A growing number of people are turning to personal self-storage to help organise and manage certain stressful events. Perhaps moving home, or simply redecorating and remodelling a house, or to help with a business start-up or relocation. Whatever the need to create more space, personal self-storage – or business storage – can offer a practical solution either short or long term. Whilst those amongst us who have recognised the benefit self-storage offers in decluttering or space creating, how many of us fully capitalise on our forward-thinking and properly organise and utilise the space we are renting? Here are some tips as to ensure you get the greatest benefit and value from your storage solution:
Create An Inventory
When renting personal or business storage you need to first establish exactly how much space you need – so make a comprehensive list or inventory of all the items you intend to store. This inventory will help you both when initially packing your items for storage and again, later when you retrieve your valuables from your storage unit. An inventory can act as a checklist of every item that goes into storage and ensure nothing has gone missing when you need to take your items back out.
Purchase Appropriate Labels
Accurate labelling is essential when packing your storage items. This will make accessing individual items, or a specific group of items (perhaps kitchen equipment or a certain bedroom’s contents), much easier to locate and retrieve. If all boxes are labelled, you can go direct to that specific box to get your item without the need for moving or searching other boxes to find your required item.
Leave A Space
There is always a tendency to work out exactly how much space you need for your stored items then simply fill the rented unit with your goods – this, however, is not always the best use of the space! If your items are to be stored long-term, but there are individual possessions you will need to access in the meantime, or on a regular basis, the clear and easy access to the different boxes is important. It is no good knowing the item you want is in box 13 on row F at the back of the unit, if you can’t easily get to it – so, ensure you organise your storage unit to accommodate space to freely move between your stored boxes.
Prioritise Access
Identify which of your stored items you will need to access the most frequently and build that into your storage plan – place the boxes with the most required items at the front of the stacks nearest the unit door – this will save you time and effort when retrieving your items.
Use The Height
Sometimes people only take the floor space of a storage unit into consideration – this can be a mistake as it is important to also use the available height of the unit. Certain furniture items can be stored upright as opposed to horizontally, and you can use the unit’s height to stack multiple boxes of items – just ensure that when stacking vertically that you put the heaviest and most robust boxes/items at the bottom of the stack making any incrementally stacked boxes lighter the further up you stack.
Create A Diagram
Once you have planned out your storage configuration, draw a diagram, or map, of your personal self-storage unit – this helps in keeping track of your individual pieces and boxes for access either during the storage period or for when you are vacating the unit at the end of your contract.
If you are going to pay for personal or business storage then ensure you get the best value for your money – storage unit prices do not have to be restrictive and, if you properly plan, organise, and populate your storage space, then you will find it a cost-effective and convenient help in organising your main spaces at home or work.
Choose Chelsea Self Storage
If you have a lot of items that you need to store, look no further than Chelsea Storage! We offer convenient, clean and secure self-storage space units for the public for as long or as short as you want it, at storage unit prices to suit all budgets. Call us today FREE on: 0808 1681310 to discuss your requirements or click here for a storage quote; and get your very own short term storage in London today.
