An old building often has a long story, full of secrets that its former residents have left behind. That's one of the reasons why some folks prefer living in the old town—it has an aura. And, every now and then, they resurface.
We at Bored Panda put together a list of pictures people took during their home renovations when they suddenly discovered unexpected treasures. Turns out, things like a locked safe and a 100-year-old Monopoly set can be hiding right between your walls.
All you need to find them is a sledgehammer.
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Collection Of Reference Seeds Found In My Grandad’s Attic
That is, without a doubt, one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Wow.
Restoring My 1880 Victorian House And Found This Vibrant Tile Original To The Home After Partially Removing A Faux Fireplace
Chances are, we'll be seeing many more cool finds. According to Houzz's annual Houzz & Home study, U.S. home renovation activity and spending have reached the highest rates since 2018.
More than half of homeowners (55%) renovated in 2021, up from 53% in 2020 and 54% in both 2019 and 2018.
Following 15% growth in median renovation spend in 2020, homeowners reported an additional 20% jump in 2021 median spend, which now stands at $18,000.
I Took A Knife To The Lino In The Bathroom And Found The Original Edwardian Tiles. My Great Great Grandmother Was A Housemaid Here In Cupar In The 1880s
My Wife And I Are Upgrading Our Kitchen. We Found This Fossil Under The Floor Boards
While Tearing Up Their Carpet, My In-Laws Found A Giant Monopoly Board
That’s SO COOL! Restore it and keep it! All you need is the cards and the pieces… :)
Recent homebuyers, who account for 10% of renovating homeowners, spent nearly double the median ($30,000) in 2021, surpassing the median spend for short-term and long-term homeowners ($19,000 and $15,000, respectively).
Recent homebuyers who had higher-budget projects (the top 10% of spend) invested $175,000, compared with $100,000 for short-term homeowners and $90,000 for long-term homeowners.
Experts say this higher spend potentially can be attributed to the number of projects recent homebuyers undertake at a single time—an average of three to four rooms as well as home systems such as electrical and plumbing.
My 84-Year-Old Father Is Renovating His House. Hidden Behind The Wallpaper He Found These Wall Murals, Which He Believes Are From 1912
Demo Team Pulled This Out Of A Fireplace In A 1950s House We Are Renovating
Found 83 Gold Coins At The Bottom Of A Coal Container After Renovating The House
In 2021, the median spend icreased for all interior room renovations.
The kitchen, which remains the most popular option to be upgraded and is the room with the highest spend, saw an bump in investment of 25% ($15,000 in 2021 versus $12,000 in 2020).
Interior rooms with the most dramatic spend increase are guest bathrooms (38%), laundry rooms (33%), living rooms (33%), and guest bedrooms (28%)
Found These (On The Left) Under Old Carpet When We Got Stairs Re-Carpeted. 10 Months After We Moved In Found "Minton" Or Possibly "Pugin" Tiles In The Hallway Under A Laminate
Twitter User Finds A Secret Hiding Place In His Walls While Renovating, Inside Was A Children's Book Of Poems From 1835
Was Helping To Clean Out An Old Mansion In Minnesota And Found This Civil War Letter In The Attic. He’s Saying That The War Will Be Over Soon And He Will Be Coming Home
Found A Suitcase In The Attic Of My Dad's Old Comic Books. Most Of Them Seem To Be Marvel Dated In The 70s
The percentage of homeowners relying on cash from savings to fund their renovation projects declined by 7 points in 2021 (to 76%), after remaining stable over the three years prior (83% each year).
Simultaneously, the percentage of homeowners financing renovation projects with credit cards increased by 6 points (to 35%).
Renovation Find
Took A Radiator Off The Wall To Decorate And Found This Ancient, Alien Invasion Wallpaper
I Was Cleaning My Attic And Found A Doll House TV With The Twin Towers On It
OMG I have one of those! It's right here on my desk! Same TV design, same picture, same everything, except that the blue and white are swapped around for some reason. It was indeed part of a dollhouse set my sister owned, which I decided to keep for sentimental reasons. I believe our mother has the rest of it stashed away for the nephew to play with when he comes over.
Day 1 - It Was An Unbelievably Exciting Morning When We Discovered This Gem Hidden Behind Various Layers Of Plaster And Wallpaper In The Master Bedroom
One of the things I was hoping for when purchasing a period property was to find little surprises like this this will become a little project of mine to restore back to its former glory, we are thinking of moving it into the dining area to become a key feature in our living space.
It also looks like renovating homeowners want their investments to be safe. They spent 25% more on home security systems in 2021 than in 2020.
Interestingly, outdoor security systems are now three times more popular than they were in 2015 and the second most frequently installed outdoor upgrade (17% ), behind lighting (22%).
Outdoor security system upgrades are most popular among short-term homeowners (21%), followed by recent homebuyers (20%) and long-term homeowners (14%).
