which you can use to conceal the hidden camera. Aside from the living room, the Cabrini is also ideal for use in the bedroom or your specialized home theater room.

2. Monitor through a two-way mirror

SPEEDYORDERS Two Way Mirror

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Remember that iconic interrogation scene between Batman and the Joker in The Dark Knight? How about the scene in the classic film The Truman Show, where Jim Carrey’s character, Truman Burbank, talks to himself while looking at a mirror? What is common between these scenes from two different movies is that they both showed the benefit of a two-way glass mirror for surveillance. This function is possible to adapt in your own home with the help of the SpeedyOrders mirror.

Made from various materials such as glass, acrylic, and metal, this two-way mirror is multipurpose. Just like in The Dark Knight, you can utilize this as a one-sided mirror while functioning as your window from the room where it is placed. It is reflective on one side and can very well provide you with a detailed observation from its viewing side.

Moreover, it is perfect to conceal your camera. For instance, you can recreate the way of surveillance that was shown in The Truman Show by setting up your camera behind the mirror. What’s more, you can use this two-way mirror for your DIY mirror project! You can use it as the major component for your smart mirror project as well as for revamping your sliding doors and windows. This way, you can have complete privacy inside your home while getting a clear view of the surroundings outside.

3. Be subtle with the help of a tissue box

Sumnacon Square Woven Tissue Box Holder

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Adding to the simple yet effective spy camera hidden ideas for your home is the use of some common household items. As mundane household items tend to be overlooked; they are often regarded to be the best locations to hide a camera.

One great example of ordinary household items to hide your camera is a tissue box. The Sumnacon square tissue box holder, for instance, is a good option to choose for this purpose. Made from natural seagrass, this simple woven box is a stylish way to dispense tissue. It is handy to use anywhere in your home. You can place it in your living room and your bedroom, making it easy to use as a surveillance tool. To do this, you can choose to adjust and move the tissue box’s woven fabric to make a gap for your camera lens. Likewise, you can cut a small hole on the woven fabric to give your camera lens a clear view from the inside.

Of course, the Sumnacon tissue box is also useful for bathroom use. It blends with your interior design and décor. You can also use it when traveling in a car.

4. Use home devices with a built-in spy camera

WNAT Hidden Camera Smoke Detector

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Another creative hidden camera idea for your home is the use of devices with a built-in camera. Take for example this spy camera from WNAT. Equipped with motion detection and night vision, this camera is disguised as a non-functional smoke detector.

Aside from its unsuspecting appearance, this high-definition camera has a wide lens angle that can capture almost all of what happens in a room. Thus, it is suitable for use in all areas of your home. You can set it up high on a wall or a ceiling of your living room, master bedroom, dining area, kitchen, or laundry area.

At the same time, you can use it as a baby monitor and as a nanny cam. You can install it in your kid’s nursery or in the playroom to monitor how your children are being treated. Take note, however, that it is best to install a real, functioning smoke detector alongside the WNAT hidden camera to alert you of any ongoing fire in your house.

5. Hide your camera in an outdoor birdhouse

SZM Wood Bird House

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The area surrounding your home needs proper surveillance too. To do this, you can always count on a nice, simple birdhouse to keep your camera concealed. An excellent example of this is the SZM birdhouse.

Made from wood, this hanging birdhouse has a frontal hole convenient for your camera. You can fix your camera inside this birdhouse to keep track of your front porch for home deliveries and visitors. Not only that, but you can also situate it to your backyard and patio to capture any possible disturbances and suspicious activities.

To ensure that your camera is well-hidden, check the size of your spy or nest camera to see if it is suitable to fit inside the birdhouse. Since it is situated outdoors, don’t forget that your camera also needs to be weatherproof. What’s more, you can always place more than one birdhouse for the sole purpose of accomodating your pets and other free-range birds. They’ll surely enjoy it as their comfy shelter and perch.

There are many creative hidden camera ideas that you can apply to your home. Consider the 5 best-hidden camera ideas that we tackled above to help keep you and your loved ones safe and sound.