How to Install Security Cameras Without Ruining Your Home Décor

Demand for wireless home security cameras is on the rise, as homeowners relish the peace of mind that accompanies the ability to check on their homes and families from anywhere. But at the same time, many homeowners don’t want prominent equipment to throw off the pleasing aesthetics of their home—or make guests feel uncomfortable when they visit.

And while obvious security cameras can serve as a deterrent for intruders, they also present themselves for criminals to disable or avoid. Fortunately, there are many simple ways to install wireless home security cameras so they don’t make your house feel like a fortress—and so they’re less conspicuous to those who would want to tamper with them or change their behavior around them.

The number of U.S. homes with security cameras jumped from 15.1 percent in 2013 to 27.3 percent in 2016—and the growing popularity of the technology is hardly a surprise. When linked to a smart security system, wireless home security cameras give homeowners a unique opportunity to see and hear what’s happening inside their homes in real-time, whether they’re keeping an eye on an empty house from vacation or checking on kids home alone after school from their office.

Advanced options may include infrared night vision that makes it easy to capture images in the dark, as well as zoom, pan, and tilt capabilities for better views of a scene.

Prominently placed security cameras (especially outdoors) can serve as an effective deterrent to crime, encouraging would-be intruders to move on to easier targets. In fact, a UNC Charlotte Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology study reported that 60 percent of convicted burglars said they scour homes for visible security cameras before breaking in—and 40 percent said they choose a different target if they find them.

But some security cameras that are easily spotted may be easier to circumvent. Hidden security cameras are more effective at uncovering the true behavior of people left unsupervised in your home as well, such as nannies, contractors, or healthcare workers assigned to help elderly family members.

Guests can also feel understandably uncomfortable if they spot security cameras watching them in a room. And some homeowners complain that prominently placed cameras are a blight to their home décor.

For these reasons, many homeowners opt to install a combination of obvious and subtle cameras as part of their home security system: deterring crime or bad behavior with cameras in plain sight while strategically positioning others to discretely fade into the background.

Smaller wireless cameras are the easiest to blend with a home’s décor, offering the flexibility to install them in virtually any location without also worrying about hiding messy wires. At the same time, choosing wireless cameras with pleasing, sleek designs also enables homeowners to broadcast the presence of robust security in strategic places without marring the home’s aesthetic.

Let’s explore some easy ways to maximize home security without making them too obvious:

Placing wireless home security cameras in people’s line of sight can make them stand out. But for the most part, people rarely look up when they enter a room, making high locations an ideal choice for discretely positioning cameras. Consider places above the normal line of vision, regardless of whether people are standing or sitting. That can mean the corner where the ceiling meets the wall, the top shelf of a bookcase, a curtain rod, a particularly high mantle, or under an outside soffit.

Choosing out-of-reach locations also makes it harder for thieves to tamper with any cameras they spot. But keep this in mind: high placement makes it even more essential to select a high-quality camera with zoom capabilities and wide-angle coverage to ensure clear, useful videos.

Outdoors and indoors, cameras hidden by a tree or leafy plant tend to remain unnoticed by intruders or others in your house. Thieves racing to get in and out quickly may scan typical camera locations like walls or near windowpanes, but are unlikely to spend time rummaging around every plant. Simply arrange the plant so the camera has a good view of the room but isn’t immediately obvious.

Another effective trick is to borrow an age-old concept from the military and the animal kingdom: a little camouflage makes it easy to hide in plain sight. Strategically position home security cameras where they can blend into natural surroundings. For instance, hiding a camera in a knick-knack display can make it look like just another trinket on the shelf. Got a desk filled with tech gadgets like smart picture frames, routers, and speakers? Set a home security camera in their midst to help it easily blend into the background or resemble a webcam for your computer. Installing a camera on the wall? Choose a surrounding paint color or trim that makes the camera less obvious.

Wireless home security cameras that also serve as doorbells have many attractive features, including easy installation, weatherproof design, durability, real-time alerts, and night vision. Since doorbells are a regular exterior feature, they also won’t detract from your home’s aesthetics.

Frontpoint Security’s Slimline Doorbell Camera features infrared night vision that lets homeowners easily view their door at any time through a live feed—and hear and speak to visitors via two-way audio even if they aren’t home. The camera’s motion sensor also sends an alert about any activity around the door, even if the doorbell isn't pressed. It’s available in two colors—silver and aged bronze—to match other fixtures in the entranceway.

