It feels like there’s always some new fad or other about how to decorate your home. Whether it’s feng shui, open plan living or the latest colour pairings, it can make your head spin trying to find the best way to make your home feel like home.
But through every trend, there’s one constant that’s sure to help us feel comfortable at home, and that’s safety and security. Whether you go for the tried and tested, or modern and convenient, striving for a secure home should be a top priority, no matter your taste. Options now vary from security industry pioneers, Banham offer door locks with “police preferred specification”, while Yale have started to manufacture modern smart locks.
If you’re interested in how you can do more, here are our top tips on how to ensure your home is designed to defend.
Integrate your window grilles with blinds
Window blinds are typically used to preserve your modesty when changing or block out the distractions of the outside world while you relax. But installing blinds or curtains at your windows can also save you from providing potential thieves a catalogue of valuables you have that they might want to steal.
Integrate closing your blinds into your daily routine, and while you’re at it, don’t forget to secure your windows with effective locks or even elegant window grilles or shutters too. It won’t matter whether a burglar can see in or not if you’ve—literally—left opportunity open to enter your home.
Light corridors and doorways to put intruders off
Installing a motion-detecting light at your doors not only saves you struggling with your keys when you come in, but it will also alert you and your community to anyone attempting to enter your home, literally shining a spotlight on anyone moving around your home in the dark of night.
Inside your home, you may wish to install timed lighting in corridors and halls. Not only does this enable you to move through your home without fumbling for light switches or tripping over strewn items, but if you’re out of the house, lighting can give the illusion that someone is home. Lights can be a deterrent for burglars considering whether or not to make an attempt on your property.
Consider timing your lights to mimic your patterns of movement around your home: turn the living area lights off as the upstairs lights turn on. With all this automation, you’ll feel like you’re living in a mind-reading house of the future, without having to spend money on an electronic home assistant.
Don’t place furniture to give burglars a leg up
Use your furniture to your advantage, but don’t let your furniture be a helpful aid to someone entering into your home through a window. If you have garden furniture, store and lock it away when not in use, as outdoor tables and chairs can provide a leg up in their ascent.
Indoors, make sure to keep furniture away from windows to aid a descent into your home, and use furniture to block anything that you don’t want the outside world to see by securing valuables inside drawers and cabinets. You could even consider installing a discrete home safe too.
Finally, don’t neglect the importance of arranging furniture in your home to allow for an obstacle-free exit for yourself in the event of an emergency. Should an intruder enter your home or a fire break out, you don’t want to box yourself in.
Guard your garden with plants and fences
It’s not uncommon for homeowners to neglect garden security when optimising the safety of their homes. Much the same as storing your garden furniture sensibly, other outdoor features like fences and plants can work either in your favour or against it.
As Essex Police have mentioned on garden security, fences are typically considered a good defense for you home, but it’s important to ensure any fence you do install is not easily scalable. Shorter fences can be just as effective as taller ones as they still permit neighbours and passers by to observe an intruder moving about within. It can be a good idea to install an open-lattice fence or gate for the same reason. You may also consider installing vinyl fencing. If you’re still undecided which fencing type you want to install, you may consider having a temporary fencing rental for the meantime.
Tall shrubs and hedges can allow trespassers on your property move about unseen, so keep these to a minimum; you may consider hiring tree trimming services to maintain your front lawn and backyard. Choosing flowers instead means not only do you add extra colour, but you’ll also be keeping your home safe. Keep your shrubbery under the height of your first-floor windows to make your garden looks neat and protect your home.
