Storage Problem Solved

Do you ever have trouble figuring out where to put things when you are organizing?  I certainly do!  We live in a Cape Cod style home and have crawl space attic storage under the eaves of the house that is full to the gills.  I’ve been working hard this week to turn an upstairs bedroom into a sewing room and in doing so, it required moving some things out of the bedroom and into a new place in our home.  One of the last things that needed to find a new home were our photo albums.  We no longer print pictures, but we do have many albums from years past.  I thought about putting them in the basement, but was afraid that it wouldn’t be a good environment for them.  I suddenly had a thought…an empty trunk by the front door!

IMG_5548

I can’t believe that I hadn’t filled this trunk with something years ago.

The photo albums fit inside the trunk perfectly.  A bonus is that they’ll be easy to access if I want to look at them.
IMG_5549

The tray that fits under the lid is still empty.  Perhaps I can use this for the other trunk that is upstairs that is full of framed pictures that I am not currently displaying.
IMG_5551

Can you imagine traveling with a trunk like this?  I’d love to know where it has been.  Mr. SP and I bought this in an antique shop in the Shenandoah in 1993.
IMG_5552

This is our mail area.  You might remember it from one of Amanda’s Decorating Dilemma parties from last year.  The basket on the left contains my mail and the one on the right is Mr. SP’s.  I’m still looking for an antique box for my side. 

I’m so happy that I had a light bulb moment and found the perfect place for these albums.  I like this solution much better than putting the albums in yet another plastic storage bin in the basement.

What have you been busy organizing?  It seems like most of us have tackled at least one thing in January.

16 Comments

  1. Great use of space Paula. I don’t have a trunk in the house anymore, actually I don’t remember what I did with it but this is a great idea. I’m trying to organize my basement which sounds like its full as your crawl space. Great jobs for winter days.

  2. Thank goodness we don’t have to print all our pictures any more! My old ones are in the top of a closet. I need to throw about half of them away.

    You know, of course, whatever space you have, you fill. 🙁 My basement is completely out of control. That has to be on the top of my summer project list this year. It’s embarrassing!!!

  3. I also need to go through and toss about half of my old bad photos. Love your idea for using it for photo storage. I have a trunk a lot loke that and I use it for paper products storage like party plates, naapkins, plastic cups, etc. Comes in handy.

  4. What a great idea…sometimes storage is right under our noses! I like that trunk a lot. It’s perfect next to your front door and does double duty holding your mail baskets!

    XO,
    Jane

  5. Paula, don’t you just love it when a beautiful object can also serve as a storage unit? That was a great solution! Carla

  6. I think this is a great solution, Paula! If you don’t want to keep them on a shelf, but don’t want to box them in the attic, why not find a halfway point? 😉 They fit perfectly!!

  7. Pictures-what to do, what to do! First off, we need to go through pictures and get rid of all those that we have no idea who they are or were. Somehow, I became the caretaker of all family photos and funeral guest books. Now, what do you do about funeral guest books? You have a great storage solution. Ours are in three wooden chests and a washstand. Just too much. Simplifying is a must for 2011. I just keep putting it off.

  8. my trunk by the front door has cataloges,? magazines, maps, and AAA books…and I keep my photo albums in a box in my hall closet…I was just asking my husband yesterday…where do people put their photo albums??
    My dilemma is I have a few projects that are in boxes (genealogy, pending papers, newspapers..and I just dont have any room in any closets for them. My dil is coming over tomorrow to help me go thru closets then maybe I will have more room. My 2 black trucks came from my Scottish relatives. Another one my parent’s have carried their things when they came to America in 1880! Yours is gorgeous. Great photo!

  9. That is such a great old trunk! I have been trying to get organized here too and find more places to store things. Would love to have an old trunk like that.

    By the way, your stencil looks great!

    -Rene

  10. I have a trunk also that I use for storage. I have several different things in it and mine is a little taller than yours. I really do like the old ones for decor also.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.