Storage units are great solutions when you want extra space to organize your business space. Renting a self-storage unit is a prudent decision that helps you maximize your available workspace and grow your business.
While it’s easy to skimp through the process, it’s vital to plan and organize your unit if you want to have an easy time accessing and retrieving your items. The following article outlines the best ways to organize a self-storage unit and avoid unnecessary hassles.
Choose The Same Box Size
Choosing the same box size enhances stacking and accessibility, and a mix of small and medium-sized boxes is perfect for most items. While large boxes are great for lighter items, they may not be sturdy enough to withstand the weight under a heavy stack. Also, large boxes are difficult to remove when retrieving items quickly.
Keep Items You Might Want To Retrieve At The Front
You will likely want to retrieve something when your belongings are still in storage. Determine the items you might want to use frequently and keep them at the front for easy access since you don’t have to go through several stacks to reach the items.
Ideally, some items may not seem necessary at the moment but may be needed sooner. Therefore, identify such items before packing and make a list that may include the following:
- Holiday items
- Summer or winter clothing
- Tools
- Toys
- Office documents
Place Heavy Items At The Bottom
When packing your belongings in the storage unit, always start with heavy boxes, tools, gear, and furniture at the bottom in the farthest end. Also, these should be items that you don’t need to retrieve in the foreseeable future before unpacking everything in the storage unit. Typically, placing small and light items at the bottom of your stack can lead to damage or breakages.
Label Your Boxes Clearly
Make sure to label the tops and sides of all boxes with a unique identifier denoting the room and contents. In addition, use unique labels on boxes containing items you might want to retrieve regularly.
Clear labels help you understand the specific location and the easiest way to access them. You can use a marker pen or tags to identify each box. The task may seem tedious, but it helps you know the contents instantly without second guessing.
Create A Content List Of Your Boxes
After labelling your boxes, it’s critical to record the box number and its contents on paper. And while this step takes time, a master list is a reliable navigation tool when you need to locate specific items in a stack with ineligible box numbers.
However, you can save time by using dictation tools to record details and save time. If your boxes contain closely-related items, try printing summary details from the inventory and use them as labels.
Plan An Elaborate Layout Map Of The Storage Unit
Mapping out your storage unit makes it more organized. While you won’t need an exact layout map, it helps to have a sketch showing how you’ve arranged different items in the unit. Draw a quick sketch dividing the layout into sections where you’ve placed related items or from various rooms. For instance, put all your office documents together, equipment, stationery, marketing materials, and accessories.
In addition, leave a path in the middle between the boxes, furniture, and equipment. This layout ensures you can quickly access items in different categories without rummaging through bulky boxes. But you can also place light boxes that you can quickly move when you want to access the other rows.
Consider A Slightly Larger Unit
While you can pack every usable space in your storage unit, it only makes it challenging to remove an item. A small space allowance gives you enough room for shelving your boxes while leaving a path for convenient access to your items.
Similarly, the unit should have enough space to accommodate pallets on the floor to ensure boxes, furniture, appliances, and equipment are not in direct contact with the floor to avoid potential damage. However, you don’t want to pay for more than you need, so estimating the ideal space for your items is essential.
Use Shelves Or Stack Your Items
Shelving and stacking can maximize available space and help organize the storage unit. Accessing and retrieving a specific box is a breeze when it’s shelved since you don’t have to lift and move multiple boxes to access a particular package. Besides using free-standing shelves, you can add hanging shelves to create room for smaller containers.
Conclusion
Packaging and moving your items can be overwhelming, and following a plan to organize your items may feel like a tall order. However, the idea behind organizing your self-storage unit is to give you peace of mind, knowing you can access any item without digging through tens of bulky boxes.
We hope you found this blog post on How To Organize A Self-storage Unit: What To Load First useful. Be sure to check out our post on Reasons Why Storage Solutions Are Useful For Home Renovations for more great tips!
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