If you’re pressed for space, the challenges can be many. From needing to constantly rearrange your belongings to blocking pathways, it’s simply not an ideal situation. However, there are long-term and short-term solutions to managing this predicament. Here’s what to consider if you decide to rent a storage unit.
Filtering Your Options
If you decide you want to rent a storage unit, you’ll undoubtedly have more than one option of where to go. However, when it comes to what will benefit you, you’ll want to determine what type of storage you want, how much space you’ll need and the time frame you want to rent for.
Full-Service Storage or Self-Storage?
In the world of storage units, one of the first forks in the road is choosing full-service storage or self-storage. Full-service storage is kind of like valet service, where a company will pick up your items from you and then store them. On the other hand, self-storage facilities will give you access to a space and you must drop off and pick up your items at that location. Self-storage is typically a more affordable option.
Decide What Size You’ll Need
When you decide to rent a storage unit, you should also decide what items you want to store. This will determine how big of a storage unit to get. The size of the storage unit you rent will be a primary factor in what you can and cannot store, so it’s important to think about this ahead of time. As an example, our storage units can store cars and larger appliances, things you couldn’t store in a 5×5 or likely a 5×10 unit.
Decide How Long You want to Rent
Like renting a place to live, you’ll be renting a new home for your stuff to live. Rental payments will vary across self-storage companies, making it important to have an idea of how long you’ll be renting. Some companies may require a 3-month minimum, while others (like ourselves) are month-to-month. It’s wise to align your time frame with your rental contract.
Tips for the Transition
If you’re dead set on renting a storage unit, you’ll want to properly prepare. Some key tips are taking inventory, being strategic about how you organize your unit, and making sure all your items are ready to be stored.
Take Inventory
While this may seem tedious, we guarantee it pays off to make an inventory list of your storage items. Once your items are out of your space, it’s easy to forget about them. Taking photos of what you store and listing your items on some kind of spreadsheet is an excellent way to track what you store. It’s also wise to physically label boxes you store. Make sure to have the label facing outwards where you can easily see it.
Strategically Organize Your Space
Even though you’re investing in more space, you definitely will want to maximize how you use it. A critical step for doing this is organizing your items strategically. It’s similar to a game of Tetris, but you’ll also want to take into account how fragile objects are, what orientation they should be stored in, and how soon you think you’ll need to access them.
Prepare Your Items for Storage
Make sure your items are clean and ready to be stored. For fridges, this means thoroughly drying them. For cars, this can mean changing the oil. There are best ways to store household items, and it’s worth doing this bit of research before you tuck them out of sight.
Rent a Storage Unit at Chambers Connector Storage
We encourage all folks who want to rent a storage unit at our facility to come visit. Online information can inform you of some key details, but to really know if it’s a good fit, you’ll need to see it for yourself. Stop by our office anytime from 8 am to 6 pm Monday through Friday or call us at 541-302-8060.
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