Each year, people start out with well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions. Among the most common include getting into shape, spending less money, and maybe overall decluttering their life. Thankfully, a storage unit can help with two of these three—and two out of three ain’t bad.
By using a storage unit, you can declutter your home or apartment, get more space, and spend less money.
If you’re looking to declutter your home, here’s how the quick how-to:
1. Separate your belongings into three piles
Take all the items you’re looking to clear out and separate them into three piles: one for those items you need or make you happy, one for those items you do not need but can be sold or donated, and one for those that need to be trashed.
For the ones that you need or make you happy, determine how urgent you’ll need for them to be. Within this pile, make two smaller piles. Those you’ll need more urgently can be kept at home. Those that aren’t needed to frequently can be placed into storage later.
As you make this pile for storage, document these belongings on a list whether on your phone or a notebook—maybe both—so you know which items are going into storage. Carefully pack and prepare these items for storage.
2. Storage features to consider when decluttering
When you’re storing these valuable belongings, you can select the right storage features to protect them. For instance, if you’re storing older family photos or documents, you’ll need climate control. This feature preserves sensitive materials from weather and high seasonal temperatures by maintaining a constant temperature and humidity level within the unit.
And for those items that have more of a financial value, protect them with security features such as electronic gate access, which requires a keycode to enter, as well as video surveillance and onsite management.
Now, if you’re decluttering and needing to store a lot of items, you may also want to find a storage unit with drive up access. This feature allows you to pull up directly to your storage unit for easy drop off and pickup without any awkward carrying through narrow hallways.
3. Final tips for decluttering
One important thing about decluttering your home is that you’re not out to simply move the clutter to a storage unit, but to use the space to organize your belongings. If using a smaller storage unit, carefully line the walls with your belongings. For larger units, you can place items on the floor as long as you allow aisles to walk through. This will allow for easy access to everything placed in storage.
If you’re really storing a lot, avoid stacking boxes over your shoulder height to avoid painful falls, and never stack heavier boxes on top of lighter ones.
