Paintings and art are a huge part of your interior design, but they also take up a great deal of space. In order to save space, or if you are simply looking to redecorate your home, you can put your paintings into storage. However, when doing so, you should make sure that your paintings are stored properly, lest they become damaged and ruined.
Unframed Paintings
Unframed paintings are much more fragile than their framed counterparts. While working with unframed paintings, you should wear gloves that cover your hands to prevent any oils, dirt, or other contaminants from damaging the painting itself.
First, you should wrap the painting in acid-free paper. This is available at most art stores, and won't cause any damage or discoloration to your painting even after prolonged exposure.
Use acid free tape (again, available at most art stores) to secure the paper at the corners of the painting. Be sure to only tape the paper to layers of more paper, and not to the painting itself, lest you damage the canvas.
Use the tape to finally secure the painting to a piece of cardboard, with the painted side facing outwards. You can then cover the other side of the painting with cardboard as well: the acid free paper will leave a buffer between the cardboard and the painting, preventing damage from occurring.
You can then store the painting within a box, and either store it in a storage unit or move it as you see fit. If you are moving your paintings, be sure to mark the box as fragile to prevent any rough handling of it.
Framed Paintings
Frame paintings are a little easier to work with than unframed paintings, as you no longer have to worry about touching the painting itself. However, you should still take care when handling art, as the painting could shift within its frame or otherwise become damaged.
First, wrap the edges of the frame in acid free paper. Then, wrap the entire frame of the painting with bubble wrap (or some other form of padding, like a quilt or blanket) and attach the bubble wrap to itself with tape.
Finally, sandwich the bubble wrap between two pieces of cardboard, using acid free tape to attach them. This will keep the bubble wrap in place, and will also allow you to fit the painting more easily into a box. Just like with unframed paintings, be sure to mark the box as fragile to prevent any damage from rough handling occurring.
For more information, contact companies like Sweetwater Springs Self Storage.
