How to Organize a Storage Unit
If you want a stress-free, organized moving or storing experience, it’s important to know how to organize a storage unit. You never want to throw your items in your unit without a plan, and you certainly don’t want to put any of your belongings in potentially dangerous situations.
1. Identify the items you’ll need most often, and make sure they’re stored last. Especially if you’re planning on storing items for a prolonged period of time, you want to make sure you can access frequently-needed items easily. Make sure these items go into your storage unit last so they’re in the front or on top of other items.
2. Organize items by season. Keep all of your summer items in one place to make it easy to access as soon as the seasons change, and keep your winter items in a separate place. The same goes for holiday items that you may need.
3. Label, label, label. The last thing you want is to find yourself searching for an item only to forget which box it’s in. Label everything and be very thorough. Instead of labeling a box “kitchen,” label it with a detailed list of items included in the box. Another option is to use clear plastic bins so you can easily see everything inside. It’s still a good idea to label these to be extra organized.
4. Disassemble furniture when possible and place against the wall. It’s very unlikely that you’ll need to access furniture before boxes, so you can stack on top of furniture as well.
5. Leave a path in the middle of your unit to be able to access every area. If you need to utilize every inch of your unit, make sure the items you place in the middle can be easily moved so you can still navigate.
6. Stack boxes from the back to front and bottom to top in order of need as well as weight. Heavier boxes should be on the bottom and toward the back, with lighter boxes on top or in front so you can move them easily should you need to.
7. Store most items vertically, except for mattresses, which should be stored flat.
Need some more storage help? We’ve got you covered. You can find out what size storage unit you need and how to best organize it by clicking here, or you can get some more storage and packing tips here.