Most of us have photos stored away somewhere in our homes. You may have digital photos stored on computers, phones, CDs and thumb drives. Or you have print photos hidden in drawers or boxes in the attic or back of the garage. There is likely a mix of both for storing your precious memories.

These photos, home movies and memorabilia are priceless family keepsakes. They can, unfortunately, become easily damaged or destroyed by sunlight, heat, humidity, pests, poor handling and natural disasters. Take steps to protect these memories and declutter your life by treating your family photos and memorabilia with a little TLC.

Gone Forever When Disaster Strikes

If you live in an area prone to fire, flooding, hurricanes or tornadoes, you’ve likely had to evacuate or shelter to ensure you and your family remain safe. When disaster strikes is not the time to run around looking for your important family memorabilia. Now is the time to protect your collection of irreplaceable photos and preserve these memories for the future. 

Start by gathering these items into one location. Get your print items digitized for storage on an external hard drive. Then transfer a copy of your digital photos to the same external drive. Keep the external hard drive in a fire safe or safety deposit box. All of this data should also be backed up to a cloud service as a secondary backup.

Don’t Add to Clutter and Stress

Print photos and albums stored in various boxes throughout the home not only add to the clutter and stress, but make it nearly impossible to enjoy the memories. The same idea applies to digital photos, which are often buried amongst your many other files. Sorting through your print and digital photos will make preserving those that tell a story that much easier.

You can start by removing photos that are duplicates, poor quality, or those that don’t add to the story. If you don’t remember who the people are in the photo, toss them. Combine and sort the photos chronologically or by events. Label these groups of photos and store them in archival-safe boxes.

Avoid storing these boxes in areas of your home that experience excessive heat, humidity and sunlight. Be sure to store them away from areas where the moisture from appliances, such as a dryer, can damage the photos.

Link Generations in a Deep, Personal Way

At some point in our lives, most of us have had the opportunity to look through previous generations of family photos. Seeing our parents and grandparents as children or the neighborhood before it was developed, provides a special glimpse at the family history that contributed to who we are today.

Digitizing these photos and backing them up on your external drive and on the cloud will protect family photos and preserve your family legacy.  You can store older print photos in archival-quality sealed envelopes and place them inside archival-safe boxes for additional protection.

Photos that have already succumbed to environmental elements and appear damaged are not necessarily lost forever. Before you throw out these memories, consult a professional photo organizer or archivist, who may be able to digitally restore your treasures.

Take the First Step

Whether you hire a professional photo organizer to organize and preserve your family’s memories or you do it yourself, I encourage you to simply take the first step. Begin by evaluating your inventory of photos and memorabilia by gathering them all into one place. Then, start to remove the clutter and give your family story a chance to live for generations to come.

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Rachel Arbuckle is a 2014 Cocos Fire survivor, Navy veteran and CEO of 2000 Paces Photo Organizing. She and her team work with clients to preserve photo and video memories before the fire season and throughout the year.

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