How to Hide a Camera in Plain Sight (9 Methods) Room, Security, GoPro

The placement of cameras is important for at-home security. What are the best places to hide a camera in plain sight? Here’s how to hide cameras around your home – to keep you and your family safe.

Cameras can be hidden both inside and outside the house. Key points to mount a security camera to are corners and high points in a room so that it can get the most visibility of the room. They can be placed above garages in view of driveways, beside decor and plants, and in view of entrances. 

Hidden security cameras are important in protecting your home. The most important thing about having a security camera is the placement of the camera so that it blends into your home and it gets the best angle possible.

Try to mount your security camera high where it won’t catch the eye.

Please note: Before we get to the specifics, I want to mention one detail: Don’t invade a person’s privacy. Don’t film people in bedrooms, bathrooms, or anywhere they rightfully expect to be private. There is no justification for this. The tips in this post are to help you keep your home and property secure from theft and vandalism.

Okay, on with the post. Here’s how to hide a camera in plain sight:

1. On Bookshelves and Kitchen Cabinets

Placing a security camera or GoPro on top of a bookshelf is a great idea. It can be on a shelf or on top of the bookcase itself. This is a great placement because the camera is in a high position, and it can get the best views of the room from there.

This works best in living rooms, family rooms, home offices, and bedrooms. These rooms are best because you can cover the most common rooms and likely entrances and exits of the home as well.

Bookshelves work great for security cameras because they have books and other decor. This allows you to hide the camera amongst other objects so that it does not stick out and is not too noticeable.

Make sure to adjust the camera position by viewing the video feed. This can help you adjust the camera position as you hide it on the shelf behind the decor.

Bookshelves are common in most rooms and make a perfect place for a camera. It also allows you to place it without the hassle of mounting the camera and wire against the wall.

You can hide the wire and disguise the camera on the shelf so it is not noticeable.

Use Kitchen Cabinets

Placing a camera on top of cabinets in your kitchen is a great place for a security camera as well.

Kitchens are arguably the most used room in a home. If you have space between the top of your cabinets and the ceiling, you should consider placing a camera here.

Kitchens often overlook other rooms of the house. This is perfect for security cameras. You can place them on top of a kitchen cabinet and get a view of the kitchen, the dining room, the family room, and anywhere else the kitchen overlooks.

This also means that you can get a view of a back door or a front door, depending on how your home is laid out.

If you have decorations above your cabinet, you can hide the camera amongst the other objects.

Even if you do not, then placing it that high in your kitchen will be great anyway because it is in a place that people do not look at much, so it won’t be too noticeable. Plus, you can always get decor to cover it up with if you don’t like how it looks.

2. Install Doorbell Camera

With package theft at an all-time high (210 million packages in 2021), a doorbell camera is a great way to deter would-be thieves.

Doorbell video cameras can help reduce unwanted visitors and increase the odds of receiving your packages.

Here are some of the most popular video doorbells:

• Ring Video Doorbell (Wired): Captures 1080p HD video and has advanced motion detection
• Blink Video Doorbell (Wired or wireless): Alexa enabled, shoots 1080p video, and has infrared night video.
• Arlo Wireless Video Doorbell: This is a great add-on if you already use the Arlo security camera system. It has a super wide angle (180 degrees) to capture everything in front of it.

These doorbell cameras can be placed in the traditional location (beside the door). This might prevent thieves from even approaching your house.

Placement Tip: You might also consider placing this unit in a less conspicuous location, catching thieves and lurkers without their knowledge. You could place a second video doorbell on the inside of a post, facing toward your entry door, instead of away from it.

3. Facing Outside a Window

Placing the camera facing the window is a great option for viewing outside. You can get views of your front porch, your front door, your back door, your yard, and more. It is great because you can get footage outside without placing a camera outside.

If you have a camera outside, then the cord connected to it can be eaten at by little critters, and the weather can affect the camera too.

Placing the camera in the window can protect your camera while getting the necessary angles. If you live somewhere you don’t want to put your camera outside, placing it in the window is a great idea. It can hide the camera and also protect it.

4. Mounted Above Entrances or the Garage

The basic areas that need coverage by cameras are the entrances and exits.

One outdoor idea is to mount a camera above your front and back doors so that anyone coming in and out of your house is recorded and your home is more protected.

Placing a camera above your garage is a great place because the roof will protect the camera. And be out of reach. The driveway and entrance to your house are critical areas to have under surveillance.

