Though a home inventory record is not something we typically think about, it’s an incredibly important part of emergency planning. It’s also infinitely beneficial when it comes to insurance. In the event of a fire or flood, for example, it can be tough to keep track of where everyone is, who evacuated the house, and what survived the fire. That’s not to mention the dastardly amount of paperwork that comes with all that. Lacking a home inventory record typically can easily result in your insurance company not paying out the full value of your belongings, so you need to be able to prove where your valuables are and how much they’re worth. Here are some template features and highlights, by table:

Items

You never realize how many things you have in your home until it’s time to actually go through them. For most people, that happens during spring cleaning. It’s easy for items to blend into the background, but even those items need to be noticed when keeping track of all your items. It’s crucial to include everything in your home inventory log from items as small and ancient as the first guitar all the way to the fanciest jewelry. Log them once in this table, and you don’t have to think of them again.

Fields

• Name. The name of the item. Keep it short and sweet—and unique.
• Image(s). A space to upload one or multiple images of the respective item.
• Category. This field allows you to select from (and create new) categories of items. They can be as broad or as specific as you want, depending on the nature of your items. For this field, it’s best to think in terms of electronics, health equipment, instruments, jewelry, and things of that nature.
• Brand. The item’s brand.
• Color. The item’s color(s). An item can have multiple colors, and so can this field.
• Description. Write a short sentence describing the item. It could be as generic or as specific as you’d like, but the more unique the description is, the better.
• Quantity. How many of these items are in your household? Jot them down here.
• Price. The value of each individual item.
• Total value. The total value of the item(s), calculated by quantity times the price.
• Owner. This is a linked field to the Family Members table. Use it to link each item to its individual owner.

Views

• All items. Displays all items, sorted alphabetically by brand name.
• High value. Displays all items that have a price higher than 2000, sorted in descending order from highest to lowest price.
• Gallery: All items. Displays all items in a gallery view, sorted in descending order from highest to lowest price.
• By category. Displays all items in a kanban view, stacked by category.

Family members

When you share a home with several people, the memory of who purchased which items easily is forgotten. Use this table to keep track of each family member and the individual items they own and are responsible for.

Fields

• Name. The family member’s full name.
• Picture. A space to show off the family smiles!
• Age. The age of the family member.
• Owns. This is a linked field to the Items table. This field displays all the items that each individual family member owns.
• Primary insurance. This is a linked field to the Insurance policies table. Select from the available list of insurance policies on said table as the primary for each family member. If the individual does not have a primary insurance, it can be left blank.
• Covered under. This is also a linked field to the Insurance policies table. Whether the family member has primary insurance or not, they may still be eligible to be covered under a policy. This field designates exactly that.

Views

• All family members. Displays all family members, sorted by age in descending order.
• Parents. Displays family members with an age higher than 35, sorted by age in descending order.
• Children. Displays family members with an age lower than 35, sorted by age in descending order.
• Gallery: Family members. Displays all family members in a gallery view, sorted by alphabetical order from A to Z.

Insurance polices

Insurance serves as a financial safety net in the event that something unexpected occurs. If there’s a single day where you are not covered by the policy, it could cost you quite a bit. Use this table to stay on top of your insurance. Allowing no gaps in coverage is the best way to safeguard all of your items!

Fields

• Carrier. The name of the insurance carrier.
• Owned by. The family member that the insurance policy is owned by.
• Coverage. The coverage amount for the respective insurance policy.
• Start date. The start date of the insurance policy.
• Expiration Date. The expiration date of the insurance policy.
• Covers. This is a linked field to the Family Members table. Link the appropriate family members that the respective insurance policy covers in case of theft, loss, and/or natural disasters (or other circumstances).
• Scan. An image/PDF scan of the insurance policy and/or card.

Views

• All policies. Displays all policies, sorted by expiration date from earliest to latest.