You’ve temporarily moved a lot of possessions that you’re not using at the moment into a self-storage unit. Did you keep all kitchen items together? Did you label and number all the boxes and make a list of the contents in each one? Did you draw a sketch of approximately where each box is located in the storage unit?
It feels great to have gotten all that stuff out of your garage and/or basement. But now that everything is in the unit, this is probably when a friend will ask to borrow that extra blender that you stored.
Will you be able to find it fairly quickly? Or will you end up pulling every box out and opening them all up. That blender is probably hiding in a box that’s on the bottom in the far corner of your unit. That seems to be the way it always works out.
If you don’t take the time to get organized, the confusion from your basement or garage can easily end up the same in your storage unit. Visit us at Browning Park Mini Storage in Benton, AR, for tips on how best to organize a storage unit.
And in the meantime, here’s how to proceed.
It’s Not Too Late to Get Organized
Does the above situation sound familiar to you? Then it’s time to organize your possessions.
You might have thought that putting the items into storage was the end of cleaning up your garage or basement. But you might be surprised how often you want to access your stored items. And that could be very aggravating if you don’t organize everything.
So set aside some time to spend at your storage unit to inventory your items and categorize them. You can do this digitally or with plain pen and paper.
As you’re organizing your items, keep track of the following:
- a short description of the item
- its category
- the date of storage
- what box it’s in
This is probably the last thing you want to do over a week end, but once you’ve done it, you’re set. And you’ll thank yourself later when your friend asks for that blender and you look at your records and go straight to the correct box.
Categorize your possessions according to room or activity. If you have a lot of camping equipment, keep it all together. Lots of extra kitchenware? Keep it all together.
Label each box or plastic container. Boxes with kitchen items should have a label ‘kitchen items.’ In addition, tape a list of all the items inside on the outside of the container. And don’t forget to cross an item off if you take it out.
Boxes with frequently-used items should be placed close to the door. You probably have a good idea which items you’ll access frequently. And you’ll be happy if you were clever enough to make those the first boxes you encounter when you enter the unit.
Sketch a map. Once you have an idea of which boxes should be closer to the door and which ones can go in the back because you won’t need to access them often, you should number the boxes and sketch a diagram that shows where each box is.
Use shelving units. You’ll be able to get to more boxes easily if you put them on shelves. By doing that, you won’t have to move boxes that are sitting on top of the one you want.
Having all this information at your fingertips will make your life much easier every time you need to get something from your storage unit.
Self-storage units give you a way to keep items that you’re not ready to give up, but if you don’t organize well, you might start thinking of your unit as a black hole that you never want to go to. Use the above organization tips to make the most of your self-storage unit at Browning Park Mini Storage in Benton, AR.
And smile now that you can get your car in the garage again.