As soon as the weather warms, you might be ready to throw open the blinds and start deep cleaning your house. However, if you really want to stay on top of your home’s cleanliness, you shouldn’t stop with your interior space. Storage units can accumulate a lot of clutter as you visit your space, which is why you should add your unit to your springtime cleaning to-do list.
Here are three tips you can use for a more organized storage space.
1. Create Labeled Work Zones
The spring is the perfect time to drop off holiday décor at your storage unit and pick up those bikes, hiking gear, and rock climbing equipment. However, unless you know where everything is inside your storage unit, it might take a while to find the summertime recreational gear you came for.
One way to create a more organized, usable space is to create different work zones inside of your unit. Consider creating a drop off zone inside of your unit, so that incoming boxes have a space to sit until you have time to go through and sort them.
Try to leave the area in front of your storage unit door clear, so that you won’t have to worry about pinching items in the tracks as you open and close your door.
If you really want to keep the space organized and easy to use, use removable tape to dedicate different areas of your unit to store different kinds of items, and then label the tape with permanent marker. For instance, you might box out a square section in the back for all of the clothing items, while allocating the front part of the unit to holiday décor.
With a little careful labeling and dedicated work zones, you won’t forget where things are in your unit, and you can keep areas clear to make it easier to go through boxes when you need to.
2. Consider Upgrading Your Space
As soon as you start stacking things inside of your storage unit, they become instantly less accessible. Unfortunately, stacking can also cause item damage, since the weight of furniture and boxes can eventually smash the items on the bottom level. Additionally, when things are stacked, those boxes might have to be searched multiple times, putting your items at risk for unintentional damage.
To prevent these kinds of problems, consider upgrading to a larger storage unit so you can spread out a little more. While every storage facility is a little different, most businesses allow you to simply sign a little paperwork, apply your prepaid rent to a new unit, and then relocate your items.
Although the average price per square foot of a storage unit is only about 97 cents, it is important to carefully gauge the amount of stuff you have before moving into a significantly larger space. Consider the size of unit you have now, how many boxes are stacked, and how you might use the space in the future.
3. Go Through Those Boxes
Organizing also becomes a lot simpler if you have less to store, so use the warmer springtime weather as a chance to go through your boxes to trash or donate unwanted items. As you search through boxes, think about the likelihood of using the item again, and whether it is worth the cost of continuing to store the objects.
Keep in mind that holding a garage sale for your unwanted items is a great way to fund your storage unit upgrade or the rent on your existing storage unit. Additionally, donating items to charity could help you to tack a few charitable contributions onto your end-of-year taxes, saving you money.
Whether you need long-term storage or you are trying to plan the logistics for an upcoming move, our team can help. At Carmack Moving & Storage, we are true relocation and storage specialists, helping our customers with everything from packing and unpacking to long distance moves and car hauling. For a free consultation, give us a call.