If you park in the driveway or on the street in front of your home, this is a great place for a camera. If anything happens to your home or car, you can have the footage of it and be able to show insurance proof of the event that occurred.

5. Hidden in a Stationary Bird House

If you are all about making your cameras super hidden in and around your house, then hiding a security camera or a GoPro inside a stationary birdhouse is a great and unique idea.

This idea works when the birdhouse is stationary because you do not want the house to move in the wind and make your camera move where it was set up to face.

This is a great idea if you could connect a wire from the birdhouse to the nearest outlet. Some problems can occur when mowing and trying to avoid hitting the wire, you will need a waterproof and weatherproof wire for when the yard gets rain or when it gets watered by sprinklers.

Even better, choose cameras that connect via WiFi and have rechargeable batteries.

To make this work best, keep the birdhouse close to your house and not in the middle of the yard. That way you can get a view of your property and you can avoid issues with trying to connect via WiFi or cables.

You can also place a birdhouse in a place where grass won’t grow, like a front garden or mounted on the side of your house.

This way, you won’t have to worry about mowing over a wire, and you can get a view of your yard and your back or front door too. This will cover any areas you want to be seen on camera.

6. Hidden in a Picture or Mirror

For people who want their cameras nowhere to be seen, using see-through pictures and 2-way mirrors is a great way to place cameras so they are not seen.

You can get a picture that is big or small, and it can rest on a shelf, or it can hang on the wall. Then, you simply need to set up a camera behind it.

This idea is intended for use in living rooms and family rooms where lots of people can be. That way you can get the best view of a room without the camera being noticed at all. If you like to hang mirrors in your home then placing a camera or GoPro behind it is a great option as well for hiding your camera.

Never put security cameras in places needed for privacy such as bathrooms and bedrooms. But you can place the cameras outside your house to view the perimeter of the house so that if your home is threatened by someone who is not using a door to come inside your home, you have all areas covered and recorded.

7. Hidden in Plants or Decor

You can place your security camera in a large house plant, a bowl of fake fruit, or in any other freestanding ornament.

Arlo and Google Nest both have decent security cameras with long-life rechargeable batteries. Just charge them up, drop them in place, and you’ll be secure while away.

You can also place a camera above a curtain so that the curtain distracts and hides the camera and its wire. You can also place the camera on top of a fireplace and hide it with decor.

A security camera can be hidden on top of a countertop or above a fridge.

These ideas can hide the wire, and you can disguise the camera by hiding it with other decorations so it is not noticeable.

These can take some fiddling, but try them out and see if it gets the angles you want.

8. Mounted to Corners of Walls

The highest vantage point and widest angle are probably in the corner. Consider placing it in the corner of the room opposite the primary entrance.

While a camera mounted in the corner will stand out, if there’s nothing around it, there are a few things you can do to make it less visible.

You can choose a color that best matches your walls. If you have light walls, getting a light-colored camera and a wire the same color will help you blend your camera into the wall.

You can also install a corner-mounted plant holder or a corner cabinet.

You can place the camera on a wall that has pictures and other decorations hanging on it so that the camera mounted in the corner does not distract and look out of place.

Tired of staring at your neighbor’s security camera? Here are 8 ways to block their security camera.

9. In a Tree

If you want another view of your home or your property from the outside, mounting a security camera or GoPro to a tree is a great idea. Depending on the tree, it can be a sturdy place for a camera to be.

Your GoPro battery will be okay for a few hours, less if filming the whole time.

Other security cameras will last for many months, especially if only set to film when motion is detected.

I recommend you check out Google Nest and Arlo for good wireless camera options. We own both systems. I favor Google Nest but it is more expensive than Arlo.

Hiding a GoPro

If you are trying to capture wildlife on camera, mounting a GoPro to a tree is a great idea. You can hide the camera with the branches and leaves, and you can make it sturdy enough to last through weather and critters.

That way, your camera is safe and protected, but it also gets an amazing view of wildlife.

If you have the money, it’s probably best to pick up an actual trail camera for capturing wildlife. Here are our favorite trail cameras for filming wildlife.

Hiding Trail Cameras

Hiding a trail camera can be a tricky job. Here’s how to hide a trail camera from humans.

Other ways to conceal cameras include: inside potted plants, stuffed animals, tissue boxes, and inside a USB adapter.

Your Turn

How do you keep your security cameras hidden from would-be intruders and thieves? Let me know in the comments how you hide a camera in plain sight!