Creating A Home Inventory in Preparation For Disasters

A home inventory is a compilation of all the contents in your home and their worth. This includes all of your furniture, books, dressers, electronics, and everything else that is within your home. It may seem silly or incredibly time-consuming to make an inventory list, but in the event of a disaster, it can be a lifesaver.

Tips for creating an inventory of your home

1. Take photos and/or videos – Keeping a photo record of the things in your home is a nice and simple way to see all of your belongings and it is saved in that photo. Label what items are in each photo and be as specific as possible. Provide where you bought it, the make, model and anything else that’s important about the item. You can also video record each room in your home and walk through all of the items and keep a record that way.
2. Start with a small/simple space – making an inventory of your home can be overwhelming when there are so, so many things within your home. Start in your smallest room, or space that you feel is the tidiest and organized. This could be your kitchen cabinets, bathroom or closets; it’s completely up to you. This way, if you start small, it’s not so over-bearing and it feels more accomplishable.
3. Make a list of any big or recent purchases – these items can be old or new, but they are items that are especially significant to you. If they are recent purchases, you can store any receipts. If you are the list-making type of person, this is a great option for you. You can have all of your items typed or written so you have them documented.
4. Count by category – to make things a bit more organized, you can count your items by categories instead of just listing everything. For example, you can list “20 white large dishes, 7 pairs of jeans, 4 cooking pans.”
5. Insurance coverage – take a look at your insurance and see what kind of coverage is on your home and the items within your home. You made need to talk with your agent to talk about any changes you might want to make to your coverage.
6. Backup digital files – if any electronics get damaged in a disaster situation, it would be a good idea to have all your important files backed up onto an external hard drive for safe keeping.
7. Don’t get overwhelmed – this is not a one-day task! Building a home inventory can be a drawn-out process that you can do over time. It is a good idea to have a timeline to get it done in a set period time, in case something disastrous does happen. But don’t stress over getting it all done at once.
8. Get the basics! – all in all, you really just need to gather the basic information from the contents of your home. Where is it from? Does it have a serial number? What is the value of it? What are the make and model?

We hope you can continue to build your home inventory or start a new inventory altogether. We hope this was helpful and gives you an idea of what a home inventory is. For professional contents cleaning, All About Contents in Marietta is here to help restore the belongings within your home.