Before and After: This Porch Hack Helps Deter Package Thieves
Here’s a story from an intrepid Redditor, who kept getting packages stolen off their porch. Many people can relate: one third of Americans have reported having a package stolen outside their home. So this crafty person turned to a DIY fix.
Here’s what this project involved, according to this Redditor:
My solution was a lot cheaper and went up in less than an hour! Not permanent, but will do for now. All I did was buy two tables from IKEA and drill lattice (bought at Home Depot) into them! Then I just sat the tables on the porch. Easy peasy.
Finally I just hung up two outdoor blinds also from Home Depot [and] added some fake vines from Amazon.
Be sure to click through all the photos to see a view from the porch as well as the same exterior view with the vines added. The new setup adds a ton of privacy (and shade) both for concealing packages and for spending time on the porch—and the blinds can be rolled up to allow for greeting neighbors and getting some sun. The new tables (behind the lattice) provide a spot to store outdoor necessities and hold iced tea and/or cocktails, as well as a place for delivery people to stash packages.
The anonymous creator of this Reddit solution didn’t happen to include any details, but I did my best to figure out what this project might have cost. The tables appear to be IKEA’s LACK, so that’s two at $79.99/each. The lattice might be this vinyl option for $18.97, and the blinds might be light and dark versions of these for $27.53/each, all at Home Depot. Finally, there are lots of artificial ivy vines available on Amazon. These look the most similar and are $13.99. That puts the total for this project at about $248, probably at a minimum. I’m not sure you need the tables, though, to deter thieves, meaning the total would only be $80. The tables do look great though, and they’re super handy for alfresco relaxing.