Organising Your Self Storage Space

No one wants to spend time searching high and low for a particular box that holds something that you most desperately need. We all know how that scenario plays out – a raised heart rate, inherent mumbling under your breath about how ‘it was just here last time’ and convincing yourself that the storage fairies are playing tricks on you again. If you’re really fumbling, you may even end up falling into a box and packing yourself away in your unit.

So instead of fighting with the stuff in your storage unit, why not choose to do something about it? While there’s no one right or wrong way to organise your storage space, there are a few tips we can share with you to help make the process a little easier.

Go for uniformity

There is nothing worse than pulling everything out of your unit, finding the thing you wanted and having to remember the exact order it all came out in (because otherwise, it won’t stack properly). Oddly shaped boxes are the enemy of the self-storage and can spell disaster and disorganisation. So try to find a size of box that works for you and buy a lot of them. This can either be plastic boxes, stackable crates or even cardboard boxes – just make sure they are all the same size and can be stacked up. By doing this, you can pack everything away efficiently and make the most of the vertical and the horizontal space. You should also make sure they aren’t damaged in any way – as this could lead to trouble when the whole stack starts collapsing!

Frequent use at the front, rare use at the back

This might sound really simple, but you’d be amazed at the number of people who will just throw boxes into their unit without a care for where they go and when they will next need them. When you’re packing your unit, take a look at what’s inside and decide how frequently you think you’re going to need it. Anything that you won’t need to access often, or at all for a long time, should go at the back of your unit and form the base layer at the bottom – as these are the areas most difficult to get to when the unit is full. The boxes you will need to get at should be put on the top of stacks or in the front so that you can get to it easily.

Labels, labels, labels!

Labels are your new best friend if you’re considering self-storage. The problem with having dozens of boxes all stacked up is that it’s very difficult to remember what’s in them after a while, meaning you end up going through all of them just to find that one thing you need. So when you’re packing up your boxes, try and ensure that the items inside are all the same, or belong together in some way. Then when you’ve filled a box, write a label (or write on it) what’s inside, in as much detail as you can. Make sure you write labels for all sides of the box, that way it doesn’t matter which way it goes in, you will always know what’s inside. This little tip could save you dozens of hours of searching, repacking and frustration down the line.

Invest in racking

If you are going to be using your storage space for some time or visiting it regularly, it’s a good idea to invest in some basic racking. These slot-together models create a more organised storage space for your unit and eliminate the need to pull lots of boxes out just to get to the one at the bottom of the stack. It also protects your boxes from warping and damage, so they all stay intact and your items better protected. You could even just buy 1 set and use it for the boxes you need to get to regularly and stack up the rest normally.

At Blue Box Storage, we spend a lot of time helping our customers make the most out of their storage space as much possible. By organising the space right from the start, you can avoid a lot of stress and breakage down the line. For more information about organising your storage space, or to find out what options we have available, just get in touch with us today.