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I am re-doing my craft room and realized I purchased UV window film years ago to protect photos from sun damage. I never installed it and am wondering what the best product is to protect my cardstock from fading. My cardstock is stored in Stamp-n-Storage paper holders so the edges are exposed to light and could fade. What are your thoughts on the best window treatment(s) to protect my cardstock. I could install the film, purchase shades or curtains or room darkening curtains but I don't know which is the most protective. The film filters 99% of UV light only.
I am not wise on this at all...this is just my humble opinion.
I have black out curtains-well really curtains that have the fabric sewn onto the back. You can get it alone.
I am leaning towards the film bc otherwise what are we saying? You have your windows blocked from light all the time? And you cant see out of them. That does not sound attractive to me. Then what's the point other than some fresh air...and is it only the UV that bleaches? I dont know.
Did you already get the S&S? I know it is an investment...if you didnt, maybe you want to rethink how you store your paper and then the windows become moot. (I have mine in a rolling plastic cart with drawers and a file cabinet)
If you did...maybe make a little curtain over that section with velcro and black out material. Just brainstorming....you might be able to decorate it with ink or paint or embellishments in the colors of the room? I would ask at the fabric store. Could be cute! And a yard of it isnt expensive so a half would be even better depending on what you need.
I live in an apartment and there is a rule against having the film on windows. I have the vertical blinds, then blackout curtains installed. It works well for me, plus is a great insulator during our hot summers (!)
Just a consideration for those who may rent and might have restrictions on what they can put on the windows. ;)
__________________ "I have cats, but they don't smoke or associate with dogs...."
I live in a home with lots of windows ( no curtains, blinds or film) and skylights. I use vintage table clothes and emboidered runners/tea clothes to lay over the places where I have paper and card stock to protect them from light. Great way to use keepsake linens and lets me keep paper nearby.
I put all my supplies in boxes to keep out the light. But I do have some paper scraps bags that are minimally exposed to light and it never seems to fade. So the film with 99% of UV removed should be fine. Blackout blinds would also work but I’m sure they cost more.
But interior lights can also cause fading so keep your lights off as much as possible. I have a basement craft room where my kids always leave the lights on. So it’s often 24/7 lighting as I don’t go down often enough to turn them off. Some lovely handmade paper from India faded and you can imagine I had a convo with my kiddos!
My upstairs craft room has a ton of light, 5 windows! I have a running list of items that fade or deteriorate with light. So far: dry adhesives (like tape runners, Scor-Tape, glue dots-brittle and yellow), some plastic bottles like glue bottles (one shattered in my hand when I squeezed! Huge mess), Washi tape (brittle), paper of all kinds, some cotton ribbon (poly is fine), some plastic containers (my cropper hopper containers became brittle), watercolour Art, some art with other mediums, home decor items made using dry adhesive, some plastic tools (palette knives, pan pastel tools), some buttons (if they are dyed), stickers, epoxy, epoxy embellies or stickers, Liquid pearls or similar (fade).
I'm just starting my craft room over - DH almost has his home office finished and will soon be outta my space [love ya honey]- and I'm looking for ideas to store and protect my card stock [the room has two south facing windows]while still keeping it visible enough that I see it and use it...lol!! Right now it resides on a low shelf covered with previously discarded towels after I realized one edge of a lot of my cs had faded. I have some in rolling carts with opaque drawers that, somehow, still manage to let some light damage happen.
You all have got me thinking and this is what I came up with. I'll take an IKEA TV unit I have with a side cabinet and drill holes about 2" apart and install 3/16th" shelves in the side cabinet. I can get about 20 shelves in there for 8.5x11 and 12x12 paper, Then I'll install a cool looking roller blind on the front!The roller blind will make it a breeze to see my paper with a quick pull. Whadda ya think??
__________________ Just keep breathing...that's the key.
When I started making cards I purchased a tall cabinet from Ikea. Things that I don't want ruined from the sun I put in there. Recently I had a yard sale and found all sorts of goodies from at least 10 years ago and they looked brand new!
My room has a picture window. I solved the fading issue by getting a cabinet with file drawers and have all my papers in hanging files. Open the drawers, a beautiful rainbow, close the drawers, zero light on the paper. As a bonus, the top of the cabinets gave me some much needed additional "counter" space for my TH stamp platforms.
__________________ "When I do good I feel good, when I do bad I feel bad, and that is my religion."
--Abraham Lincoln
Is the film easily removed if you decide you dont want it? BTW it is visible from the outside so you might want to consider how it will look in company with other windows that dont have it. I think I would not care but you might.
