Okay, can we be real for a second? Remember that one winter when the leg on your grandma’s old side table got a little wobbly? Or that summer, your favorite wooden dresser decided its drawers would rather be stuck shut than open? That wasn’t the furniture giving up on life. That was it, throwing a silent, subtle tantrum about the weather.

We forget that our homes aren’t sealed bubbles. The outside gets in. And our stuff feels it.

I learned this the hard way after moving a perfect leather armchair into a sunroom. Within a year, one side was faded and felt like stiff cardboard. I was devastated. It felt like a personal failure. Since then, working with folks storing their lives with us, I’ve made it my mission to learn how to fight back against the seasons. It’s not rocket science, I promise. It’s mostly just paying attention.

The Problem Nobody Talks About

Think of wood like a sponge. In the humid summer, it swells up with moisture. In the dry winter, your heating system sucks all the moisture out and it shrinks. Back and forth, year after year. That stress? It causes cracks, loose joints, and sticky drawers. Fabric fades in the sun, and leather dries out.

But you can stop it. Here’s how.

Summer: The Sweltering Swell

Humidity is the enemy here. Your goal is to keep the air moving and the sun off.

• Fans are your friends: I’m not just talking about you. A ceiling fan on low, or a small oscillating fan in a corner, does wonders to keep air from getting stagnant and damp around your furniture. Stagnant air is musty air.
• Close the blinds: Seriously. The sun bleaches everything. If you’re not in a room or if the sun is beating directly on your sofa or a wooden table, draw the blinds. It’s the simplest, most effective trick in the book.
• Your AC is a secret weapon: Air conditioning doesn’t just cool; it dehumidifies. Running it even a little bit on a muggy day pulls that damaging water right out of the air.

Winter: The Great Dry-Out

This is the opposite fight. Now, we’re adding moisture back.

Get a humidifier

Please. Just a small one. I run two in my house during winter—one in the bedroom, one in the living room. It stops my nose from drying out, my skin from itching, and, most importantly, it keeps my wooden furniture from shrinking and cracking. It’s the single best investment I’ve made for my home.

Give your stuff some space

Pull your furniture away from heating vents, radiators, and wood stoves. That direct, dry heat is brutal. It’s like slowly baking your favorite bookshelf.

Feed your wood

Once in the fall, I take a Saturday morning, put on some music, and wipe down all my wood surfaces with a good furniture oil or polish. It’s not just about shine; it’s like giving them a drink of water before a long, dry winter. It replaces the natural oils that the heat sucks out.

What if you need to move it all out?

Maybe you’re between houses, doing a reno, or just need to reclaim your guest room. The absolute worst place for your furniture is a damp basement or a baking-hot garage. Those spaces are seasonal damage on steroids.

This is the part where I tell you what we do. When people bring their stuff to our place, we don’t just rent them an empty box. We offer climate-controlled units because I’ve seen the damage a regular garage can do. Our units are designed to stay in that sweet, steady, comfortable zone all year long. No summer swell, no winter shrink. It’s just a safe, neutral space for your things to wait until you need them again. It’s the peace of mind that your grandma’s table will be just as wobbly (or not!) as when you left it.

So, that’s it. No bluster, no magic tricks. Just a few habits that make a world of difference. Your furniture is a part of your story. Let’s make sure that story doesn’t include a chapter about it splitting in two.

If you ever need that safe, neutral space, you know where to find me. We’re always here to help.