Self-storage units provide a convenient way to store excess furniture and personal items that take up too much space at home. The challenge is finding a unit that’s big enough to store your stuff without paying for too much space. Stacking is inevitable, but you have to be careful about how the way organizes everything, or you could end up damaging valuable items. Here are some tips on how to safely store your belongings.
1. Think Ahead
Keep in mind that you’ll want to retrieve these items eventually. Storing them properly will save you from a major headache when you’re trying to dig them out. Proper organization is the key and items you’re likely to use frequently should be located up front. If they’re easy to get to, you won’t have to risk knocking things over to get to them.
2. Utilize Shelving
Investing in some shelving will help keep your unit organized. Shelves allow you to take advantage of vertical space without stacking items directly on top of each other, where the ones on the bottom can get crushed. Metal shelves should be strong enough to support most of the items you’re likely to store, but you should still be aware of how much they can hold before placing anything too heavy on them.
3. Start Along the Walls
The best way to pack your unit is to begin along the outer walls. As you move inward, store your items in rows with spacious aisles between them. This makes it easier to access your belongings without having to dig through a pile of boxes that may be heavy or fragile. The center should be left open, so you’ll have room to walk in without having to move anything. Doing this also makes it easier to see when your unit is filling up.
4. Store Vertically
The more items you’re able to store vertically, the more space you’ll save along the floor. Heavy items belong on the bottom, whether they’re on shelves or not. If they are on shelves, the heavy items will help stabilize the shelving to keep it from tipping over. Remember to label all boxes, as well. Turn the sides of the boxes with the labels toward the aisles, so you won’t have to rummage through too many boxes to know what’s in them.
5. Wrap Your Furniture
Furniture is likely to take up the most space in your storage unit. Employing mattress and sofa covers will help keep these items clean and free of dust, scratches, and tears. Once you have these items covered, it doesn’t hurt to store a few lighter items on top of them to save some space. Remember that some of your furniture can also be disassembled. Looking for ways to reduce the size of items like bed frames, chairs, and tables can help you make the most of the storage space you have available.
6. Wrap Fragile Items
Mirrors and other fragile items should always be wrapped in some padded material. Wrapping these things with bubble wrap, stretch wrap, or even blankets will prevent them from turning into a pile of glass if they fall over. It’ll also keep them from getting scratched by other items that may fall on them or rub against them.
7. Fill the Gaps
When packing a storage unit, every square inch of space counts. This includes gaps inside and between different items. For example, if you’re storing a refrigerator in your unit, there’s no reason you can’t put light items inside of it. If you have leftover books, magazines, or DVDs that didn’t fit in your boxes, spaces like these are great for such items.
8. Map and Inventory
Keep an inventory list of every item you have in storage, so you’ll always know what’s there. If you take it out of storage for any reason, be sure to make a note of that or scratch it off the list. Furthermore, if you have a lot of items in your unit, a map would be useful in helping you locate them. This should save you some time and prevent you from looking through boxes haphazardly.
Ultimately, your goal should be to save time, space, and money. When you stack and pack your belongings properly, they’ll be easier to find and less likely to be damaged. Remember that storage units cost money and you won’t have to get the biggest unit if you know how to make the most of the space you have.