Often overlooked aspects to home security are reducing the attractiveness of breaking in by not advertising what you have inside and blending into the community, and arrangement of well formed and effective boundary markers and psychological deterrents.

The first point is pretty simple. If you set up your 120 inch high resolution TV on your patio where everyone within a quarter mile can enjoy the show with you and hook it up to you 1200 watt surround sound system and watch war movies in the evenings at high volume so half the county knows when John Wayne is storming Mount Suribachi then your a fool and just begging for trouble.

You needn't have a home like a destitute hermit but obviously high end homes with obviously expensive features tend to attract attention if they are not surrounded by similar homes. Try to be just a bit plainer and a bit less ostentatious than your neighbors.

Also be careful about how you talk. Bragging about your $50,000 dollar coin collection at work can get you unscheduled visitors.

Also be careful who you let in your home. Tradesmen should be licensed, bonded, have references and work for shops that use background checks and drug testing.

If your lucky enough to design or remodel your home some thought can be given to keep those areas likely to need service by outside tradesmen segregated from those areas containing valuables. The heat and AC plants, water heater, power panel and water shut-off should ideally be in a separate mechanical room. Appliances that might need servicing, like the refrigerator, washer and drier, should not be near tempting targets.

Creative use of folding doors, curtains and throw covers can help keep valuables out of sight while visitors or workers are in your home. The European tradition of dust covers was only partly about keeping dust at bay.

Remember that even if a tradesmen or visitor is honest they will notice what is around them and could talk about anything remarkable you have at the local watering hole. Your extensive collection of guns will interest the local cat burglar, or crackhead, if it gets mentioned.

Point being that you don't want to present an attractive target for any thieves. And you want to limit the number of people who know about those valuables you do have.

The second point is a little more difficult to define. It has to do with the psychological effects of architecture and architectural details that don't necessarily jump out as defensive measures.

One study of laboratory workers showed that something as simple as a picture of eyes on a wall in a room reduced the tendency to cheat. this was true even when the people being tested were not consciously aware of the pictures presence. In other tests people in rooms with pictures of eyes present reported having the feeling of being observed. Deep in the human mind the presence of eyes and eye shapes are associated with being observed, judged and brought to justice.

Interestingly many 'primitive' architectural designs incorporated details that resemble eyes.

Another architectural effect has to do with demarcation of transitions between public, semi-public, tribe, family and personal spaces. Gateways, arches, pillars and changes in elevation, with or without any physical barrier, tend to slow and deter intruders. Particularly when these boundary points can be assumed to be under observation.

A simple set of uprights at a gateway or low fence is an obvious but seldom understood psychological barrier. Anyone who thinks about it will understand that a if you live on a corner lot people will tend to run diagonally across you property to some extent. If you put up a low fence around the property line, typically all of sixteen inches high and used around flower beds, the number of people who will cut the corner is greatly reduced. The effect is far more profound than the height of the fence would suggest. A child could step over the fence but few people will cross it.

A window that overlooks the fence and a pair of vaguely eye shaped cutouts in the siding reinforce the effect.

This sort of thing also has an effect on how any intruder is seen and, to some extent, how you will be judged if you react violently to any intruder.

Everyone understands that even a very low fence marks territory. A low fence also makes the property look less like a penitentiary. Less like someone inside is worried about someone outside taking something valuable they have inside.

It is less credible for a burglar to claim he 'was lost' and 'looking for a nearby house' if they have to go through a gateway that is clearly marked with your name and address. If they have to open two or three gates to get to your porch they have, in effect, been warned that hey are not welcome if they have no business. If the confrontation gets violent on your porch the jury and judge will implicitly take this into account.

The same situation without any such demarcation of your territory means that a person can credibly walk right up to your house and look around. If confronted they can easily claim that they are new to the area and looking for a friend's house that they think live in the general area.

This is a classic low risk method for thieves to case a house to gain knowledge of who stays in a house, what valuables might be present, when people are present or most likely out. They can 'innocently' case the place and plan their burglary without fear of arrest or violence.

Demarcating your territory and using universal architectural symbols that reinforce a persons uneasiness and feelings of being observed can tilt the situation in your favor and subtly convince any potential intruder that they should try their luck at some other house.