If you are moving to a new home or office, are renovating a space, or have a transitional period coming up, you might need to consider using a self storage unit to hold your belongings in the process. After you find the right storage space, there are a few ways you can streamline your organization to save yourself a lot of time and stress in the packing and unpacking process.
Know What You Have
Before you begin packing, start a master spreadsheet of what you own. You can organize it by the different rooms (kitchen, living area, master bedroom, kid’s room, etc) and then create subcategories for bathrooms, closets, and so on. This will help you easily account for what you have and where it belongs. This will help you know what box a specific item is in while your things are in storage which can come in handy in the event you need it. This is also crucial for your insurance in the event something happens either in the moving process, while your things are stored, or even later down the road. Having a detailed account of your belongings can help your insurance claim go smoothly and ensures you are taken care of financially.
Packing
There are several ways to keep your belongings safe in the moving process, and how you pack them has a lot to do with it. In order to keep the individual items from moving around too much and causing damage, don’t leave too much extra space between each item. And while you might be short on time and be tempted to just throw your things in your storage unit, take the time to put everything in either sturdy boxes or containers with lids. By using the same kind and generally the same size containers, you will be able to utilize the space in your storage unit better, stacking everything up high from floor to ceiling. Label your boxes on the top and the sides so that it can be read easily when they are stacked in the unit.
Organization
How you put your belongings in the storage unit can potentially save you a lot of time and energy and possibly help avoid causing damage to your things. Before loading in your labeled boxes, consider if there is anything you might potentially need while your things are stored. If you’re not entirely sure about what might come up, you at least can know of a handful of boxes you definitely won’t need for the duration of your storage lease. Put those boxes in the back and on the bottom. Since you already have your master list of everything, you can also use this to keep a diagram of where everything is in the unit. This can seriously come in handy in the event you find yourself needing anything. When it comes to your furniture and bulky items that you can’t put in boxes, put the bigger items like refrigerators or washing machines in the back and against the wall. This will protect your smaller items up front from damage in the event something falls over. And be sure to leave a little bit of room for you to walk through in case you need to access something. This will also help your loading and unloading process feel more calm and organized!
