For centuries, people have been locking up their most precious possessions in a variety of secret rooms and compartments. Whether it’s hidden chambers in Egyptian pyramids, mysterious passages in medieval castles or speakeasies during the Prohibition era, it seems that we’ve gotten pretty good at it over the years.

Just take a look at these two online communities, r/SecretCompartments and r/HiddenRooms, that are full of concealed spaces and other cool spots that are not so obvious at first glance.

From secret book pulls to Narnia-inspired wardrobes, Bored Panda has collected some of the best posts from these groups. If you’re looking for inspiration on how to create some discreet hiding places, continue scrolling and upvote your favorite ones!

#1 My Daughter Just Found The Secret Street I Built Behind Her Wardrobe For Lockdown!

Image credits: ellasecretstreet

Both of these online communities are full of enthusiasts who enjoy sharing images of their home secrets and sometimes even the process of constructing them. The moderators of r/HiddenRooms encourage users to “post pictures and discussions of hidden rooms, secret passages, discreet minibars, trap doors, and other cool secret spaces.”

And more than 72.9K members do exactly that, showing how those places are accessed via an invisible door, which could be camouflaged as a bookshelf, a cupboard or a trapdoor in the floor.

While this subreddit focuses more on entire rooms that are hidden in plain sight, the online page r/SecretCompartments is dedicated to concealed parts in your furniture, decorations or even toys. Since its creation in 2016, it has grown into a community with 206K members who treat their privacy as a top priority and keep their personal belongings and memories safe from curious eyes.

#2 Behind The Murphy Door

Image credits: consuelojorge.com

It seems that secret spaces have a wide appeal since people are intrigued by the cunning that goes into creating such spots and things. We reached out to Jill Herro, owner of Secret Compartment Furniture, a company that focuses on creating handmade furniture that is not only beautiful on the outside, but also hides your possessions “in plain sight”.

She was kind enough to talk a little bit more about secret compartments and the reasons why people decide to have them. The idea behind starting her own business came from a personal need since Herro wanted to have a nice piece of furniture to store her valuables in. However, when she started looking, all that she found “looked like some guy’s garage project—hardly anything I would want in my home.”

“Then, 6 months later, I got laid off from my pharmaceutical sales job and figured if I was looking for nice furniture for that reason, there must be others doing the same,” she told Bored Panda. “Since I live one hour north of the largest Amish community in the world with over 450 furniture makers, I figured I would give furniture design a try!”

#3 Wardrobe Inspiration From Narnia

Image credits: souper_soups

#4 Built My Now Fianceè A Model House As Our Buying Plans Were Put On Hold Due To Covid

Image credits: danderson302

According to her, people want to have discreet hiding spaces in their furniture simply because it’s fun and it “instantly turns everyone into a 12-year-old”. But on a more serious note, it just seemed logical to her that hiding your precious belongings in plain view is the way to go.

“Burglars know to grab the jewelry box, check the bedside drawer, check the dresser drawers, etc.,” the furniture designer explained. Just imagine the confusion when your fine jewelry or money is not hidden there: “Their goal is to get in and out in less than 4 minutes. Hide those items in an unexpected place, and they will walk right past it.”

#5 Mom Finds Her Little Boy’s Secret Man Cave Complete With An iPad, Snacks And A Blanket

Image credits: BitchLibrarian

#6 The Pantry You Didn’t Think You Needed

Image credits: Unclestanky

“Every show I do I hear a story about someone being robbed, and ‘they got the jewelry box, and I don’t really care about most of it, but they got grandma’s Tiffany necklace from the ‘30s, and it cannot be replaced…’ Those stories break my heart. Put the costume jewelry in the jewelry box so they think they got something but put the good stuff in the coat rack!”

#7 Does This Qualify?

Image credits: MrPestana

#8 Harry Potter Themed “Cupboard Under The Stairs” For My 8 Year Old Daughter For Christmas

Image credits: Tyronne43

#9 $4000 Plug

Image credits: salc347

The solutions people come up with to “outsmart” others are also entertaining to see. “I think people enjoy looking at those things because it is creative and surprising. It is unexpected. It shows time and effort,” Jill Herro explained. “I take pride in the fact that my designs look totally ‘normal’. Some of the other stuff available out there looks ‘unbalanced’ or out of proportion.”

#10 Hidden Beer

Image credits: i_feel_the_need_

#11 Secret Bathroom With A Bonus

Image credits: ShawnSaturday

#12 Secret Book Pull Is Key

Image credits: Satoshis_Dragon

However, the most difficult part for her was to get the business up and running. While the clients loved her work, it just couldn’t get any traction: “I got zero word-of-mouth referrals because nobody wants their friends to know what that beautiful piece of furniture does! I even have customers who refuse to tell their spouse or adult children what it does. I have had husbands purchase items as a gift for their wife, and not tell them about the secret compartments.”

#13 My Dining Room Table Houses A Secret Spiral Staircase

Image credits: PredatorAvPFan

#14 Summoning Danny Devito

Image credits: shashank_g09

#15 How Do You Like Our Secret Room?

Image credits: marcbaechtold

Scrolling through this post, you will see the amount of creativity and cleverness that goes into these projects. There are no limits on what you can do with just a couple of tools and an idea in your head. Making a secret room in your house or thinking of a discreet compartment in your furniture not only provides a safe space for you to stash your possessions and hide your memories, but also shows you that the magic of things is often hidden.