Three Ways To Keep Your Storage Unit Organized And User Friendly

Renting space at a self storage facility provides a home for your seldom-used possessions, but it's important that you don't allow your unit to become disorganized and daunting to visit. Although it can often be tempting to load the unit as quickly as possible, you'll maximize your use of the space by taking a strategic approach to how you situate the boxes, furniture and other items. Beyond ensuring everything is clearly labeled, here are three valuable tips that can ensure each visit to your storage unit is free of stress.

Use Aisles

Don't fall into the trap of loading your storage unit by packing large items against the back wall and gradually moving toward the door. This approach makes retrieving every item except those directly in front of the door virtually impossible, especially if you don't want to risk climbing over your boxes and old furniture. Instead, pack items against not only the back walls, but also the side walls -- but leave narrow aisles that allow you to successfully reach every section of the unit. If this strategy means that you'll need to rent a unit slightly larger than expected, the extra cost can be worth it as you won't have to struggle to find what you need. Contact a professional storage company, like All American Mini Storage, to discuss the different sizing options available to you.

Locate Similar Items Together

A storage unit's possessions seem disorganized when a single box contains old clothing packed against family heirlooms and old college textbooks. When you're packing for your visit to the storage facility, fill boxes with items that belong together. For example, load old clothing in a series of boxes and books in a group of other boxes. When you arrive at the facility, place all the boxes that contain similar items together. An easy way to accomplish this goal is through color coding -- buy colored stickers and place one color of sticker on each of your boxes of books, another color on your boxes of clothing and so on.

Map It Out

Your last order of business is to take a few minutes to survey the scene, sketch a rough diagram of the layout of your items and write the location of each box and its possessions. This process might sound daunting but doesn't need to be difficult. One approach is to assign a number to each box and then place a corresponding number on your sketch along with a brief list of the possessions inside that box. For example, you could write "Box #9: High school yearbooks, mom and dad's photo albums and my baby pictures." By having this information clear on your map sketch, you'll have no trouble finding the desired items when you have a need.

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