Many of us live in small apartments and are great at utilizing what little storage space we have. But what happens when an influx of Christmas presents need a place to hide? Since we don't put up a tree (which is usually where the presents would live) we have to get super crafty on where we decide to put holiday gifts (and most importantly, remembering where the heck we put them). We've come up with a few tips on how to handle hiding Christmas gifts in a small space after the jump.
- Wrap the presents as soon as you bring them home--that way, if the finder locates them, they will at least be clueless as to what's underneath the wrapping paper.
- A lot of older homes have linen and kitchen cabinets that extend rather far. Because there's a little extra room in these nooks, we tend to store gifts here. Our linen closet is great for frames and other breakable items that need a little extra cushioning.
- You can hide gifts in the trunk of your car but we only like this suggestion if your car is always parked in a safe place when you leave home and returns to an enclosed garage.
- Stowing gifts under the bed is a great place to keep presents before they're handed off to the recipient.
- If you're having trouble finding a place to hide your presents, take this opportunity to declutter the top shelf in the hallway closet or a dresser drawer. You'll feel good about freeing up space and now have a place to put gifts.
- Placing presents in hanging tote bags on the inside of a closet door is a place no one is bound to look.
- If you're lucky enough to have relatives close by, ask them if you can store the extra goodies at their place.
- Make sure to email yourself a list of the presents and their hiding places so you can remember where you've stored your items.
Do you hide Christmas presents? Where do you store your holiday gifts before you give them?
Related Posts
[Image from Aleutian Films]
Store them at your workplace until you're ready to send them, give them to coworkers, or bring them home to family.
view edava72's profile
cute wrapping paper. where did it come from?
view coloraddict's profile
It's from the now-dead-but-not-forgotten Marshall Field's Department Store. RIP MF!
view smashleee's profile
I used to hide them in the basement bc my daughter ws too scared to go down there even if she knew they were there. (spiders, general creepiness, etc.). As for my husband, anything I don't want him to see stores upstairs, bc he's too lazy to go up there!
view muirwoods08's profile
...oh, and one more place no teenager will ever go: The kitchen cabinets under the sink.
view muirwoods08's profile
If you're friendly with your neighbors, suggest exchanging "hiding space" in each other's homes. In the past I've kept gifts at work, too, but not everyone has that luxury. I might consider exchanging hiding spaces with colleagues as well.
My partner doesn't look for his gifts, so I just stash them under the bedskirt. He has no idea they are there.
I've also done the "wrap as you go" approach and just put them under the tree one at a time until the big day.
Another option: in plain view.
** Theater tix, gift cards, etc. can be disguised in a bill envelope and put on the fridge or in the bill pile (as long as your parter doesn't pay the bills).
** Teeny gift boxes (ornament sized) that hold baubles and sparkley trinkets can be be hung right on the tree or added to a decorative arrangement.
** CDs can be put right into the CD stash.
** Cothes can be folded and mixed into one's own dresser
view kimg924's profile
Note to parents: don't hide the gifts in your bedroom, that's were kids look first (I know, I'm an experienced gift peaker).
Also, don't hide the gifts in the same place every year.
And if you wrap them so prying eyes can't see what they are, make sure to wrap them well! It's easy to lift up an edge of the paper, hold the gift at the right angle and peak under to see what's inside.
Yeah... I'm a VERY experienced gift peaker. Thank god I'm not a kid anymore!
view sparkle's profile
ugh... spelling...
*that's WHERE kids look first
view sparkle's profile
My mom was very trusting. My parents had a big closet between their bedroom and bathroom that she just called Santa Claus's Closet and that's where she put everything wrapped or not.
I don't know about my siblings, but I actually never once peeked in there.
view ridge_van_winkle's profile
If you have luggage laying around that is always a good option, especially if it has a luggage lock!
That is if you arent already using them for other storage.
Garment bags are great to stashing clothing gifts in.
view bahhns's profile
I have a giant bag-o-gifts under my desk rubbing my shin right now.
view DahliaCactus's profile
Who are you hiding these from? Thieves? If the gifts are wrapped, and you don't have really little kids, I don't see the need to hide them.
view Palmetto's profile
Growing up, I had managed to find a gift or two that later became mine and one of them was the monopoly game that was hidden under my parent's bed. :-)
I also deciphered a gift once for it was wrapped in plain white wrapping paper and when I pressed down on the paper, I could read through it, it became a shower radio (I never told until well after the day had passed).
Also, my parents when they really wanted to surprise me had to disquise the box in something else for they knew I'd figured it out if they didn't based on the fact that I often knew what sized boxes etc most electronics might come in.
I was such a krafty kid back in the day - I am still one to find and see what size boxes I am getting gift wise when I hit Mom's house, the kid in me never left. LOL.
view ciddyguy's profile
I would also mention it is not always a good idea to hide gifts at work unless you have a lockable office or cabinet for open cubes are rife for potential thefts of potentially valuable items from the cleaning people if not other coworkers, just an FYI.
view ciddyguy's profile
I hide the gifts in the tubs I store the Christmas decorations in until I have time to wrap them.
view Condo Blues's profile
I always like to put things in unusual sized or interesting boxes... Jewelry, makeup, and scarves fit well into paper towel or toilet paper rolls. Plus when wrapped, this is and interesting shaped present and it makes it impossible to guess what's inside.
On another note... I remember one December my mother told me to get the broom or something from the storage closet completely forgetting it was where she had hidden my Christmas presents. No place is truly safe for unwrapped gifts!
view ETorrans's profile
I have a big old wooden chest that's only about half-full - I put them in there. Smaller things? Well, I have an Expedit, and they're fairly deep. Some of my stuff doesn't go all the way back, so I can hide those behind there.
view ryttu3k's profile
Oh - also, if there's stuff on top of the chest, people are less inclined to have a peek (since they'd have to move some fairly delicate things off, then replace them perfectly so I don't know!). And that, of course, is if they even suspect it as a hiding place!
view ryttu3k's profile
Well I'm grown up now... but not only do I scavenge for gifts around the house; but I've also become an expert re-wrapper so no one knows i've already seen what's inside!!
view funkylola's profile
DahliaCactus... me, too! And I'll be very happy to have my foot space back. My partner and I share an office and sit back-to-back, but she doesn't dare look too deep into my space -it's too messy for her!
As a child, my mother always hid the gifts - unwrapped - in her bedroom closet. One year I purposely looked and found all of them. Not only was I plagued with guilt for the remaining days until Christmas, there were no surprises that year - I think that was the worst. I never did it again!
view TheGoodBiGirl's profile