We Tore Up Some Carpeting In Our House Expecting Concrete But Instead Found This 70’s Masterpiece
While Re-Mortaring An Old Brick Wall Inside A Building, I Found A Loose Brick. This Note Was Behind It. 32 Years. Added My Name And Date, Then Mortared It Up Again
Found An Old Monopoly Set In The Walls Of My 1925 House
We Have A 23-19! My Friend Found A Monsters Inc. Door While Doing A Recent Renovation
People who are renovating continue to hire professionals at a high rate—nearly 9 in 10 homeowners relied on pros for their remodels or upgrades in 2021.
Recent homebuyers (those who tackled a lot more projects than the ones who'd been in their home a while), were particularly keen to get help (93%) but hiring was widespread among short- and long-term homeowners as well (88% each).
Found A Floor Safe While Renovating. Trying To Open It Now
$400 for a locksmith later - empty.
Found Original Homeowner In The Walls Of A Teardown
I Took A Wall Out Of My Closet And Found A Makeshift Passageway. With A Large, Heavy, Creepy Basket In It. And The Basket Was Not Empty
My Friend Found An Invite To Walt Disney’s Daughter’s Wedding While Renovating His House In LA
Among the 38% of homeowners who hired construction professionals, general contractors (72%) comprise the largest group, followed by builders (30%), kitchen or bath remodelers (18%), and design-build firms (8%).
The three most popular specialty service pros hired by the 49% of renovating homeowners who brought in this kind of help are electricians (38%), air conditioning and heating specialists (37%), and plumbers (35%).
I wonder if they kept any treasures for themselves...
This Yardstick I Found In My Attic Is Old Enough To Have A 1 Digit Phone Number
Found A Steam Room And Hot Tub In My Basement, Behind A Wall During Demolition
Renovating My Bathroom And I Found Some Lost Treasures From The '70s
The text says:
"Dear Betty-Jean
A little something for your brain.
Warning: the surgeon general has detected that happiness increases with the amount smoked. Please don't overindulge."
Betty-Jean was hiding her stash, given to her by her boyfriend (?) from her parents.
Refitting Our New Houses Loft (Attic) And Found £500 Of 1981 Currency Wrapped In Insulation
Whilst these notes stopped being legal tender in 1996, people should still be able to pay them into a UK bank account. If they aren't accepted, then they can be exchanged at the Bank of England counter in London. However, it is also possible to sell the notes, and they are worth more than their face value.
My Dad Is Renovating His Bathroom And Found A Dress In A Walled-Off Secret Closet. It’s Handmade From The Sixties
The house was built in 1965. I tried it on then put it back in the wall. We’re thinking about adding something to the secret closet, but I’m not sure what yet.
My Grandfather And I, Found A WWII Purple Heart While Renovating A House He Just Bought
Renovating A 100-Year-Old House, Found What Looks Like A Samurai Sword Under A Section Of The House That Had A Dirt Floor. Still Sharp And Heavy
That looks like Imperial Japanese army. Looks like the leather grip is gone, otherwise it looks a lot like a Noncom or lower rank officer Katana. Probably a war souvenir.
Found Old Newspapers Used As Insulation In The Wall Of A 130-Year-Old House
Found This Baby In The Attic. It's Going On The Wall Right After I Press Submit
Beautiful Drawing Found Behind A Wall While Renovating Our Bathroom
Renovating My Bedroom And Found This
Found A Hidden Attic While Doing A Renovation. It Was A Door To A Hidden Room With Old War Time Newspapers, An Old Bed And Old Photos On The Walls
Found A Marriage Certificate From 1895 In A Flooded Cabin We Renovated
There’s A Dried Flower In This 165 Years Old Latin Book I Just Found In Our Attic
Found A Beehive While Renovating An Old House
Found Perfectly Preserved Cans In A Wall I Was Demolishing
Found In A Wall In Vermont
I Work For An Apartment Management Company. I Was Working On Some Dry Wall And Found This In A Pile Of Debris. From 1979
My Sister Bought A House About A Year Ago And Has Been Doing Renovations. She Just Recently Found This Behind One Of The Walls
Getting The Kitchen Floor Redone. Here Are All The Floors Since The House Was Built In 1880
This Confederate Currency I Found In My Uncle's Attic
Be careful, though, as this bill looks too well preserved to be 169+ years old. A lot of reproductions of Confederate currency have been made since the end of the Civil War. A lot of the real stuff didn’t survive, as it became so devalued it was used to line walls and light fires in cookstoves, or given to kids to play with and therefore tear up. What isn’t in museums or private collection is either long gone or undiscovered—-or reproductions. Have an expert check it over.
