If you’re big into seasonal storage and decluttering, make
sure to include your storage unit on your cleaning list. Stopping by your
storage unit and finding a total mess is not only frustrating, but also makes
your space less cost-efficient and means it’s harder to grab items you need.
Going through and reorganizing your storage unit as the seasons change can help
keep your stuff under control.
Trying to figure out how to efficiently organize a storage unit?
Start by packing and labeling your stuff clearly (if you haven’t already), then
rotate your in-season items to easy-access spots and tidy your storage unit as
you go!
Pack
and Label Items Clearly
If you were in a hurry when you first moved into it, you might
not have gotten a chance to properly organize your storage unit. To get started
with basic storage unit organization, group related items together, pack them
into boxes, and label them clearly.
Especially if you’re packing stuff up for shipping or just want
to keep your stuff safe as you move it around your storage unit, you’ll want to
choose boxes that are just big enough to fit your items snugly with a couple
inches of cushion space. You can fill the cushion spaces with bubble wrap,
packing peanuts, shipping blankets, foam, or other packing materials.
If you’re packing delicate items like sculptures, consider
adding a layer of foam or cotton batting around them before packing into a
plastic bag and wrapping with a generous amount of bubble wrap.
When you’re packing, always be conscientious of how different
temperatures might affect packing materials, especially if you are storing in
an outdoor storage unit. For example, very hot temperatures could cause
plastic-based packing materials to melt, destroying your belongings.
Once you’ve gotten everything packed securely, write labels on
the boxes to make locating specific items easier down the road. If you’re
organizing your storage unit for your own use, you can probably keep labels
fairly general. If you’re storing items for your business, however, you may
want to get more specific with your box labels and storage unit organization
system, so any other employees who access the storage unit can find what they
need quickly.
Rotate
to Organize Your Storage Unit for the Upcoming Season
Get ready for the next season by rotating your belongings around
in your unit! Keep your most frequently used regular and current-season items
towards the front of your storage space and push the out-of-season items
towards the back in chronological order. This way, you’ll have the stuff you’re
using most frequently in the most immediately accessible locations throughout
the year. When the current season ends, just shift the next season’s items
forward.
While you’re moving stuff around, remember to keep a center aisle clear. That way, you can keep
quick access to all of your stuff, even if you’ve sorted it into the “out of
season” area. If you have a large
garage-size storage unit, you
might also want to consider keeping two or more clear aisles, so you can
navigate the whole storage unit more easily.
Clean
and Discard While Sorting Seasonal Items
Wondering how to keep your storage unit clean? While you’re
organizing and rotating your neatly packed boxes, grab a broom, vacuum,
non-harsh cleaner, and some rags, and give everything a good clean. You can
work in sections to avoid having to take everything out of your unit at once.
Start with furniture and top surfaces first and work your way down while
dusting. Finish by cleaning the floor for each area, and then shift your boxes
back into the newly cleaned spot.
While you’re organizing and rotating items, keep an eye out for
old, damaged, or dysfunctional items and discard them when you see them.
Throwing out or donating unwanted items during your seasonal cleaning will make
it much easier if you decide to move out of your storage unit or find yourself
in a hurry to make room.
Running
Short on Storage Space in Your Unit?
If you’ve been steadily adding more in your storage space, you
might be feeling like everything is a bit tight. If you’ve discarded everything
you don’t want to keep and already done everything you can as far as storage
unit organization, it might be time to upgrade to a larger
unit size or rent
an additional storage unit. Luckily, we handle month-to-month rentals here at
Midmaine Storage Solutions, so you won’t be stuck renting two units long-term if
you’re just moving up a size. If you’re ready for even more storage space, check
out Midmaine Storage
Solutions in Corinna and rent or reserve a unit online!
Have a larger Summer toy? A boat, a camper or a smaller RV--we can accommodate that too--
