7 Places to Hide Your Christmas Presents

In this season of gift-giving, not only is it important to spend time finding the perfect gifts for your loved ones, but it’s also important that those gifts aren’t discovered and opened before Christmas. We’ve all done it too. As kids, we searched through the house looking for mom and dad’s hiding spot. If your parents were smart and creative, you never found those gifts until magically they were under the tree on Christmas morning. If your parents weren’t smart or creative, you found those packages and realized you didn’t get that super-cool Swatch Watch.

So, now that you’re the one giving the gifts, it’s time to discuss the best places to keep them so that your family, significant other, or pet, doesn’t find them. The key to hiding a Christmas or Hannukah present is to find a place that keeps the gifts hidden and protected yet easily accessible.

The Garage

The garage can be a good spot to hide presents. But there are a number of factors that go into making it a decent location. First, you’ll need the room. Many garages are already packed to the brim with stuff and adding more stuff to that stuff is no good. Garage cabinets would be great to conceal the gifts, but if your family is smart that’s probably one of the first places they’ll check. Instead, consider putting the gifts in boxes marked with labels such as “photo albums” or “tax stuff.”  No kid or adult for that matter is going to search in those boxes.

The Basement or Crawlspace

Another long-used space to hide presents is your basement. The basement can be a great place because, depending on how creepy it is down there, your kids will never venture down there. When I was a kid, the basement was the scariest place in our house. It was dark, spider-filled, and had strange noises coming from it. There was no way I was going down there alone, much less with my brother. If a ball rolled down the steps it was gone forever. If you have such a basement, consider yourself lucky to have a perfect stash spot for packages. You wouldn’t even need to hide them. If your basement is actually finished and pleasant to be in, it can still work as a hiding spot. But again, you’ll have to use a little creativity. If you have an entertainment center, presents can go in there. However, kids are crafty and will most likely look there. Instead, if you can, put them on top of the entertainment center or on top of cabinets. If you have a drop ceiling, presents could go there as well (if they’re lightweight.)

If you have a crawlspace, this could also be a place to store your gifts. But the crawlspace has to be full encapsulated and thus resistant to temperature swings, humidity, and um, rodents. If it’s not encapsulated, look elsewhere.

The Attic

The attic is actually the perfect storage spot for many families, especially those with younger children. Why? Well, the kids aren’t going to be able to get up there in the first place. And even if they could, would they? The attic is the stuff of movie legend where all sorts of weird, other-worldly things happen. If your kids have watched enough horror movies, they’ll never go up there. But again, the attic may not be a great spot for the same reason as the crawlspace isn’t – namely temperature, humidity, and the toy-eating squirrel.

The Office

When I say “The Office” I mean the office that’s in another building where you drive to work, not the home office. The office makes a great spot for hiding presents for several reasons. First, your kids or significant other probably won’t come around to your office too much. Secondly, the building and suite are probably very secure and temperature controlled. The only question is space. If you work in a cubicle, the only space you’re likely to have is under your desk. This doesn’t amount to a lot of room, especially if you’ve bought presents on Black Friday and need to store them for another month before Christmas. However, if you have your own office with a door that locks, this should be perfect.

The RV or Boat

This one comes from personal experience. We have a small RV that we keep in the driveway. In the wintertime, it just sits out there under a tarp. The kids will not venture out there, especially because it’s cold and they would have to undo the tarp to get in. They won’t do that. Boats are also great spots to hide presents. The downsides to this hiding spot are temperature and critters. But if you’re not giving food or sensitive electronics, you’re probably alright.

The Storage Unit

If you happen to currently rent a storage unit, this can be an ideal hiding spot. If your storage unit is heated or climate-controlled, this is even better. Since most storage facilities have long access hours until late in the evening, you can just hustle over there after the kids go to bed and grab the gifts. The only downside would be if your storage unit is across town, which would make it slightly less convenient to get to. It’s also not a great idea if you’ve had a few cocktails on Christmas Eve.

Under the Tree

Yeah, it’s on the list. Why? If your kids have learned the truth about Santa Claus (that he’s lactose intolerant – what, did you think I was going to say something else?), then hiding presents may not be that important. But if you do decide to put presents under the tree, you’ll have to take extra precautions with wrapping them. For instance, extra tape works. Or special stickers that tear if removed can stop a child from getting too curious. Those Wi-Fi cameras pointed at the tree also work nicely as a deterrent!

Places NOT to Hide the Presents

Now that you know the best places to hide your gifts, you need to be reminded of the worst places.

The Closet

Are you kidding me? Tell me you weren’t actually considering putting the presents in the closet. Every kid or adult makes a beeline straight to the closets in your house to search for their booty. Unless you’ve got a false door in the back of your closet that leads to Narnia, don’t even think about it.

The Car

Hmm, what place does the whole family see many times during the week? Yes, that would be the car. Oh, but you’re saying you want to put the gifts in the trunk? All it takes is one moment of forgetfulness where you pop open the trunk to put the groceries in and surprise! The surprise is over. Not to mention that car-burgling thieves seem to be everywhere these days. Not a good idea.

Grandma’s House

Nothing against Grandma, but her memory isn’t what it used to be. Remember that year when you opened your gift and it was a talking fish plaque that should have gone to Grandpa? Grandma may be good at wrapping presents, but she’s not so good at remembering whose presents are whose.

So, there you have it. The quintessential list of great and not-so-great Christmas gift hiding spots. Remember to pick one spot and only one spot. You don’t want presents all over the place because you’ll end up like Clark Griswold when he finds that present from 1972 in his attic on Christmas Vacation. And the gift buying part is up to you. Don’t blame us if they don’t like what you bought!