Organizing Photograph Clutter

Do you have tons of boxes of old photographs?
Are you running out of cloud/drive space because of all of your digital photos?

We all know photographs are vital for remembering special memories. So, why are they always tucked away in boxes?
If these cold winter months keep you inside use the Konmari method and tackle photograph clutter! Can you tell we've been recently inspired by this popular Netflix show?

Printed Photographs

Avoid Nostalgia Grab a stack of photos and get to it. Go through each one quickly without taking unnecessary trips down memory lane. Oh and tell me (Trisha) how you did it because I am the Queen of distractions! Marie Kondo suggests keeping the photos that spark joy. Photos that no longer have meaning to you I would toss.​
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Categorize Side note: Whenever I organize and put items into categories I cannot help but think of Monica on the show Friends. Told you, distraction Queen right here! Your photograph categories will be different from mine, but some suggestions would be photos you want to frame and have different stacks for various years. Don't forget to weed out duplicates. Yes, I'm talking about those 5 SAME shots of the SAME landscape from your exotic vacation!

Store and Display Now that you have your photos organized be sure to store them in nice albums for display on your end table or coffee table. 
If you find one of your most cherished photos has scratches, faded areas, or spots please please please reach out! We would love to help you restore your precious memory to last a lifetime!

​Digitize The best way to ensure your images will last is to take the time to scan your printed photos and store them on an external hard drive or a USB drive. I highly recommend saving them digitally in two places (i.e. 2-flash drives or on an external hard drive & flash drive). Keep one in a fire proof safe.

Digital Photographs

Organize  What works best for me is similar to Marie Kondos method to organize clothing.

1. Dump all of your images in one folder
2. Change the view to detail list, not thumbnails
3. Sort files by date taken
4. Create folders for each year.  I like to create folders for holidays special occasions, etc.  within each of the years making sure to title the folder with the date and occasion (i.e. 2012-03-10 Our Wedding). 
5. Create a folder within each folder to house copies of the photos you want to print (that was a mouthful)

De-clutter Now that your images are organized only keep those that spark joy! Just because these images are digital and you can't see the clutter doesn't mean it's not there.

Save & Store My rule of thumb for digital images is to store them in two places. Store images on an external hard drive and also back them up using USB drives. Keep these USB drives in a fire proof safe. I've recently discovered Google Photos to be very handy! The site has face recognition so you can search by face! Hello 21st century!

Display So you have all these digital images now what? Get them printed, find digital photo frames (Google Hub's are awesome), or upload them to an online photo printing service. We have been using Chatbooks for all of our quick snapshots from our phones and I just love the simplicity. Use my referral code for $10 off your first book! 
Gallery walls are a great way to display photos. You can purchase gallery wall kits or find great ideas on Pinterest to establish your gallery wall. Challenge yourself to change out the photos quarterly or every month with old or new memories. Include the whole family in choosing which photos to display! Photos in frames are not protected from sun damage. I would frame a copy of the original image!

If you have any questions about photo storage, restoration, or digitizing reach out! 

post inspired by: Tidying Up with Marie Kondo
#tidyingup
#sparkjoy
#mariekondo

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