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Self Storage Tips: How to Store your Belongings Safely and Efficiently

We know it can be intimidating to move of your belongings into a unit, especially if it's the first time. “Where do you start? It all looks so small, will it even fit?” Trust us, knowing how to pack a storage unit the right way is a good first step. Depending on the size of your unit and how many boxes and items you need to move, you can get it all done fairly quickly if you make a good plan!

Clean your belongings before moving it into the storage unit

We know this may seem obvious, but some people forget this rather important step in the moving and packing process. Furniture, kitchen items (such as refrigerators) and clothing can attract bugs and even mold if they aren’t cleaned well. Trust us, cleaning your belongings can go a long way!

Keep track of everything you’re storing

Make a list of the items you will be storing before moving them into your unit. This will help you keep track of your belongings once the craziness of the packing and moving kicks in. You can also use the inventory list to create a map of where your items are stored inside your unit, if you want to take it a step further.

Label every box on each side

Even though this may seem a bit extreme you won’t regret doing it. Imagine walking through your storage, you’re looking for your winter clothing for the upcoming ski holiday, but you haven’t labeled every side of the box, so you have to open every single box… By simply labeling every side of the box you’ll never have to worry about this!

Don’t be afraid to use the vertical space

Always stack with a plan. Our suggestion is to start at the bottom and stack up. Use heavy items to create a steady base and then stack based on fragility, placing the lightest items at the top. Don’t forget to leave an aisle for yourself in the middle of the unit to be able to walk through and access your belongings.

An extra little tip: make sure you pack your plates and bowls vertically in a box, that way there’s less breakage. Also make sure that half-full boxes are filled with newspapers or plastic, this ensures that the box does not collapse and nothing will break when other boxes are placed on top of it.

What about the bigger furniture? Sofa’s, for example, take up a lot of room and you may not want to stack anything on top of it, as to not ruin it. Instead you could use the vertical space and put your sofa on its side so it’s “standing up”.

Disassemble!

Try to take apart as many of your belongings as possible, especially the items that take up a lot of space. Tables, bookshelves, chairs with removable legs; disassemble everything you can to make room for other belongings. And it will also prevent damage!

If you can’t disassemble an item such as a large closet use the closet space to store smaller items such as smaller boxes.

Don’t store important items you may need frequent access to

If you do decide to store items you want frequent access to, keep them at the front of the unit, at an easy to reach spot. This will prevent you from having to go through all the boxes to find what you’re looking for.