Tiny House, Big Memories – How to Store & Organize Your Precious Memorabilia
Tiny house living doesn't mean you need to get rid of all your memorabilia, but you need to get more creative with storage.
The popularity of tiny houses has increased in recent years. It’s a real shift in the way people are choosing to live their lives. While this trend does have many benefits, there’s also the main issue to consider. Tiny houses don’t have a lot of space.
For many people, this may not be a problem. If you live a minimalist lifestyle and don’t have much ‘stuff’ lying around, you’d get on well in the smaller space.
However, there are some things that you don’t want to part with. These special items can be a problem when trying to create a functioning living space.
We’ve come up with a few tips on how you can fit your precious memorabilia into your tiny home.
Working With the Space You Have
One of the crucial points when organizing a small space is to work with what you have. An excellent way to do this is by having custom storage.
Not a DIYer? Luckily, there are many companies nowadays who can help you to customize your wardrobes and cupboards to fit the interior dimensions of your home.
Another thing to consider is the organization of your things. Many precious items don't need to be readily accessible; you just don't want to get rid of them.
These items don't need to have them within easy reach as you do with the things you use every day.
If you have shelves and cupboards that are higher up, these are the perfect places for your memorabilia. You know that they're stored away safely, but they're not taking up room that you need for more essential items.
Using Technology to Your Advantage
When sorting through your memorabilia, make sure that you're taking full advantage of the technology that's now available. You may still have lots of home videos, photos, or 
documents as hard copies. Whether it's the original tapes and cameras or you have them on discs, these are unnecessary extra items that you have to store away.
The best thing to do is upload all of your videos and pictures to your computer and put them in online storage space.
This saves you room in your tiny house, but it's also a much more reliable way of keeping these memories safe. The digital copies are much more difficult to damage and can be retrieved if you lose them.
Many companies online can do this process professionally. This way, you can be confident of the quality of the uploads, like those at Everpresent who digitize film.
As for pictures, it's straightforward to upload them directly from the camera to a laptop. If you would still prefer a hard copy, then invest in a memory card so you can keep them all in one place but need very little storage for them.
Considering Storage Outside Your Tiny Home
If you have items that you really can't get rid of but don't need to keep around, then it may be worth investing in some extra storage. There are many self-storage companies available that allow you to rent various sized spaces, even closet-size lockers.
If you invest in one of these, then you'll free up more storage space in your tiny home for your everyday essentials.
But you now have another monthly expense, and all too often, items in a storage unit become forgotten.
I like the approach of making the most precious memorabilia visible in your living space, so you can truly cherish these special items.
"I didn't want anything in a box, because you keep stuff in a box even though grandma gave it to you, or whatever. I have all those things on display...everything that makes me happy."
-Robyn, The Bird's Nest tiny house
Conclusion
Everyone has those few preserved memories too precious to throw away. Hopefully, these few tips will help you keep hold of those items while still having space for you to live comfortably.
The primary takeaway from this article is to organize your space and use it in the most efficient way possible. Ultimately, there's no right amount of stuff; keep what feels right to you. We hope these tips help you maximize the benefits that a tiny house offers.
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Do you have more time at home? Enjoy some inspirational reading from Tiny House Magazine!
- Discover different types of tiny houses from liveaboard boats to Alaskan yurts, converted school buses to high wall tents.
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- Read excerpts from books on tiny houses, downsizing, and a host of other related topics.
- Each month brings new topics and new, exciting articles!
