Famous institutions that store important cultural treasures put a lot of money and expertise behind how they store their objects and artworks. Although you may not have the resources to invest in top quality museum storage materials and solutions for your personal or business archives, there's still plenty you can learn from the top of the field, and apply to how you pack and preserve what's in your closet or garage.
Museums and libraries prioritize, putting the most resources behind the preservation of their most important irreplaceable artifacts and objects. If you don't have the money, time, or energy to protect all of the items you want to store, which are the most important? Concentrate on protecting the things you have that are truly one of a kind, rather than worrying about all your objects equally.
Keep your most valuable possessions safe by boxing them up with archival quality packing supplies. Acid free paper stock for mats and envelopes will protect your flat goods. UV glass for fine artworks keeps sunlight from corrupting color over time.
Lots of museums change their exhibits frequently. Consider swapping things in and out of your storage area every few months, to get true enjoyment from the objects you have. If you are storing things you don't make use of or don't take pleasure in seeing regularly, it might be time to let some of what you're keeping go, to make space for other things.
Visible containers lets archivists and visitors take a glance at what's being stored, even if there isn't enough floor space for a full display. Transparent plastic or glass drawers and shelves will let you see what you have, while using efficient vertical space. Floor to ceiling shelves and drawers let you fit a lot into a single closet or room, and are easier to manage when you can see exactly what they hold.
Be sure that you're only storing objects you really want or need to keep. Prune frequently, and consider adopting what experts in decluttering have nicknamed the "one in, one out" rule. With this rule, every time you acquire a new object, you jettison something you already own, so that the total number of objects in your possession stays the same. When you prune away things you don't need, you make more space for the personal artifacts and possessions you really care about.
Museums, libraries, and archival institutions prune and curate constantly. They know the goal isn't to preserve everything, it's to preserve the best things well. Before you try to group your storage objects by type, size, or date, make sure you are not storing things that aren't really worth keeping. Make room for only the most important and best items available.
Finally, keep an up to date index or catalog of what you have. As you pack, just write down the contents of each bin or shelf in one big document on your computer. This creates a digital list you can search later on so that, just like a museum, you will know where all of your objects are, making retrieval a snap.
Museums and libraries prioritize, putting the most resources behind the preservation of their most important irreplaceable artifacts and objects. If you don't have the money, time, or energy to protect all of the items you want to store, which are the most important? Concentrate on protecting the things you have that are truly one of a kind, rather than worrying about all your objects equally.
Keep your most valuable possessions safe by boxing them up with archival quality packing supplies. Acid free paper stock for mats and envelopes will protect your flat goods. UV glass for fine artworks keeps sunlight from corrupting color over time.
Lots of museums change their exhibits frequently. Consider swapping things in and out of your storage area every few months, to get true enjoyment from the objects you have. If you are storing things you don't make use of or don't take pleasure in seeing regularly, it might be time to let some of what you're keeping go, to make space for other things.
Visible containers lets archivists and visitors take a glance at what's being stored, even if there isn't enough floor space for a full display. Transparent plastic or glass drawers and shelves will let you see what you have, while using efficient vertical space. Floor to ceiling shelves and drawers let you fit a lot into a single closet or room, and are easier to manage when you can see exactly what they hold.
Be sure that you're only storing objects you really want or need to keep. Prune frequently, and consider adopting what experts in decluttering have nicknamed the "one in, one out" rule. With this rule, every time you acquire a new object, you jettison something you already own, so that the total number of objects in your possession stays the same. When you prune away things you don't need, you make more space for the personal artifacts and possessions you really care about.
Museums, libraries, and archival institutions prune and curate constantly. They know the goal isn't to preserve everything, it's to preserve the best things well. Before you try to group your storage objects by type, size, or date, make sure you are not storing things that aren't really worth keeping. Make room for only the most important and best items available.
Finally, keep an up to date index or catalog of what you have. As you pack, just write down the contents of each bin or shelf in one big document on your computer. This creates a digital list you can search later on so that, just like a museum, you will know where all of your objects are, making retrieval a snap.
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