Storage Box and Label Index

Who this is for

The list that stops you opening six boxes to find one thing. Each box gets a number, a label, a place and a line saying what is in it, with a count of the things inside and the date it was last checked.

Anyone with boxes in a loft, garage, cellar or storage unit, people mid-move with everything in cardboard, and households sharing a storage space between them.

What this helps you track

• Which numbered box is which, and what the label on it says
• Where each box is kept — loft, garage, unit, under the stairs
• What is inside, in enough words to save opening it
• How many things are in each box, and how many across all of them
• Which boxes are sealed and when each was last checked

How to use it

1. Write the household, where the boxes are stored and the date at the top.
2. Number the boxes as you pack them and write the same number on this sheet and in large figures on at least two sides of the box.
3. Write the label you put on the box, then a fuller description here — the sheet has room for what the label does not.
4. Count the things going in if that is useful to you and write the number; leave it blank where counting makes no sense.
5. Tick sealed once the box is taped shut, and date the checked column whenever you open it or look through it.
6. The totals and the summary are worked out in the browser and the workbook. Keep the sheet away from the boxes — a list inside the loft helps nobody.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Should I number or label the boxes?

Both. A number is what the index is sorted by and is quick to write large; the label is what you read standing in a cold garage. The sheet holds a column for each so they can disagree without confusion.

How is this different from a home inventory?

A home inventory lists things for insurance, with values. This index lists boxes so you can find what is in them. Where the boxes hold something worth insuring, keep both and cross-reference the box number.

What should the item count include?

Whatever you would want to check against when you unpack. Some people count every object, some count only the things they would miss. Be consistent down the column and the total means something.

Can I use it for a self-storage unit?

Yes. Put the unit and the shelf or corner in the where column, and keep a printed copy at home. The whole point is that the index is not locked inside the thing it describes.