Are There Any Safes Specifically Designed For Small Spaces Or Apartments?

Wherever you live or work, you should have total confidence regarding your safety and security. It is a basic human need and something we value whether we live in a lavish house with multiple rooms or in a small, one- bedroom apartment block. In work situations we will often encounter security needs in a small office and a requirement to protect belongings which are small but still extremely valuable. So how do we go about this when our perception of safes is that they are large and bulky and need to be bolted to the floor? The solution is that safes can be supplied specifically for small spaces and flats and apartments.

It is true that large, free-standing safes are often secured to the wall or floor to prevent them being removed from the premises in the event of a security breach. In the case of a small space or apartment we are unlikely to have this luxury, but there are plenty of valuable items which are not large in size and which might be valuable for personal reasons rather than financial reasons. These include:

• Types of jewellery
• Keys
• Passports and personal documents
• Photographs
• Cash
• Digital media such as USB sticks or computer discs

At home or in the workplace, these kind of items still hold great value, and it is not something we necessarily need to justify. If something is valuable to us, we should have the right to keep it safe and protected, and with small safes you can. Of course we often use small apartments and hotel rooms on holiday, and therefore have a need to store passports, electric equipment, cash, tickets and other valuables during our holiday.  

Considerations when choosing a safe for a small space or apartment

The main things to think about with safes for small spaces are:

• Size – You will have space restrictions, so what size safe do you need and where can it be hidden? You won’t practically be able to bolt a small safe down to secure it, so you need to keep it hidden from public view. Have you got a means of doing that?
• Security rating – Safes have different security ratings based on the level of security they provide. So this is influenced by the thickness of the safe walls and how robust they are, this will restrict how much internal space there is available for storage compared to the external dimensions, which of course dictates where the safe can be stored.
• Portability – The smaller the safe is, the easier it is to pick up and carry around. This has pros and cons, because a small safe might be ideal for you to retrieve and take with you as and when you need to, but it is also therefore easy for a thief to steal and take from the premises. So a big factor here is accessibility.
• Accessibility – In essence this is a consideration of what security factors you have in place and how secure the safe is. In a small office, for example, the business should have layers of security to prevent external security threats, such as access control, CCTV, intruder alarms, security guards and then internal authorisation. It is possible, of course, that a security threat can come from internal personnel who have the authority to bypass some of these security controls. In an apartment building you are relying on the security of your home, but also the security of the building in terms of external access and CCTV. Unfortunately, with an apartment building there are lots of people living close to each other, so there are people coming and going all the time and it is harder to monitor who is or isn’t a resident or an innocent visitor. You may also have an apartment on the ground floor, which means your points of access are more exposed and vulnerable, particularly if you have windows or balconies open in summer.
• Locks – A small safe will have the same locking options as a bigger safe, and therefore can be selected to suit your practical needs. So a small safe can use a physical key, a unique code or PIN, or a biometric feature.

How to keep a small safe secure and hidden

We have established that small safes can be supplied which are ideal for securing items in small spaces and apartments, but if we can’t physically secure these by bolting them to a wall or the floor, how do we keep them safe? A safe concealed from view is much more secure, because most thieves are opportunist and don’t have the time to search everywhere for a safe, even if they know it is there somewhere. So where can you hide a small safe?

• Under the floor safe – A floor safe can be stored in a small cavity under floor tiles or carpet, which is easily concealed, not detectable and only you know it is there.
• In the wall safe – Using a similar principle as a floor safe, a wall safe sits in a wall cavity, which can be hidden behind wall art, a mirror or even just wallpaper.
• In a wardrobe or cabinet – These are popular for holiday apartments and allow the user to hide a safe away from view, and while the safe is visible after a small amount of searching, it can be secured so it is integral to the wardrobe or cabinet and can’t be picked up and removed from the room.
• Locked in a drawer – In a workplace setting it is common for a small safe to be locked in a set of desk drawers. This could be a small petty cash safe for example or a small cash box with lock. So there is an extra layer of security provided by having to access the drawers first before being able to retrieve the safe.

Contact MB Direct for help in choosing the right small safe for you

If you need help in choosing from our range of safes, then speak to our experts at MB Direct, we can help you make the right choice by assessing your security risks and practical needs, so contact our team today.