Organizing Storage – It Pays to Plan!
One of the best opportunities to save money on storage is packing your things effectively. You might think you need a large unit, but if you take the time to organize the things you need stored beforehand, you’re likely to find you need significantly less space than needed. Consider the following tips from Acceptable Storage, and make storage easier and cheaper!
Plan Your Packing
When it comes to getting the most value from your storage, you’re faced with a choice. Either you can invest a little time and energy to plan out how you’d like to store your things in order to save by paying for a smaller unit, or you invest money in a larger unit to save yourself time and energy you would have spent planning.
The catch is that a one-time investment in planning provides long-term value, as you save significantly for every month you pay for storage. Alternatively, not planning spares you the one-time investment in planning, but at the cost of higher fees every month.
The logical choice, then, is to plan out how to get the most out of available space in your storage unit to ensure you’re getting the best value for every dollar you spend. But how, exactly, do you do that? It might seem like a daunting task, but with some insight from Acceptable Storage, it’s made easier. Consider these tips:
Design For Accessibility, or Maximum Storage?
Not all storage needs are the same. Some need to be in and out of their unit on a regular basis, while others simply need a safe place to keep their things long-term. The way you plan your storage strategy starts by assessing exactly what your needs are.
Optimizing For Space
When it comes to simply keeping things safe long-term, with little need for regular access, getting the most value out of your storage unit is a simple matter of filling it up! The key to getting the most out of every square foot of a unit’s storage capacity is finding ways to think vertically. It’s very easy to quickly use up all the horizontal space within a unit as things sprawl out. Too often people get in the habit of putting everything on the floor, and before they know it, theyYou can get around this by taking the time to think about clever ways that your stored possessions can be stacked. A small investment in boxes and wire shelving can allow you to take full advantage of the vertical space within a smaller unit, paying for itself within the first few months, and providing significant savings every month after!
run out of space!
If you have some awkward items that do not lend themselves to easy stacking, the beauty of taking advantage of boxes and wire shelving is that it maximizes the availability of floor-space for these objects. If everything else is neatly stacked away in boxes, you’re able to either find a spot on the floor that would otherwise be unavailable, or use wire shelving to custom-make spots specifically for your awkward items.
Additionally, if you’re storing large, hollow objects; consider filling them with more storage! Any empty space within a storage unit represents an opportunity to maximize value, so make sure none pass you by!
Optimizing For Accessibility
Sometimes making a plan for your storage unit isn’t quite as simple as just taking maximum advantage of space. When you need to bring items in-and-out of storage on a regular basis, things get a little more complex. Not only do you want to make sure your unit is only as large as it needs to be, but you also want to make sure the objects within are easily accessible. You don’t want to be spending significant time digging through your unit to get to objects stored in the back, nor do you want to be searching through box after box to find the one containing the thing you need! To make sure things are easily accessible, consider:
- Detailed, Redundant Labeling
Taking a few extra seconds per box to ensure that every side has a detailed label can end up saving you hours and hours down the line. With each side labelled, you don’t have to worry about moving box after box to find out where the object you need is located. With adequate detail, you also prevent yourself from needing to open boxes in search of that one thing you’re looking for.
- Floor-plan and Organization
There is a reason that libraries store books on shelves, and in order. Could you imagine having to find a particular book if they were simply stacked floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall? The same logic applies to storage units. Taking the time to organize your belongings according to themes, investing in shelving so that they can be easily accessed, and laying out a floor-plan that makes moving your self and stuff around your unit easy, takes the hassle out of accessing your stuff for as long as your using your unit! Planning and organizing may seem like a daunting task, but it pales in comparison to struggling with a disorganized storage unit!
Keep in mind that your system of organization doesn’t have to be quite as comprehensive or rigorous as a library’s. Even a simple system can have a huge impact on the ease-of access!
Acceptable Storage
When it comes to getting the best value for storage in Ottawa, you can’t beat Acceptable Storage! If you’re looking to stuff your unit with the most stuff possible, or take the hassle out of accessing your things on a regular basis, take a even a little time and energy to create a plan to get the most out of your available space, and your future self will thank you!