Being the kind of person that I am, I like to look at things structurally and ask myself "How would I go about...".
Growing up with a Dad who was a carpenter all his life, and having a general engineering tendency (I'm a nuclear engineer with a EET degree), I'm all about designing and building things to fit my needs. I'm all about building things so they are unobtrusive. I don't like to see exposed nests of wiring, shoddy construction, or eyesores.
If I wanted a place near the front door, I'd take a look at the structure of the house in that area. The first thing that comes to mind for me is whether or not I could build an easily accessable lockbox/gun safe into the wall. Studs are typically 16 inches apart, except in framed areas immediately surrounding things like doors and windows. Studs are also 3 1/2 inches wide (unless you're in a house old enough to have studs actually 4 inches wide). This means you have a space that's 16 inches wide and 3 1/2 inches deep between drywall in which to conceal a box without having to modify any framing for a larger box. (Which is easy enough to do.)
Such a lockbox can be easily hidden from casual view by decorations, light furnature, inside a closet, or even behind wall mounted cabinets which can be easily opened.
You can use this concept anywhere in the house, too.
You can also take a look at furnature and cabinets. Designing and building items like end tables, coffee tables, kitchen cabinets, kitchen counters, and so forth which have build in compartments which, in addition to being hidden from general view, may have installed locks or house a commercially manufactured lockbox.
I realize not everybody has these skills. But this is the way I think about such things. I've built several similar items...including a console for one of my cars that had a hidden, lockable compartment for a handgun. Casual inspection, even opening up the console and looking for valuables, would not reveal the hidden lockable compartment. But it was readily accessable in need.
My next project (when I get the time) is to build a display case for my hand held laser. (I have a Class IV, 1000 mW blue Arctic Pro laser.) The base will have a hidden compartment for the battery and charger.
