Firearm Storage » [Do-it-yourself] How To Mount A Hinged Picture Frame Over A Wall Safe

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[Do-it-yourself] How To Mount A Hinged Picture Frame Over A Wall Safe

Lisa J Thompson

May 8, 2023

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Every modern apartment today will have a safe to keep all the essential personal belongings.

The problem is a big safe might look out of place inside the apartment, especially the smaller one.

That is why this article will guide you through all the vital steps to install the hidden storage area for your wall safe as well as a hinged picture frame to cover this area.

By the end of the guide, you will have perfect decoration inside your room and a little secret behind it that only you will know.

Materials

• A best wall safe of your favorite choice. The size should match with the shallow area on the walls.
• A picture frame with a size larger than the size of the hidden area.
• A couple of soft door hinges that can be opened to more than 90 degrees.
• Some long and large screws.
• 4 pieces of wooden frames.
• Drywall saw.
• A drilling machine.

The step by step procedure to mount a picture frame over a wall safe

Step 1

Locate the stud spot inside the walls. This is the area where the walls are not solid, which allow you to carve a hole inside the wall.

It is important to know that you should know the measure of the safe that you will place inside the walls.

Furthermore, make sure to double check that there is no plumbing, electrical or internet cables that are built inside the walls.

This step will ensure that your safe will fit perfectly inside the hidden spot.

Step 2

Use any type of ruler and pencil or marker to map out the area where you will carve out the opening on the wall.

Do not forget:

The opening must have enough space to install the hinged for the storage door which later on will be used as the mount for a picture frame.

Proceed to cut out the opening on the wall with a drywall saw.

Protip: only apply force on the down stroke with the saw and pull out a little bit so that there are as few splatters coming out of the walls as possible.

Step 3:

A typical safe is heavy by nature, even for a smaller one inside the walls. That is why we need to place in an interior shelf inside the hole that we just carve out from the walls.

The shelf should be sturdy enough to hang tightly on the walls as well as be able to support the weight of the metal safe.

The shelf can be made by using 4 frames of wood (think about it as a windows frame).

On each of the frame should have 2 long screws at both end and 1 nail at the center to be drilled into the walls.

These screws will keep the frame secured to the walls.

Also drills more screws from the outside of the walls into the wooden frame to make them sturdier.

Once done with all the 4 different frames, put the safe inside the hidden area to test.

Step 4:

Apply a joint compound on all the surface inside the interior of the hidden area.

A joint compound is a type of coating substance that will keep the walls and the wooden surface moisture free.

The joint compound will suck the air and moisture out of all the surfaces quickly, so you need to apply the compound with speed to make sure all the surfaces are evenly smooth.

Once done, use a damp rag to clean out everything in the interior again. After that, place the safe inside the hidden storage area.

Step 5:

We will install the door hinges for this step. The door hinges are not for the safe door. Instead, it is the door to cover the hidden area, where we will finally mount a picture frame on the front.

The hinges that you should use for the picture frames are called the soft hinges. They can open to more than 90-degree angle.

Soft hinges do not have a tight snap when you close the door, which makes it safer for the picture frames that have the glass at the front.

Install 2 hinges inside the interior of our hidden area.

Do not forget to leave enough space so you can open the door easily without any colliding with the safe inside.

Step 6:

Use a picture frame as the door for our hidden area.

The picture frames should have a size that is larger than the hidden area (so that it also covers all the drill spot outside the walls that we use to secure the interior frames)

The picture frames also should be thick enough to fit with the drill for door hinges.

After finishing this step, open the picture frames a couple of times to test the mobility and smoothness of the door.

The soft hinges that we carefully select and install will make sure that the picture frames will not clamp instantly when closing. This will protect the picture frames over long time usage.

Enjoy your new hidden compartment

As you can see, it is not difficult for the project of mounting a hinged picture frame over a wall safe.

The project should not cost you more than some hours in a single weekend, provided that you have all the materials ready for one go.

Do not forget to take some pictures or videos over your work progress. You can share these fantastic moments with friends as well as keep them as reference materials for future usage.