Whether you are moving property, vacating it for a rebuild or restoration, or a family member is moving out, casually storing all your or their home furnishings, personal valuables creates an expensive risk.

Anyone who has stored valuables in a basement, attic, garage, or uncontrolled storage will know the pain of finding curled and damp paperwork, stained furniture and ruined artwork, tainted luxuries, and other disasters.

This is why the small premium of opting for climate-controlled storage is essential for those with high-end homes, valuable furnishings, artworks, antiques, and even modern luxury devices. While they are typically insured, losing them or seeing them damaged creates more pain for you and your family.

Luxury home furnishings, art, and personal effects are more than mere possessions; they represent a part of a family’s heritage, your identity, and your taste, as well as often representing a sizable investment.

While your valuables might be protected financially and through effective care and the best treatments, they are not immune to threats from the environment and nature. Most of them will have spent their lives in an environment where the temperature, humidity, and air quality are controlled, just like a museum, and putting them in storage can risk their value and quality.

So, climate-controlled storage represents a further investment. Climate-controlled facilities can be set to maintain a consistent temperature and humidity to keep them protected. With the storage climate set between 55°F to 80°F, and 40% to 60% humidity, your property will feel just like it was kept at home. Most climate systems filter the air, manage moisture levels, and reduce exposure to dust and pollutants, and insect life in the case of wood and linens.

If the finest artworks on the planet, in the Louvre Museum, are kept at 68°F and 55% humidity, on the advice of the finest preservation experts, your art can benefit from being kept in that atmosphere too. Those fine artworks and antiques, paintings, sculptures, and other historical décor require delicate handling and just as great environmental care.

Organic material like canvas expands and contracts through changing heat, varnishes, and many historic paints can yellow or fade, while wooden frames, especially in contact with other materials, can warp as humidity changes.

Even modest temperature swings can cause irreversible damage to art, as spores, mold, and other infestations can get picked up during unprotected moves. Using climate control prevents them from arriving or spreading, while slowing down the chemical breakdown of organic paints or finishes.

Also at risk are vintage and designer furniture. While they might look sturdy enough, oak or mahogany sideboards, leather upholstered armchairs, or custom silk furnishings are sensitive to environmental change that can also impact their value.

All woods swell or shrink with humidity, veneers can come loose, and metal fixings can start to rust, causing damage to the wood. Similarly, leather dries and cracks when exposed to dry heat, especially over extended periods of time. Climate control prevents this from happening, and also keeps your valuables out of sunlight, which will have a damaging impact on many surfaces.

Similarly, fabrics, especially of a vintage nature, degrade faster in the presence of airborne pollutants or pests. Climate control helps preserve them, whether they are being stored out of season or for the long term.

Wine cellars create an ideal environment for this most organic of valuables, which must be replicated when they are going into storage. Whatever your wine tastes, the taste, texture, and bouquet must be preserved, whether you plan to drink them in your new home or keep them for posterity.

Unstable changes in the environment can spoil wine and speed up changes in its key aspects. Climate-controlled storage keeps the temperature stable to prevent oxidation, steady humidity prevents corks from drying out, avoiding contamination and spoiling.

From 1950s comics to historic maps and folios, signed classic novels to posters, paper is a high-risk medium. Climate-controlled storage helps prevent curling and yellowing of the paper, protects the bindings and leather colouring and quality, while ensuring a dust-free environment.

However, they live in your home, and climate storage provides a protective cocoon for their time away from your library shelves. And as additional protection, ensure that climate-controlled facilities provide advanced camera sensors, including vape detectors, to protect your collections and maintain optimal air quality, and protect valuable assets.

Whatever you plan to store, ensuring a high-quality, climate-controlled, and environmentally stable environment helps protect your valuables, making you a strong steward while they remain in your care, even through a third party. Climate control provides a level of emotional as well as physical reassurance for your curated collections, valued possessions, and family heirlooms, no matter where their final destination lies.