{"id":36795,"date":"2017-07-26T06:16:07","date_gmt":"2017-07-26T06:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=36795"},"modified":"2017-07-26T06:16:43","modified_gmt":"2017-07-26T06:16:43","slug":"is-your-home-drowning-in-old-photos-organizers-offer-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/lifestyle\/home-garden\/is-your-home-drowning-in-old-photos-organizers-offer-tips.html","title":{"rendered":"Is your home drowning in old photos? Organizers offer tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is your home drowning in old photos? Organizers offer tips<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Is your home drowning in old photos? Organizers offer tips:- Take a survey of your home, and consider all the spots where you have old photos.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps you\u2019ll find baby pictures in albums in the living room, vacation snaps in tattered envelopes tucked into a bookshelf, milestone moments in old frames, and older relatives\u2019 fading photos in dusty boxes in the basement or attic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re memories and treasures for us, but they take up a lot of space, and over the years they keep growing,\u201d says Stephanie Sisco, home editor for Real Simple magazine. \u201cWhen you decide you want to organize these photos, you\u2019re doing yourself a favor, as well as the people who will inherit those from you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

You can organize your photos and preserve your personal history either digitally, in photo-safe boxes or both ways. And if you discard the originals after going digital, you\u2019ll free up storage space around the house, which is always a good thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Getting organized can feel overwhelming, especially if you\u2019re staring down hundreds or thousands of loose, unorganized photos. And reliving memories through photos can take a heavy toll, especially if you\u2019re working on the project during an already emotional time like moving, helping a parent downsize or dealing with an estate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the most challenging projects that people undertake in their organizational lives because, unless you\u2019re starting from a really organized place, it\u2019s difficult to even know where to begin,\u201d Sisco said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prints are the most common photographic item that people have \u2014 and have many of \u2014 in their homes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sisco recommends spending an hour a day going through them. Organize the prints by decade, and then narrow them further by year, or by person or special event like a wedding.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the hardest parts is throwing photos away. Sisco advises tossing photos that are blurry, unflattering or duplicates. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to feel this obligation to keep them just because they were printed,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over time, remember that sunlight and humidity can cause photos to deteriorate. \u201cIf they\u2019re exposed to sunlight, each layer of color eventually fades off,\u201d said Toni Greetis, lab manager at Phototronics, an independent camera shop in Winnetka, Illinois.<\/span><\/p>\n

In basements, photos can be damaged by flooding, humidity, mold and mildew. In attics, heat and humidity can cause problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

For these reasons, a digital archive is the best way to safely store photos and slides, Greetis said. Having all images on a disk or thumb drive also makes it convenient to find and share images in person and online.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can take it with you to Grandma\u2019s house rather than carrying eight boxes filled with photo albums,\u201d Greetis said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s less risk of damage to a small thumb drive than there is to photo albums or boxes of photos in your basement or attic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She recommends getting a duplicate of the drive or disk and keeping it somewhere secure, like in a safety deposit box or fireproof safe.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you digitize photos, you can scan them into the computer yourself, pay for the service at a camera shop or go through an online company like the one Sisco recommends, www.ScanMyPhotos.com .<\/span><\/p>\n

At Phototronics, which digitizes photos, slides, VCR tapes and movies recorded in earlier formats, the question of whether to keep the originals after digitizing is a common one. Greetis says it\u2019s a personal choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you keep them, you actually have the tactile object that you can look at, which has its own nostalgia,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can pass those to other family members or just simply to have as the backup if something happens to the digital copies. The downside is it takes up space.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If you keep the original photo prints, Sisco recommends storing them in clearly marked, archival storage boxes. Greetis recommends placing those acid-free boxes inside a Rubbermaid container to keep out moisture. Store them somewhere dry, dark and cool, like a closet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the hundreds of photos in basements and attics, albums and boxes, Greetis knows one thing for certain.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cVery few people look at actual photographs these days,\u201d she said. \u201cEverything\u2019s digital.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/lifestyle\/home\/is-your-home-drowning-in-old-photos-organizers-offer-tips\/2017\/07\/25\/2037bb96-713d-11e7-8c17-533c52b2f014_story.html?utm_term=.482a9e75be97<\/span><\/p>\n

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