Organizing Your Self Storage Unit
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July 27th, 2022
Are you thinking about renting a storage unit? Congratulations! That's a significant first step towards becoming a more organized person. It's also the first step to getting your home, office, or other space back from that messy monster. With kids, pets, and a busy schedule, clutter can take over in no time. With the addition of self-storage space, you can reduce the amount of clutter in your home and sort through the items at your own pace.
Whether you rent a climate-controlled storage unit or a non-climate one, you'll need to set up your unit so that essential items are easily accessible. The ultimate goal in planning out your storage space is that when the time comes, and you need something from your storage unit, you know where it is and have quick access to it.
What You Should Know Before Organizing Your Storage Unit
Before you start, take a few minutes to understand key facts about storage units. These are helpful to know if you have never rented a storage unit before or want to become better prepared for the experience. • Cost of renting storage units - The cost will vary depending on where you live and where you rent, but expect to pay anywhere from $90 to $200 per month for a standard 10'x10' unit.
• Accessibility of storage units - While storage units are great for keeping stuff out of the way, you will need to know the facility's access hours. Some facilities offer 24-hour access with keypad codes, while others have stricter access hours. Storage facilities commonly have gate and security cameras to keep your items secure.
• Insurance & protection - If you're storing expensive items, it's essential to know what kind of insurance and protection your storage facility offers. Does your storage company have a policy on the goods stored in the facility? Do they cover flood damage? Many facilities will offer tenant protection insurance as part of their monthly bundled rate. Ensure the facility manager gets all the insurance information and policy numbers.
The Importance of Organizing Your Storage Unit
Before you get to the nitty-gritty of actually organizing your storage unit, you need to remember why you're doing this in the first place. Why do you need a storage unit in the first place? So you can get your house back! It's so easy to get carried away when sorting and organizing your stuff that you start reorganizing your entire home. While this is good, you should be careful with the items you throw in your storage unit. You don't want to throw away things you might need in the future, but you also don't want to keep around broken, outdated items or take up too much space that could be better used. The goal is to keep the items that have sentimental value and are helpful and eliminate the rest. You can also store items you don't need for daily use but might need for the holidays or during different seasons. Storage units are great places to store Christmas decorations, bikes, and even your husband's bachelor decorations.
Step 1: Assess Your Space and Plan Out Your Storage Unit
When filling up a storage unit, you want to ensure that the items you're storing are protected and won't get ruined by water, insects, or other elements. Therefore, you should put things on shelves or in plastic boxes. Always store your items off the floor in the event of leaking.
If you plan to store boxes full of items, make sure they are tightly closed and sealed, so they don't get wet or damaged by insects. Ask your facility if they spray for bugs and other pests. If you are worried about mice or other pests, place some traps within your unit. Changes in the weather can increase the humidity in the unit, be sure to add Damp Rid to reduce the amount of moisture in your space. Doing this will help reduce the chances of mold or mildew occurring.
Step 2: Purge & Recycle What You Don't Need
Before you start organizing your things, you need to get rid of the things you don't need. If you want to start fresh and be more organized, you need to reduce the number of items in your home and leave what is truly important. You don't have to get rid of everything you don't need. You can plan out a space for these items in your unit. Additionally, many organizations will happily accept your "unwanted" items.
Step 3: Decide Where to Put Everything
Now that you know what you have and want to keep, it's time to start organizing your storage unit. When deciding where to put things, it's important to think about your future self. You don't want to put things in a place that's hard to get to just in case you need them in the future. Think about how often you use certain items and where they might be the easiest to access while in your unit. For example, if you use your seasonal decorations, files, or mower, place these items towards the front of the unit. Things you won't need frequent access to can be placed near the back.
You can easily customize your unit to suit your needs. Adding shelving allows you to access your items more efficiently and create a walkway within the unit. Doing this will enable you to utilize the whole storage space.
Once you have decided which items you want to store and their level of access needed, you need to organize your items. Instead of just putting random items in boxes together, organize them by the room they belong in or with similar items. Once you have chosen the receptacle for these items, include a label. You can use a label maker; you have a label sticker printed or mark the boxes with Sharpie. Doing this will make it significantly easier to find items in the future. A bin organizer is another great way to store items like papers or toiletries. You can also use them to store your craft supplies, chargers, or toys.
Organizing your home can seem like an intimidating challenge. With the addition of a self-storage unit, you can reduce the overall clutter in your home and organize the items in your own time. If you're ready to rent a self-storage unit today, call an IncaAztec Self Storage location near you!
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