I Found A Suitcase Inside A Wall
My House Is Built On An Indian Burial Site. I Am Replacing The Furnace, And I Found This Under The Old Furnace
Found This While Renovating. Any Idea? Bomb Squad On The Way
Ha. I remember I did the identification when this one popped up on reddit back in the day - it's a British WW1 QF 4.5-inch Howitzer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_4.5-inch_howitzer) shrapnel shell, with a N°80 fuze. UXO (unexploded ordnance) but unfired so low risk. OP called the bomb squad which confirmed it was live and removed it.
1977 McDonalds' Christmas Trash Found In The Wall Of Our House
Found This Locked Safe Under The Carpet Of An Estate Home I Recently Purchased
A Mural In A Kids Bathroom I’m Renovating From The 50’s
Keep it. Clean it up and seal it first, but definitely keep it. Beats the s**t out of paint and any wallpaper you could find. Bet the dogs in the mural were the artist’s pets, so past residents of the house.
Found This Class Picture From 1911 In The Walls When Redoing Our Kitchen. The Back Says Vivien Gilbert, June 1911
After A Recent Flood We Found External Walls Inside Our Walls. House Built Around 1900
My goodness! I would try to incorporate that into my decor. It's important to preserve history, especially excellent carpentry work! ;-)
Found A Bottle Of "The Mixture" During Renovations
I Found An Old Notebook From 1856 In My Attic
Found This Book From 1916 Inside The Wall Of My House
While Renovating My Grandma's House, I Found The Prosthetic Leg Of My Great Grandfather In The Attic
A Pay Stub We Found While Renovating Our Home
I Found A WWII British Gas Mask In The Attic Of A House We Are Renovating
Found A 120-Year-Old British Indian Coin In The Attic. 1901 Was The Year Victoria Died And Also The Last Year Coins With Her Bust Were Minted, So This One's Special
I See Your Tiny Coffee Cup And Raise You This Tiny Little Fork I Found During My Home Renovation
Beer, Cola And Note Found In House Walls During Renovation
Renovating A Bathroom And Found A Newspaper From 1944 In The Wall
Found In My House During A Kitchen Renovation
My Mate Accidentally Put A Hole In His Wall And Found An Old Hidden Safe
Schlitz Beer Found In The Wall, Dated 1937
1933 Erotic Magazine Found In Wall Of House Being Remodeled
Found This Key While Renovating
Bought A House 10 Months Ago. Found Today While Working On The Basement
Its a copper pipe from the toilet upstairs.
My House Was Built In The 1930s. We're Renovating Our Bathroom, And Found This Guy Hidden In The Floors
While Renovating My More Than 100-Year-Old Home, I Found This Almost Perfectly Preserved Baseball Catalogue
I used to live near Copper Cliff! That's pretty kewl 👍🏻
Found In A Wall Of My 100-Year-Old House
We Found Something Awesome While Redecorating Our House
We're Renovating Our Home And Had To Take Down The Covering On The Wall That's Been There Since It Was Built In 1980, Found This Gem Underneath
Found Inside A Wall At My Mother In Law's 1880's Queen Anne Victorian House
I was just wondering how a Victorian house can be Queen Anne when they were two distinct monarchs and very different style houses.
Found This Old Religious Book Inside A Cavity In The Stone Wall Of An Out Building We Were Demolishing At My Brothers Farm, ( North Of Scotland) It's Dated 1805 & Looked As If It Had Been Deliberately Hidden
House Flooded And We Needed To Remove All The Wet Carpet. I Found This Floor Safe In The Slab Under The Carpet In The Closet
I Recently Bought A 1980s Home In Southern Illinois To Renovate. I Found This And Other Contraptions. I’m Scared To Move It Because It Looks Like It Can Explode
19th Century Painting I Found On My Grandparents’ Attic (I Repainted The Frame)
My Friend Is Renovating A House And Found A Lock Box. Police Shut Them Down When Contents Were Revealed
I'm Restoring My Century-Old House, And Today I Discovered A Built-In Bookshelf Is Being Held Up By A Strip Of Wood From A Kroger Grocery Box From 1921
This Old Stamp I Found Renovating My House From The 50s
Found This While Renovating My Basement. Anyone Have Any Idea What It Is?
They are the symbols on a deck of cards. The diamond, club, spade and heart. That probably was a games room.
