A good prepper sets up his preps for different scenarios. If you’re new to prepping, you may need a little help deciding where to store your food supply.

If you’re not sure where to start, review potential storage spots in your home and ask yourself these seven questions to figure out where to hide your survival supply before SHTF. (h/t to AYearWithoutTheGroceryStore.com)

Can you get rid of unnecessary items to create more storage space?

Check your kitchen and examine all your cabinets. Remove items that you no longer use to get more storage space for your emergency food supply.

Do the same for various drawers around your home and donate items that you can’t use in an emergency.

If you have food items in your pantry that no one in the family likes, donate them to a local food pantry. This ensures that you free up more space in your cabinets and you avoid wasting food that’s still good enough to eat.

Can you store food supplies under something?

If your bed frame is high enough, you can store boxes with rollers underneath your bed.

Alternatively, you can get bed risers to raise your beds off of the ground another four to eight inches so you can fit more items underneath.

Note that you shouldn’t store items under your bed that may easily be compressed or break. Hide any supplies under your bed with an extra-long dust ruffle. (Related: Food storage tips: 3 Ways to store meat safely when SHTF.)

Can you store items inside another item?

You can hide small items in hollow hiding spaces, such as:

• Bookcases – Add more storage space in your closets by installing smaller bookcases.
• Coffee tables – Use an old travel trunk as a makeshift coffee table. Put food supplies inside and cover the trunk with a decorative table runner.
• Ottomans – Hollow ottomans with removable lids can be used to hide small items.

Can you store food in plain sight?

Non-preppers aren’t always observant so you can get away with displaying your preps in various areas throughout your house.

• Display oil lamps in the living spaces of your house. They’re beautiful, but you can also use them if you need an emergency light when the power goes out.
• Like oil lamps, candles won’t look out of place in your living room.
• Store grains and various food items in clear jars. Arrange the jars in your kitchen. To the untrained eye, it may look unusual decor, but you know you have extra food in Mason jars in your kitchen.

Can you store items behind other items?

Push the couch in your living room a foot away from the wall, then place a couch-height table with shelves behind it. Use the shelves to hide your supplies.

Can you store food in rooms you haven’t used before?

Don’t let an empty room in your house go to waste. If you have extra space in your house, turned it into a storage room for your emergency supplies.

If you need the room for something else, compromise by using a closet or a wall of the room for emergency storage. Set up shelving units to store items that you can use when SHTF.

Can you move items to a new area and use the space to store food?

Think of areas like a cabinet full of miscellaneous items no one uses in your garage. If you can free up this space, use it to store survival supplies instead.

Use a linen closet to hide food and other emergency supplies. Keep a pile of sheets and towels near the front to hide other items in the back.

Leave your linen closet slightly messy so it doesn’t attract attention. Since the back of a linen closet is nice and dark, you can easily hide larger items like five-gallon food-grade buckets.

For more tips on how to hide your preps around your house, check out FoodStorage.news.

Sources include:

AYearWithoutTheGroceryStore.com

SurvivalDispatch.com