Other ideas:

• A magnetic strip inside an upper cabinet door

A peg board or magnetic strip in an upper pullout (e.g., a 3" filler pullout in the upper cabinets)

I did the wood drawer insert in a drawer:

This drawer is under my cooktop b/w my Baking Center to the left of the cooktop & my Prep Zone to the right of the cooktop. However, I did not have enough room for all the knives in this insert so the rest (steak knives & seldom used knives) are in a knife block on a shelf in my step-in pantry. You can see the knife block on the left side.

I have a magnet strip in a wall pullout.

Steak knives are in the silverware drawer with the rest of the table utensils.

We have our magnet strip on our backsplash and it is just too hard for the kids to reach - and I've got one child that could find trouble if you double locked it in a cast iron safe and hid it in the attic.

The convenience of the knife magnet strip makes it one of the best things in my kitchen.

Budge1...don't underestimate kids! When I was about 5 years old, I'm told I found a way to get to the cabinet over the top of the refrigerator to ingest a tasty treat of an entire bottle of children's aspirin. All I remember of the incident is getting my stomach pumped...but my mom likes to tell the story on occasion! Right after that, my parents invested in a locking cabinet for all medicines!

Which means that no place in the kitchen would have been safe from me for knives if I cared about them!

The magnetic bar just gives me the creeps....I used to work in a high end kitchen store and that is how the knives were displayed. I have such a fear of the knife being touched and having it fall. Mine have been stored very simply in their own drawer, each with a plastic knife cover over the blade. I have been doing this since my baby (who is 17) was 6 months old. Isuppose if you did store them in a drawer, you could put a child lock on that drawer.

And we were always told NOT to store our knives on a magnetic bar at home because it de-magnetizes the knives over time. Not quite sure what that has to do with cooking though! Maybe something about that they would eventually stop staying on the magnetic bar? I have no idea.

Something I considered before it became obvious it would be in the wrong place is a knife grommet inset into the countertop.

Like Beekeeperswife, I use knife guards. I think they preserve the edge better than a wooden block, and don't take up as much room.

Letter100, ours are in a drawer right under their work place in a wood strip made by my husband. Can't get too much more convenient than that, although a pulldown or block in garage really should be just as good if they're right there. I really wouldn't put a cutting board over since it would block access to a basic tool. BTW, knives're a lot shorter than standard drawers, so you could mount the wood strip that holds them toward the back and store other stuff in front of them.

For anyone thinking of one, we had a wall-mounted magnetic strip where we lived before, right over the counter (kids long gone), and there was no chance of the knives being knocked off. The magnetism was quite strong. It worked wonderfully for years, and I like to think I'll have one again in a Julia Child-style kitchen in the little bungalow I'm imagining for my old age.

Was the person worred about demagnetizing a guy, Beekeeperswife? I'm guess he was thinking of screwdrivers? Or maybe he was a hunter with a special need for getting buckshot out of guail. :)

I keep mine in a wood knife tray in a drawer, actually right next to my cutting boards. No young kids to worry about. But if you're worried about your kids looking for trouble, you're probably going to have to somehow lock them up no matter where you put them, right? My steak knives are in a different drawer with other eating utensils.