There’s nothing like the relief of getting past those holiday obligations and having all of those holiday decorations safely stored away. It’s a time to take a deep breath and look ahead at what possibilities the new year may hold ahead. It is also the perfect time to get organized by cleaning out closets, storage units, and other areas of the home that may become overloaded and cluttered with the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Being organized is about more than simply storing all of your items out of sight. It is about being able to easily access your belongings anytime you need or want them without having to move boxes and storage tubs around, or digging through drawers and file cabinets searching for that item you know you had, but just can’t remember exactly where you put it.

One place that often gets overlooked when performing your annual organizational sort and purge is the mini-storage unit. Yet, it is the one place that needs it the most; as you continually move things around looking for other items or quickly drop of newly stored possessions without much thought as to when you will need it again. Some  suggested methods of organizing your storage are:

  • Shelving Racks – Although it may not be the first idea to come to mind, using shelving racks in a mini-storage unit organizing boxes and totes is a great investment. They allow you to access your items more effectively preventing damage to items from crushed boxes.
  • Quadrants – If you have a larger sized unit, dividing the unit into 4 equal quadrants designating each area as a storage location by category, length of time to be stored, or how often you will need to access those items gives you a way to differentiate and sort your belongings as you store them. Use whatever category that works best for you. Ideally, you should leave a path wide enough to fit your body between each quadrant safely, in order to access boxes or totes from any area of the unit.
  • Hemisphere – One of the most common mistakes made by individuals as they load their mini-storage unit is they think they are being efficient by trying to load larger items or longer-term storage items to the back and smaller or more frequently used items to the front of the unit. At first blush, this seems pretty straightforward and to make sense. However, the more efficient method would be to divide the unit in two from side-to-side leaving a walking path down the middle to access belongings that are stored in the back of the unit. Same idea, just more effective layout.

Getting organized to start the year off right, doesn’t have to be difficult or cost a lot of money. It does take using logic and common sense when loading your unit for the most uniformly accessible space possible. Now that you know how to load your unit, go check out Browning Park Mini-Storage and get your year started off right!