Old photos are one of those things that is the hardest to organize. The emotion and sentimental value of them makes the job so overwhelming. 

Many of us have some amount of photos laying around that need to be organized and stored. If you have your photos in albums that’s fantastic.  Photo albums are becoming harder and harder to find these days though. 

I have many photos stored in albums but I have many loose also.    Then there are a few rare people who have actually digitized all their printed photos. More power to them!  But let’s be honest here, most of us don’t have time for that kind of project, as great as it sounds. 

I prefer to keep things simple and easy. My preferred method of photo storage is a photo box. Most boxes come with dividers so you can label and organize the photos your way. I organize by year mostly. But with photos of my kids I organize by kid and then chronologically within the kid. There are many different photo boxes out there.

These are the ones I currently use. They are perfect for up to 4x6 size photos.

There is also a storage box like this  that I think I love and looks fantastic. I would switch except I don’t like to spend money on something I already have that doesn’t NEED to be replaced. Various craft stores also have photo boxes, possibly cheaper than those in the links. 

No matter the type of box you choose, I truly feel that organizing the photos by year is the easiest way to go assuming you know the year the photo was taken.  It makes finding the photos later easier.  

You may think that organizing g by event would be best except then you end up more sections to maintain and look through in the future.  

Now, as you look through all your old photos and begin to sort them, remember it’s ok to throw out some along the way.  

Do you have duplicates?  Throw the extra away.  

Do you have any photos where you don’t really know why you have it or what it’s a picture of?  Throw it out.

Do you have some action photos that just turned out blurry?  Throw them out.  

Remember, back in the day we just took photos not knowing how it would turn out.  It’s ok to throw out photos that mean nothing to you.  It’s the same as clicking the delete button nowadays.  

Photos are suppose to make you happy.  So only keep what brings you joy!

If I’m being honest, I would LOVE to get all my photos digitized and stored in my online albums. But that really is a daunting task and the thought overwhelms me.  However, there are apps and services available to do this, and it may not be as daunting as I think. But I have not done enough research into it. So until I do, I’ll stick with boxes. My collection won’t get larger since all photos are digital now. And what I have is able to be contained quite nicely.

Now it’s your turn to get working on your photos. Then share with me your finished product!

Happy Organizing!!