Your belongings can easily be damaged if you don’t know how to appropriately pack and organize a storage unit. No matter what you decide to pack in your storage unit, the tips below will help you protect everything from your flat-screen TV to your winter coat.
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Clean everything that’s going into the storage unit.
If you store something while it’s dirty, it’s only going to be dirtier when you unpack it two, four, or twelve months later. Before you decide how to pack and organize your storage unit, don’t forget to scrub, wash, and dust your belongings. Here are a few tasks to keep in mind:
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Thoroughly clean your storage unit.
Before deciding how to pack your storage unit, make sure it’s clean and free of damage. Examine the unit’s walls and roof for cracks, sharp edges, and leaks. Then, sweep the floor. If you want to be extra cautious, scrub the walls and floor with soap or a disinfectant. If your unit is not climate controlled or is outdoors, you may want to lay a tarp or wooden pallets on the ground to help protect your belongings from weather and pests.
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Check if your storage unit is climate-controlled.
Whether or not you’ve rented a space that is climate controlled will have an impact on how you pack and organize your storage unit. If your storage unit is indoors and climate controlled, you’ll spend less time packing your belongings for maximum protection. The climate control technology will protect your belongings from mildew and other weather-related damages. However, if your storage unit is not climate-controlled, ask yourself if it’s worth the risk to store items like expensive clothing, electronics, and instruments in your storage unit. If you do decide to store these items, you need to be extra careful with how you pack these items in your storage unit.
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Make sure you have enough space in your storage unit.
If you’ve already booked a storage unit, you need to double check that your belongings will fit before you start packing the storage unit. You don’t want to start packing and organizing your storage unit only to return home with half your belongings when they don’t fit.
Create a list of how much furniture you’ll be packing in your storage unit, plus a rough estimate of the number of boxes and other items that you’ll need to make fit. Consider how much space these items will take up, and then compare it to the space available. Will it all fit, or do you need to prioritize and get rid of some things? Remember, you can fit a lot in when packing and organizing a storage unit, you just have to plan well.
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Although there is historical evidence of publicly available storage in ancient China, modern self-storage facilities (in which the tenant has exclusive access to the storage space) did not begin to appear until the late 1960s. The first self-storage facility chains opened in Texas. This was often helped by the fact that most homes in Texas do not have basements, which are often used for storage.
The first self-storage facility in Europe was started in the United Kingdom by Doug Hampson, and opened in central London in 1979. Called Abbey Self Storage, it would become the first self-storage chain in Europe. "... it was Doug Hampson who gave Britain the modern self-storage industry, with its bright, clean corridors and endless rows of brightly-coloured doors. In the industry he is widely credited with the enviable title of the "father of UK self-storage".
Modern storage facilities grew slowly through the '90s, at which time demand outpaced supply and caused a rush of new self-storage developments. From 2000 to 2005, over 3,000 new facilities were built every year in America.
