Tips for Storing Books, Documents, and Photos in Your Basement or Attic

There comes a time when everyone must struggle with the dilemma of how to store magazines, books, photographs, and various personal documents. These are the items that accumulate fastest around the home and that require the greatest care to store. To avoid damaging paper products in storage, you must protect them vigilantly from light, moisture, heat, insects, and poor ventilation.

If you use good quality storage units that permit air circulation, you can safely keep documents in a dry and insulated attic or basement. Unless you control the temperature and humidity, hot attics and damp basements are unsuitable for photograph and paper storage.

When using cardboard boxes to store paper items, don’t fasten the lids or flaps – air must flow freely. Pack books and magazines loosely, and check occasionally for signs of dampness or mold. Metal units or units lined with metal will protect paper from insects and rodents. Cardboard and metal boxes block out light.

Store books and magazines on shelves in an area that is dry and temperature-stable. Cold spaces are acceptable as long as they’re kept dry. Keep shelves away from an un-insulated wall. Set them against furring strips fastened to the wall. If your books will be exposed to a lot of light, especially fluorescent or direct daylight, equip the shelves with doors or curtains. You can store magazines in slipcover cases or binders, available from publishers or office suppliers.

An organized collection or cardboard or metal containers for household records, receipts, documents, and correspondence will meet the storage needs of most homeowners. Use individual filing boxes or cartons to handle large items, and canceled check organizers with filing inserts, slipcover letter files, and binding cases for documents. Store bits and pieces of paper in metal and cardboard card files, available in many sizes.

Arrange your box system on 1×12 shelves supported by Z-brackets or individual shelf brackets fastened to wall studs. To keep track of what’s where, you can number each box to match a corresponding index card which lists the content of the box.

A metal file cabinet, with one to five stacked drawers, is a very efficient and safe way to store important documents and photo negatives. To save space, recess the cabinet under the stairs or into a knee wall in the attic so that only the drawer fronts are exposed. A light above the cabinet makes finding files easier. File cabinets are expensive, but to reduce the cost you can buy used equipment. For maps, oversize documents, and art paper, use wood or steel flat files.

Although photographic films and papers are more stable and long-lasting today than they were in the past, your photo memories can still fade or discolor if exposed to excessive light, heat, or moisture. Keep them in covered boxes, cupboards, or flat file drawers. Storage conditions for photo materials must be dry. Place a packet of silica gel in each container to help absorb moisture.

Store color slides in boxed projector trays or special clear plastic 8 ½ x 11-inch sheets. Keep black-and-white and color negatives in protective file sheets. You can then organize the sheets in three-ring binders which you can keep in a drawer or box. Separate prints with pieces of paper or enclose them in individual rag-paper envelopes, then lay them in flat file drawers or boxes.