The popularity of wireless home security cameras comes with a price: burglars and hired workers that homeowners might want to monitor now expect security cameras in many modern homes, putting them on notice to find and circumvent them. That’s prompted some homeowners to incorporate a little creativity to disguise indoor and outdoor cameras.

For instance, some people conceal outdoor cameras in birdhouses, while others slip indoor cameras into unexpected items like a tissue box with a hole cut out for the lens to keep them out of sight. There’s one caveat to doing this: Before hiding cameras, homeowners should investigate the laws of their state (and homeowner’s association) to ensure they adhere to privacy regulations.

Generally speaking, most states permit homeowners to record videos from hidden cameras on their property without the consent of the person being recorded—as long as the camera isn’t recording areas with a reasonable expectation of privacy like a bathroom or an in-home worker’s bedroom.

It’s also important to ensure that outdoor cameras don’t violate a neighbor’s privacy. For instance, capturing a neighbor’s public-facing property in the background of your footage is usually OK; pointing cameras at their bathrooms or bedrooms is certainly not.

• Install outdoor security cameras about 8 to 10 feet above the ground. That height is usually low enough to capture finer details but high enough that it can’t be easily reached by vandals or thieves.
• Avoid pointing cameras directly at the sun. Bright light can cause glare and high contrast in the footage, making it harder to see what’s happening. Think about the movement of the sun across your property and angle cameras to maintain indirect light.
• Take steps to protect outdoor cameras from harsh elements. Many outdoor security cameras advertise weather- and water-proofing, but some are robust than others. Choosing a quality camera that’s appropriately rated for your climate and placing it under eaves or other semi-protected areas can improve its longevity.

• Some 34 percent of burglars break into a house by strolling through the front door, 23 percent target first-floor windows, and 22 percent enter through a back door. As the most common entryways for criminals, it’s wise to make sure these locations are monitored.
• Placing home security cameras in a corner of a room usually offers the best vantage point.
• Windows can lead to reflection issues and degrade video quality. Many home security cameras rely on infrared (IR) light technology to aid in motion detection and enable the camera to produce clear images in low light. However, IR light can reflect off windows and other glass objects, making your footage appear washed out. If you can’t avoid pointing cameras at a window, try positioning the lens close to the glass and backlighting the outdoor area to capture the best videos.
• Remember, direct light can wash out footage, making it hard to decipher. Avoid pointing cameras directly at lamps, light fixtures, or bright windows.

In an effort to cut costs or avoid installing cameras inside, some homeowners attempt to deter criminals by placing dummy cameras on their home’s exterior.

Here’s why that’s misguided: fake cameras generally look it, and all it takes is an observant burglar to thwart your “home security.” Even worse, discovering a fake camera may trigger the opposite effect: giving criminals a green light to break in because your home seems poorly protected.

Fake cameras are no substitute for functioning wireless home security cameras. Real cameras linked to a smart security system not only serve as deterrents to crime and other bad behaviors but provide valuable real-time videos that capture danger as it arises, enabling homeowners, monitoring services, and law enforcement to respond quickly.

Maximizing home security doesn’t have to mean compromising your home’s looks. With strategic placement, wireless home security cameras can either fade into the background or broadcast the presence of a security system in an aesthetically pleasing way—helping homeowners ensure that their families and assets are safe from anywhere.

Frontpoint’s range of wireless cameras— the Premium Indoor Camera, Indoor Camera, Outdoor Camera, and Slimline Doorbell Camera—are aesthetically pleasing and match a range of home designs, whether you take extra steps to make them unobtrusive or display them in plain sight. In addition to providing a real-time feed that’s always accessible via a smartphone or other device, they automatically record any time motion is detected, alerting homeowners via email or text messages when a new video clip is available. The Frontpoint app saves and stores every clip so it can be viewed at any time.

Frontpoint’s Premium Indoor, Indoor, and Slimline Doorbell cameras also boast two-way audio capabilities that let homeowners see and communicate with people in the house or at the door from offsite locations. Not only do these features offer reassurance that your family and property are safe when you aren’t home, but they also reduce the potential for false alarms fees by enabling you to remotely silence an alarm once you’ve verified that nothing is wrong.

Frontpoint keeps families safer and more connected in their everyday lives. We've been revolutionizing the home security industry for over a decade. And we're just getting started. To shop DIY home security systems, check out our Security Packages. If you have questions or would like to discuss a quote, contact us at 1-877-602-5276.