Going on summer holidays and wondering which clever place to keep your spare house key while you are gone? For a relatively small price of under 10 dollars you could buy one of those fake rocks with a key compartment hidden in its underside. But a fake rock tends to look like a fake rock and leaves you wondering if it's acting like some sort of beacon to onlookers who are up to no good.
Why not use a real rock? One from your very own garden is bound to fit in. Pop over to Zakka Life to find out what to do with your old prescription bottle, some heavy-duty glue and an inconspicuous rock. Or even use some other item that is readily found in your yard, such as one commenter suggested, a large pine cone.
(Image: Zakka Life)
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Or just make sure your neighbours have a copy of your key and then you don't have to leave one outside. We find this works the best and gives us some peace of mind (of course it only works if you have trustworthy neighbours!)
Another great idea is to buy a magnetic case that holds a key (I think they sell them at Lowe's). It attaches to the underside of your car's bumper. It's been a life saver for me.
My SIL hides her keys in a flower pot with fake flowers on her front porch. It sounds obvious, but since my husband and I have spent quite a bit of time hunting for it when we KNEW it was there, I don't suspect that anyone would find it out of luck.
We keep our spare on a peg in our chicken coop. Again, not a place most trespassers would likely check.
Love the rock idea, though.
We use a nail in the shed out back...we, too, have had to hunt for it when we knew it was there. Neighbors used to hang on under their back deck stairs on the inside of the tread on the lowest rung. Easy to get to, but REALLY hard to see!
My husband and I keep a house key on our car key ring. One house, one car, two sets of keys and hopefully responsible adults. We're hoping that the likelyhood of us both forgetting keys on a day we aren't driving is slim enough we won't have an issue. It's worked for over 5 years so far . . .
I love this idea. I have a huge family so I'm already thinking about Christmas presents and this sounds perfect for my dad, the guy who hates for anyone to spend money on him but frequently locks his wife out of the house.
And just to clarify, he locks her out of the house on accident, when taking the dog out. Brilliant man, absent mind. Didn't want anyone worrying about what kind of husband he is.
Might think twice about a pine cone.
Isn't that squirrel/bird FOOD?
Love all the other ideas though!!!
Rather than the metallic under-bumper box, since they're SO COMMON, I use 2 twist-ems to attach a spare key to a small hose near the front of my car. Pretty impossible to see without a flashlight.
A friend found himself locked out of the house recently. He got his extension ladder and a screwdriver from the shed, climbed to the roof, pulled the ladder up after him, unscrewed a skylight, put the ladder down into the room, got his keys, and reversed the sequence. Sounds complex but it took him less than five minutes.
we installed a keyless combination door lock 17 years ago and never had anyone get locked out.