I had put a piece lesser black CS in a place to block sun...and you can see where it bleached. I attached it to the end of the shelf above the one I wanted to protect. But it worked.
I would love to see a pic of the IKEA project when you are done!
I have lots of big windows and light year round, so I keep my cardstock, well actually everything, in drawers. The drawers are under my worktop areas, so are further protected. My daughter is just starting out gathering stamping supplies, and was astonished how much cardstock faded in a day! There were several scrap pieces laying out piled on top of one another by her paper cutter and you could see the distinct outline of each piece after just one day! She has only one small window in that room, with a doorless opening into another room with two small windows. Needless to say we got her two small file cabinets for her paper.
Aside from window treatments, positioning can help - like not storing CS on the wall across from windows. The darkest wall will be the wall with a window - under or to the side of ii/them. Obviously if windows are on more than one wall this doesn’t hold.
I have CS in magazine holders turned on their backs (a Jennifer McGuire thing/see screenshot) in a bookcase next to my window, the corner with the least light, and no fading in the last four-ish years, though part of the CS is open to light. Maybe that partially depends on the CS though I have many brands.
I also keep the window shade down 100% of the time when I’m not in the room - and sometimes when in it, since it’s too bright in the afternoon to face. (A desk faces the window.)
I hope you post photos of your transformed craft room.
You all have got me thinking and this is what I came up with. I'll take an IKEA TV unit I have with a side cabinet and drill holes about 2" apart and install 3/16th" shelves in the side cabinet. I can get about 20 shelves in there for 8.5x11 and 12x12 paper, Then I'll install a cool looking roller blind on the front!The roller blind will make it a breeze to see my paper with a quick pull. Whadda ya think??
Sounds pretty but how much light is going to get in from the sides? Reading all of this made me realize how little light it takes. (scraps on a table for instance) Also can you buy premade plastic stacking shelves that will fit in there and save yourself a lot of work? They have them for letter but I dont know about 12 x 12. People often use what Bjeans has. I did for a long time before I got the rolling cart to get that shelf space back.
Rebecca-thank you for that list of what suffers. I am copying it down!
Last edited by wavejumper; 12-01-2019 at 04:58 AM..
I'm just starting my craft room over - DH almost has his home office finished and will soon be outta my space [love ya honey]- and I'm looking for ideas to store and protect my card stock [the room has two south facing windows]while still keeping it visible enough that I see it and use it...lol!! Right now it resides on a low shelf covered with previously discarded towels after I realized one edge of a lot of my cs had faded. I have some in rolling carts with opaque drawers that, somehow, still manage to let some light damage happen.
You all have got me thinking and this is what I came up with. I'll take an IKEA TV unit I have with a side cabinet and drill holes about 2" apart and install 3/16th" shelves in the side cabinet. I can get about 20 shelves in there for 8.5x11 and 12x12 paper, Then I'll install a cool looking roller blind on the front!The roller blind will make it a breeze to see my paper with a quick pull. Whadda ya think??
Rail and bracket shelving could be another option. The only drilling is for the side rails - plus a middle one if the span is very wide; brackets are placed as close or far apart as you want, and boards sit on top, plus brackets can be moved. They’re made for 12” shelves, though brackets for that depth could be spendy. A curtain could be added, possibly on a rail used for shower curtains - some are curved.
An Advantus rolling cart holds 12x12 paper. It’s under the trimmer table which is raised (adjustable IKEA legs). But I don’t have tons of 12x12. Photo is one from on line. It was recommended by someone here but I don’t remember who. (Thank you.)
[QUOTE=bjeans;21891825]Rail and bracket shelving could be another option. The only drilling is for the side rails - plus a middle one if the span is very wide; brackets are placed as close or far apart as you want, and boards sit on top, plus brackets can be moved. They’re made for 12” shelves, though brackets for that depth could be spendy. A curtain could be added, possibly on a rail used for shower curtains - some are curved.
An Advantus rolling cart holds 12x12 paper. It’s under the trimmer table which is raised (adjustable IKEA legs). But I don’t have tons of 12x12. Photo is one from on line. It was recommended by someone here but I don’t remember who. (Thank you.)
Possibly. It’s fine in my space so it would depend on the room. The paper is down a good inch and also in from the edges. But it should be easy for someone who sews to make a cover that slips over it since it’s basically a box. Not that I sew. Allergic. But Etsy people do.
UV window film versus curtains
