Storage units are wonderful additions to consider. They can be used for many things, not just storing items you don’t have room for at home. They can be art studios, gyms, warehouses, and so much more. As long as you follow the rules and the terms and conditions, you can use your storage unit in whatever way you want to for as long as you wish.
However, simply renting a storage unit and putting all your things inside it might not be the best way to use it. There are a number of things you can do to really make the most of the unit you’re hiring to ensure that it’s exactly what you want it to be and that you can use it in the way you want and need to. With that in mind, read on to find out how to make the most of your storage unit.
Label Everything
You might not think that labeling all your boxes and containers is that important. After all, you’re just putting the items into the unit until the time when you’ll take them all out again. It might not be very long, and you’ll remember where everything is and what is inside each box.
Although that’s what you might think at the start, after a few months – or even a few weeks – it will be easy to forget where certain items are, even if you think you know roughly where they are stored. To make things easier for you, make sure you label each box and container with what’s inside. If you can, it’s even better to make a list of precisely what is in the box and tape it to the side where you can see it. In this way, if you need something specific, you’ll be able to find it right away and not have to spend hours searching through each box.
Not only will this mean you can use the storage unit in a better way, but once you do take these items out and bring them to a new home, for example, unpacking will become a lot easier.
Create An Organized Layout
It shouldn’t make a difference if you intend to lock everything in the storage unit and not visit again for a number of years or whether you are going to visit once a week to take items out and put them back in; the fact is you’ll need to have an organized layout to really make the most of your storage unit.
This means taking some time before you even put one item inside to plan where everything is going to go. Once you know the size and dimensions of your unit, you can create a scale drawing, and on that drawing, you can plan where everything can be stored. This is particularly important if your budget won’t stretch to a large unit, but you have a lot of things to store. It might be that you can make a lot more use of the space you do have, even if you think it will be hard to get everything to fit. By planning things out, you can place furniture, boxes, and other items in the optimum position and potentially free up more space than you realized was possible.
Keep The Most Used Items At The Front
In order to make the most of your storage unit, you’ll need to be able to get to everything inside it, which is why the plan we mentioned above is a great idea. However, on that plan, it’s wise to ensure that the items you need to use and reach the most are kept at the front of the unit. In that way, you won’t want to push past everything to get to what you need, which is perfect if the unit is tightly packed.
Make Use Of Vertical Space
You might look at your storage unit and only consider the floor space, but although that’s a start, that’s certainly not the only space you can use within the room. Don’t forget to look up as well; how high does your storage unit reach? It might not be stories and stories, but it will certainly give you a lot more space than if you only stacked things at floor level.
This valuable vertical space needs to be used carefully. You don’t want to pile things on top of one another without thinking the idea through, as this could lead to breakages and be potentially hazardous if the items were to fall because they’re not sturdy enough. The best thing to do is to buy some racking and shelving. In this way, you can make use of the vertical space and keep everything much safer. On top of this, it becomes a lot easier to find what you need when you have shelving, as you won’t have to keep moving boxes from one place to another. If things are well labeled, this task becomes a very simple one.
Line The Walls
Another area to consider using if you want to make the most out of your storage unit is the walls. If you ensure that any shelving you use – or any loose items such as furniture – are not pushed right up against the walls (this will depend on available space, of course), then you are free to line the walls with your possessions. This could mean installing hooks or more shelving, for example.
Take Your Furniture Apart
Although it sounds like a big job to do and even a potentially unnecessary one, the fact is that you can make a lot more use of your storage unit if you take your furniture apart before you store it. This will save a huge amount of space, and you might even be able to store some parts of the furniture in boxes together, saving even more space – if you do this, make sure each piece is individually labeled; otherwise, you might get confused when you’re trying to put everything together again.