Easy Storage Solutions From A to Z

Learn how to give everything a proper home, from spare buttons to decorations.

Artwork

As in: All those paintings and prints in the attic, plus the 87 drawings Billy brings home each week.

The fixes: 
Wrap artwork with archival supplies. To keep moisture out, wrap framed artwork in archival polyethylene plastic, says John Jacobs, CEO of Artex, an art-storage company in Landover, Maryland. (Look for archival supplies at archivalsuppliers.com.) Then place in a cardboard mirror box ($41 for five, uboxes.com) and store upright. For unframed works on paper, separate each with acid-free tissue paper and lay them in an archival box. It’s best to store art in a temperature- and humidity- controlled space between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. “Too much heat can warp art, and extreme cold can make it brittle,” says Jacobs.

Frame your favorites; reuse the rest. As for those drawings by your third-grade artiste, Maria Gracia, owner of the website getorganizednow.com, suggests dating each piece and placing it in a box. “At the end of the year, frame a few favorites,” she says, “and use the rest as wrapping paper or gifts for Grandma.”