Are you making the most of your self-storage? Mistakes that’ll give you headaches

Are you making the most of your self-storage? Mistakes that’ll give you headaches

If you’re like most business and homeowners in the UK, you need storage space. And you can never have too much. In fact, it can often seem like as soon as you get your home straight, you’re inventory organised, with everything in its rightful place, you miraculously accumulate new stuff. And you need a place to store that.

Many of us stack plastic boxes filled with our belongings in the spare bedroom, study, or family area. We shove everything in a wardrobe, pushing our belongings into every available crevice, in a vain attempt to not have to negotiate rubble-strewn floorspace daily. We stack inventory on racks, floor to ceiling with, realistically, limited space to manoeuvre. This is hardly practical or sustainable. And yet, many businesses and homeowners do it. Live and work like this year-in and year-out.

There is a solution. One that many people throughout the UK have turned to. All you need to do is rent a self-storage unit. One that’s the right size to meet your needs. But even then, maximising organisation and available square footage requires a bit of planning and forethought. In fact, there are several headache-inducing mistakes to avoid if you want to make the most of your self-storage space and ultimately cultivate a home and business self-storage unit that’s comfortable and organised.

Interested in learning the insight track and mistakes to avoid if you want to make the most of your self-storage square footage and enjoy a home and commercial premises that may not be a bastion of Feng Shi but is still comfortable and organised? Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.

Not organising your storage

While not being a cardinal sin, not organising your storage will make your self-storage and home and work life infinitely more difficult. Just ask anyone who has ever searched frantically, heck, looked casually for something you know you own, only for it to remain elusive. Organise your storage, and you won’t have this problem.

But here’s the rub: few people realise that good storage is a strategy. It needs to be planned. Oftentimes, before what you want to store has even arrived in the home. For example, if you’ve got a van full of stuff, it can be tempting to pull up to your unit and just start plonking your belongings, your inventory down without too much thought. But there’s a better way.

Whether you unload your self-storage belongings personally or have asked the facility to help you do the heavy lifting, organising your self-storage unit is a good way to make sure that you always know and have access to whatever you’ve stored whenever you need it.

Consider putting the stuff you’re likely to want access to front and centre. Make liberal use of plastic storage boxes. Vacuum pack duvets, curtains, and anything that can be compressed to maximise unit space. Clearly label any inventory boxes; you don’t want to open every single box just to find some pots and pans, some tie wraps and brown tape. If you’re feeling ambitious, you could even add some shelving to your unit.

Make good use of the space, and you’ll be able to store more of your belongings when you need to, while managing your costs and not scaling your self-storage payment year in, year out, paying for more and more space.

Don’t neglect the vertical space

You’d be surprised at how often people just think about the horizontal square footage. Neglecting the height. Plastic bins, cardboard boxes, bed frames, and flatpack furniture—a lot of what people store can be stacked upright. Do this, and you’ll be able to maximise your square footage.

Remember, if you’re unsure if it’s feasible to stack your belongings floor to ceiling, be sure to check with the self-storage company. You don’t want to build a hazard, a learning tower of Pisa, in a valiant attempt to save some space, only for your boxes, inventory to balance precariously, creating a safety hazard.

Be sure to pay attention to what you’re stacking too. Expensive or breakable belongings and inventory are probably best stacked high in a place where they can crash to the floor, smashing to smithereens.

Not taking an inventory

As simple as this sounds, having an inventory of everything you’ve chosen to put into self-storage could be a blessing in disguise. Now, we don’t mean that you should painstakingly record every single item in every single plastic bin, but having an overview of what’s in storage may come in handy, especially if you’re putting valuable or expensive items into storage.

Additionally, having an inventory protects you. Most self-storage companies will ask for or offer you insurance when you’re storing items. This offers customers peace of mind that they’ll be financially protected because most self-storage insurance only covers their own liability if they’ve been found to have damaged your belongings.

On a more practical note, having an inventory means that you won’t have to ponder over where one item or another is, even after spending hours rooting around your garage, attic, or outside shed, looking for one thing or another, only to be left disappointed and frustrated, even saving you money should you find that you need to buy a replacement for belongings that have vanished off the face of the earth!

Choosing the wrong size unit

Let’s be honest, choosing the right size unit isn’t as easy as it seems. Especially if you think you’ll need to scale your storage needs as the months pass. Choose a unit that’s too large, and you’ll end up paying for space you don’t need. Choose a unit that’s too small and expect to stack belongings like Tetris, risking damage.

If you’re in any doubt over the amount of space you’ll need, you can always talk to the self-storage facility. At EASS, we’d be happy to discuss your storage needs, identifying the right square footage for your needs.

There’s nothing stopping you from getting everything you intend to put into storage in one place and doing some rough size estimations before asking a self-storage facility if they can accommodate your needs.

Also, don’t forget that there’s nothing stopping you from scaling your self-storage square footage, making your life easier and more organised, and putting more and more of your belongings into self-storage the longer you rent the unit. This can be especially useful for businesses with fluctuating inventory.

Choosing a self-storage unit in the wrong location

Do you want access to your self-storage unit? How often? Once a week? Once a month? Do you have a self-storage budget? What about if you’re moving across the country? Do you want to rent a self-storage unit where you’re moving to or where you’re currently living? These are all questions that you should answer before choosing a local, regional, or national self-storage provider.

Generally, the price of a storage unit is affected by the business’ overhead. Location is one of these. Self-storage costs can depend on where the business is located. Those close to a city centre or regions with significant wealth, like London, for example, can be more expensive. Remote self-storage facilities that generally service the local or regional community can be priced more competitively.

Then there’s travel. If you’re using self-storage to store your business inventory, it’s probably not a good idea to have a unit located tens or hundreds of miles away. This can impact supply chain efficiency and costs; remember, you’ll have to drive to your self-storage to collect inventory and then drive back, and petrol isn’t exactly cheap right now!

However, if you’re storing belongings that you’re unlikely to need access to, like if you’re relocating abroad and want to keep costs to a minimum, there’s nothing stopping you from renting a self-storage unit a little further afield, especially if the costs are cheaper and you’re on a budget.

The good news is that self-storage allows you to tailor a solution to suit your needs. Whether it’s for business inventory or personal belongings, rest assured, you have options.

Make the right self-storage decisions, and you won’t be reaching for paracetamol

Let’s be frank: choosing a self-storage unit isn’t a difficult decision, but it is one that requires a little forethought. Why? It’ll make your life a whole lot easier, making the whole process smooth and pain-free.

If you have any questions, specific requests, or would like to learn how EASS can make the whole process easy and simple, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re confident that we can tailor self-storage solutions to meet your needs.