This post has been a long time coming, as it’s something very close to my heart – for security reasons (and I’m all for protecting yourself, your family, and your home as much as possible).
Basically – they are my favourite 3 really easy but very clever ways to make your home more secure even when you are away – something which will give you peace of mind and less stress – perfect hey!
I’d like to thank Luxaflex for sponsoring this post. You can find out more about their POWERVIEW blinds HERE, which are mentioned within the post as well. As always, all words and opinions in the post are completely my own.
It’s all too easy to go on holiday, or even just pop out for a few hours – and leave your home looking like no-one is in – especially when it’s dark.
For anyone looking for opportunities to do wrong – seeing a home that looks like no-one is in is an invitation for them – which you don’t want to give…
Scary, I know – but fact (unfortunately).
So – what can be done about it? I mean – if you’re out, and your house is empty – not a lot – surely? – but you’d be wrong.
Luckily with the advent of better and better technology, there are lots of ways to make your home look a little lived in, and I wanted to go through my favourite 3 today.
I really hope that these give you inspiration to make your home feel lived in – whether you’re there or not!
#1 – The Doorbell You Can Answer Even When You’re Out!
I love the idea of a smart doorbell, which can be answered using my mobile phone. It’s a great idea, and I have seen lots of these on the market right now, so they’re definitely becoming more popular.
Not only is it a great way to not miss a delivery, but you can also pretend you’re in but can’t come to the door. This will put anyone off who has knocked on the off chance you aren’t in.
There are now a variety on the market – including RING and SMARTBEL – but you can easily do a search to find others.
Being able to answer my door from wherever I am really does give me peace of mind – and it’s also useful when you’re in but unable to come to the door (such as if you’re in the bath, or in bed etc…).
#2 – Blinds That Close And open Automatically
Following on from actually sounding like you’re at home with the doorbell idea, you want people to not be able to see whether you are at home or not as well.
I am seeing the idea of automated blinds more and more in homes now – blinds that you can program to open and close themselves at specific times of day. Brilliant!
From a security point of view these are so useful: –
- If you are away overnight, you can program your blinds to shut at nightfall and open in the morning. No more worries about people looking in and seeing you are away.
- You can come home at night to a home that feels more secure and welcoming. You don’t have to go round closing all the blinds before you can do anything else.
- They don’t have to have cords because they operate from a keypad – so they are really safe when there are children in the house as well.
Luxaflex recently asked me to take a look at their great range of POWERVIEW blinds that allow for just this functionality – you can find out more about them and what they can do HERE (- there’s a great video there that can show you the blinds working as well – just scroll to the bottom of the page).
Blinds opening and closing automatically are a fantastic idea for so many reasons – but when you team it up with the next product, you are onto a winner in terms of making your home look like you are there even when you’re not…
#3 – Lighting On Timers
This is probably the easiest one to start with, as you can do it really quickly by installing individual timers on your lamp plug sockets. You can then look like you’re in because the lights are going on and off at the right times of day!
I would recommend adding a timer to a few lamps dotted around your home, including rooms at the front and back of the house, and the hallway. You could also add to a bedroom as well.
Time them to come on around dusk, and then set them to go off at various times of the evening. I like to do this as it looks more realistic to set them for when you are likely to be using them. Alternatively you could easily leave one on overnight if you prefer.
You can get these relatively inexpensively from lots of DIY stores, and also on Amazon (the most popular one on Amazon can be bought HERE).
So – if you implement all 3 of these ideas in your home, you can go away and be out of the house with complete confidence that your home looks more like you are there than away.
Perfect hey!
What do YOU do to make it look like someone is at home when you’re away?
I hope these 3 ideas have inspired you to put some more security measures in place…
