Whether you’re moving home, downsizing, or just trying to clear up some space in your home, it’s important that you find the best way to do that. Self-storage units make for a perfectly convenient place for you to safely and securely store your belongings while they’re out of your home – but how exactly do you make the most of them? If you’re going to pay for it, you want to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth, and to do that you need to be quite efficient with your packing. On top of that, you’ve got to consider the best ways to protect your property – as while it might be safe and secure inside the unit, there’s still a possibility of weather damage.
Packing skills don’t come naturally to everyone, so why not take a moment to read about what you should be doing with your storage unit?
How do you arrange items in a storage unit?
Before you start to put everything away, you’re going to want to make sure there’s at least some order to what you’re storing. Unless any time you want to take something out, you plan to be digging through everything you’ve got stored – it would be much better to have it easily accessible.
If you’re storing things while you’re moving, for example, there are definitely some things that can wait until last before you take them home, so first of all you should try to order everything by priority. That way if you need anything in an emergency, you can access it quickly and easily, and you won’t have to take everything out just to reach it.
It would also help if you labelled your boxes. Getting everything packed neatly into easily storable boxes, but it’s no good if you have to get them all out to look through them. Putting simple labels on them can make them easy to recognise whenever you go to look for them. You never know how long your things will be in storage, as your move could take some time to settle in – so it could be harder than you think to remember what you’ve put where. Self-storage is only convenient if you make it convenient, so keep that in mind!
Lastly, no matter what you’re storing and which is the priority, you want to make sure nothing is going to get damaged while it’s being stored. That means putting the heaviest objects at the bottom, and making sure nothing is balancing. While it might sit on top while you put it in, something that can fall, might while you’re gone – so make sure everything is securely in place. Trying to place anything in another order can easily lead to things being broken, bent, or cracked in some way.
What should you not pack in a storage unit?
There are a number of things that you should avoid putting in your storage unit, number one being anything that’s alive. While it’s a safe space, you should never try to keep your pets in a storage unit, no matter how short a time you feel they’re going to be there.
It would also be a good idea to avoid keeping anything too expensive in your storage. While they are secure, it’s much safer to keep your valuables where you can see them, and keeping them in storage simply isn’t worth the risk. On top of that, if someone saw you putting expensive items into the store, it may incentivize them to try and access them.
Lastly, food is something you should generally avoid keeping in your storage, especially if it could be there for a while. There are some exceptions, such as canned food, but perishable foods should be kept out of storage if possible. It’s much better to either donate it or throw it out if you don’t feel like you have the space for it – unless you know you’re going to come back for it very shortly.
How do you pack a storage room?
To get the most out of your storage space, you need to be efficient with your organizing. Of course, make sure everything is placed correctly according to weight and priority. First of all, it might not occur to everyone to install shelves in their self-storage unit. Putting in some industrial shelves can make it much easier to put more in against the walls. Not everything is stackable but would sit perfectly fine on top of a shelf. So if you’re trying to make some floor space, consider installing some shelves before you start loading everything into your storage room.
If you’re going to use things like shelves, make sure you have permission from the owner of the storage units, as well as make sure the shelves are strong enough to stand all the while you’re away. Shelves can collapse under too much weight, and you won’t know about any damages until you come back for it.
How do you pack a 10 by 15 storage unit?
When working with a very small amount of space, it’s important that you’re as efficient as possible. That can be quite difficult when you’ve got a lot of unevenly shaped objects like pieces of furniture, but there’s a method to pack properly. If possible, it might even be better to disassemble as much furniture as you can if you’re going to fit it all in neatly. Chairs can take up a lot of space due to their awkward shape, so being able to remove the legs can make them much easier to compact with the rest.
You also want to make sure you’re using as much of the wall space as possible, even if you’re not using shelves. Make sure there are no gaps or wasted space between your belongings and keep things as compact as possible. From there you can make as much use of the stacking potential of your furniture. A wardrobe can make for a great place to both keep things inside and on top of, so don’t forget about that.