New House. Previous Owners Left This Behind Basement Bathroom Curtain
This 101-Year-Old Geography Book I Found While Redoing A Wall
Renovating My 1950s Home And Found This In A Cold Air Return. My Grandpa Shares The Same Name So I Found It Very Neat
This is how you find out your grandfather was a professional ice hockey player
Parliament’s From Around 1955 Found In The Wall Of A House During Renovation
1970s Fanta Grape Soda Found Inside My Drywall While Renovating Bathroom
Found Under The Floor Of The House We're Renovating. Had One Back In 1976, When I Was Five-Ish
We Discovered A Locked Safe In The Floor During Remodel Of Our Old Home
Renovating My House And Found A Newspaper From 1911 Under The Floorboards
Pigeon Racing Trophies Found In The Basement Of A House I'm Renovating
Tearing Down Plaster, Found This Unopened Inside The Wall
Found These Old Coins In The Wall During Renovation
I Found A Safe Inside The 6000 Square Foot Mansion We're Remodeling
We Found It When Renovating A Castle My Brother Recently Bought. It Was Hidden Behind A Wall. The Castle Is Only About A 125 Years Old
Renovating The Bathroom In My 1960s Condo, The Contractor Texts Me This Picture Of What's Behind The Drywall
So a 1960s construction worker was drinking on the job, and hid their stash—-or just the evidence—-in the wall they were working on. Hmmmm…
Found A Few Boxes Of .22 Bullets In A Wall Of An Old Cottage I'm Renovating, Pretty Neat
This bolt went right through one of the boxes, would have to assume they drilled through the box first. From the little research I did, it seems like they were made between 1957-1960s
My Parents Are Redoing The Tile Floor In The Kitchen, And They Found A Safe Under The Tile. It Was Empty
My Friend Found This Hidden In The Wall Of Her New House, Any Idea What It Says?
the last word is probably "cent" since it's a coin with a C, so we can assume that c = c, t=t, v = e, and christmastree/capitalJ=n ... so go from there.
This Milky Way Wrapper From 1961 I Found In My Wall
I like that they labeled it "junior" instead of "fun size" because they know that candy that small is not fun.
This Immortalized Cigarette Pack I Found Entombed In The Clay Brick Wall Of A 1950’s High School
It was just some student’s long lost stash of cigs to smoke on the way home from school.
Renovating A Cupboard And Discovered A Floor Safe After Living Here For Two Years. Sadly, It Was Empty
This McDonald's Cup Found In A Wall During A Kitchen Renovation
Oh cool! I like how it's for the 1988 Olympics. I have an empty Oreo package for the 2020/2021 Olympics
New rule...if you find a hidden safe, you MUST disclose the contents, no exceptions.
Please don't post safes unless you open them AND it's interesting inside.
You think we'd have learned that lesson from Geraldo Rivera's live opening of Al Capone's 'vault'
Load More Replies...
Found a take away menu from the 1970s while renovating our kitchen so put it in an envelope with a current menu and note and put it back under a cabinet for the next people to find. Hopefully they add one, although doubt there’ll be paper menus by then!
Does anyone else notice the dinosaurs on the blade of the Peruvian artefact?
Those are 'skinny hippos', Hippopotomnia Deothin. Recently extinct. Associated with the fall of Rome.
Load More Replies...
I found a creepy mirror in a hidden room under the stair in the basement. I took it out and hung it up. My kids had nightmares for a week. Probably a coincidence since we just moved and that's a big thing for kids. Nevertheless, I watch a lot of horror movies so that mirror went out with the trash.
Years ago my parents built an add on to their house and we left some things inside the wall for the future to find. For the life of me I can't remember what those things were though.
Not so much found, but my grandfather and I visited the house he lived in as child and asked the new owner if they ever removed the gun his father had used to illegally hunt.
I'm looking forward to doing my house in the future. I have plans for it and have already found evidence of cover ups. The paint over the wallpaper is just the beginning of the dozen or so areas I've seen! Hopefully I'll be able to remove the paint to see what it was.
New rule...if you find a hidden safe, you MUST disclose the contents, no exceptions.
Please don't post safes unless you open them AND it's interesting inside.
You think we'd have learned that lesson from Geraldo Rivera's live opening of Al Capone's 'vault'
Load More Replies... Found a take away menu from the 1970s while renovating our kitchen so put it in an envelope with a current menu and note and put it back under a cabinet for the next people to find. Hopefully they add one, although doubt there’ll be paper menus by then!
Does anyone else notice the dinosaurs on the blade of the Peruvian artefact?
Those are 'skinny hippos', Hippopotomnia Deothin. Recently extinct. Associated with the fall of Rome.
Load More Replies... I found a creepy mirror in a hidden room under the stair in the basement. I took it out and hung it up. My kids had nightmares for a week. Probably a coincidence since we just moved and that's a big thing for kids. Nevertheless, I watch a lot of horror movies so that mirror went out with the trash.
Years ago my parents built an add on to their house and we left some things inside the wall for the future to find. For the life of me I can't remember what those things were though.
Not so much found, but my grandfather and I visited the house he lived in as child and asked the new owner if they ever removed the gun his father had used to illegally hunt.
I'm looking forward to doing my house in the future. I have plans for it and have already found evidence of cover ups. The paint over the wallpaper is just the beginning of the dozen or so areas I've seen! Hopefully I'll be able to remove the paint to see what it was.
