My wife's uncle made us a beautiful bassinet for our daughter a few years ago. It's made of red oak from his land, beautiful work on the spindles , and we absolutely love it. It's the kind of piece that will be handed down to our daughter someday (along with the red oak bed frame from my wife's step dad, and the red oak dresser and changing table from my dad).

But our daughter is nearly 3 years old, and she's obviously not sleeping in it anymore. And unfortunately, our house is fairly small. We don't have a lot of room.

We're wondering if there's a good way that we can store it and yet protect it from damage, humidity, rot, ... whatever may come.

We live in Texas, so it's hot. That may change thinking about storing in garages, attics, etc. (However, our attic has spray in expanding insulation that's adheres up above, not the standard fiberglass insulation. On summer days, I usually don't break a sweat up there unless I've been up there for an hour or so.)

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

-Joel

Tut's tomb was 3,500 yrs old with lots of wooden items. Key is dry atmosphere.
johnep

Made out of solid wood heat will be your biggest enemy. Your garage isn't the best place to store it but would be far better than the attic. Unless your garage floods store it as close to the floor as you can.

Thank for reaffirming what I was already thinking.

We'll work to find a spot to keep it in the house. It's too much of a prized possession to take a chance at having it warp or crack.

Thanks again.

I have a one-off rocking cradle made from local birch. Both my kids slept in it .
Logged, split, sawn, crafted and finished just as you might hope.

Nobody wants it. The heirloom mystique just isn't there.
"Dad, can you sell it?"

Just keep it as cool as you can and dry.

It's just an unknown what might happen. the wood could shrink causing some end checking or maybe all that would happen is the finish goes bad. An interior finish isn't suited for outdoors and over time it expanding and contracting the finish might start flaking off.

Maybe you could add a glass top and use it as a table or credenza until it’s time to pass it on. That way it could be safely stored and you’d still get to enjoy the fine craftsmanship while you wait.