Organizing your photos can feel like an overwhelming task, like you don’t know where to begin. What you need to get your photos organized is; dedicated tidy time (2-5 hours), spark joy photo albums, photo storage boxes, frames, and a scanner. Make sure you have a vision for your photos, what do you want to do with them? Put them in an album, maybe decorate and frame them or share them online? Once you have figured out an “ideal life” for your photos it is time to get started.Here are my tips on how to get started:

Step 1: Declutter

The first step is to collect all your photos in one spot. The best place would be the dining table where you can also sit down. The goal is to minimize the stack of photos to a much more manageable amount of prints. To do so, go through them one by one. Let go of duplicates or photos that are blurry. Pick out the ones you want to give to relatives or friends right away (some of my clients have also made stacks for #Throwbackthursdays). Only keep the ones that spark joy. Be careful when handling old photos. If they are fragile or stuck in old albums, you may wish to consult a professional for the best way to handle them.

Step 2: Organize in Chronological Order first

Organize the one’s that you are planning on keeping in chronological order. I suggest either year spans or decades, depending on how many photos you have collected over a lifetime. Arrange them in boxes or stacks for now so that you can create a general order as you sort through all of them. When you are finished decluttering and sorting your photos it is time for you to organize them with intent; either in a photo album or a filing system. Put larger prints in a separate pile as these ones are most likely to be framed or stored otherwise.

Step 3: Display/Storage

To make the best of your memories create fun photo album, binder, or display. Now that your photos are in chronological order go through them again and sub-categorize the ones you want to create an album with, for example, “vacations” or “family reunion 2018”. Put those photos in the album and keep the rest of the photos in chronological order and store them in a photo organizing box. That way your photos have a home and are in order, so the next time you are looking for a particular photo, you know where you can find it. Other ways of displaying photos are in a frame on the wall or shadowbox. Larger prints can be stored in manila folders or a larger photo box. For backup, I suggest you scan your most valuable photos to your computer and store them on an external hard drive for backup.

Things to keep in mind:

Exposure to temperature, humidity, and light can ruin your negatives and photos. Make sure they are stored inside the house, preferably a closet (not the attic or the basement). Adhesives might chemically interact with images and ruin the photos if you try to remove them from an album at a later date. Use only specially made glue sticks, markers, and corners on your photos. Framed photos should not be hung in direct sunlight, try to use blinds and drapes from your window to protect them from the UV rays.

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Simplifying, decluttering and organizing your printed photos

Step 1: Declutter

Step 2: Organize in Chronological Order first

Step 3: Display/Storage

Things to keep in mind: