Articles about the things we keep
Here are some of our articles about keeping track of what you own: the paperwork worth saving, the boxes worth labelling, and the storage spaces that should be easier to use. Some are checklists. Others are lessons people tend to learn after opening the wrong box twice.
Know what you own
The home inventory you can finish in an afternoon
Start with one useful record today, then add receipts, serial numbers and detail where it actually helps.
Read the guide → Room-by-room · 4 minHome inventory checklist
A manageable sweep through the valuable things, hidden cupboards and storage spaces people tend to forget.
Use the checklist → Claims guide · 6 minEvidence before you need it
Build a small, useful record for each valuable before the receipt fades or the serial label becomes impossible to reach.
Prepare your records → Paperwork guide · 3 minThe receipt drawer is not a warranty system
Keep proof of purchase, warranty terms and product details together without saving every scrap of paper.
Sort the paperwork → Collector’s notes · 3 minThe collector’s record
Identify, photograph and locate each piece without turning the collection into a data-entry project.
Start the record →Make storage behave
The garage reset
Plan shelves, bins and labels around the work, without making organization a second hobby.
Reclaim the garage → Spatial field guide · 4 minA storage unit you can walk into
Preserve an aisle, load for the next visit, and give every closed box a retrievable location.
Plan the unit → Workshop test · 3 minThe workbench test
Give tools a home that still works after the hooks are dusty and another repair interrupts the current one.
Test the bench → End-of-season note · 3 minChristmas decorations, packed for next December
Pack by display, protect the fragile pieces and leave next year a useful note.
Pack the season away → Post-trip routine · 3 minCamping gear comes home wet
Dry, repair and regroup the kit now so the next trip begins half packed.
Reset the gear →Change of address
Moving boxes for people who will eventually get tired
A labelling system that survives the final night, plus the things that should never enter the van.
Plan the move → The smaller-home edit · 4 minThe smaller-home edit
Let the rooms and limits of the next home make decisions that vague decluttering rules cannot.
Begin the edit →