We have a lot of old family photos, letters from my grandfather (which I was sad to find now smell quite musty), my old diaries, important documents like deeds, my dad’s poems that he used to write, and various ephemera from the past. At the moment they’re scattered throughout the house in various boxes and folders but I need to get on top of them and catalog them in an organised way. I’m going to B&M today for lidded boxes as a start, but I’m already feeling a bit overwhelmed as I’m not sure what size boxes to get or if everything should be categorised into separate boxes, eg diaries in one box. I also want to address the letters smelling musty so I’m thinking of keeping them in a lidded box with some of those silica pouches you get with some purchases to absorb smells and damp, or maybe baking soda sprinkled in the bottom. We have so many photos and they’re just a jumble of all decades and some need to be annotated with who the people are as the kids won’t have a clue once we’re gone. How do you store your photos? There are too many to stick them all in albums.
I’m looking for any practical tips as I’m currently feeling overwhelmed with the task, which has been hanging over me for years. I worry about a fire and not being able to grab stuff quickly to save as it’s everywhere. I have a cupboard by the front door where I suppose I could store everything once it’s sorted (and we’ve emptied the cupboard first as it’s currently housing a million shoes), and could easily get it out the house then if necessary. 😞