Store as much as you like for as long as you like
Store as much as you like for as long as you like
Moving house is right up there with some of the most stressful life events you’re ever likely to go through. And yet it’s one of the things we do time and time again. The average person will move around 12 times in their lifetime, with a lot of that moving happening between the ages of 18 and 40. So, understandably, you want to find ways to make that process as smooth and stress free as possible. If you’re planning a move, then self storage might not be the first thing on your mind. But it should be! Self storage could save you time, money and stress before, during and after your move, helping ease some of that stress and maybe even making moving a pleasant experience. How? Let’s look at each stage of the process and find out.
Before anyone moves, they tend to go through a big decluttering stage. This is where you go through everything you own and slim it down, so that you don’t have to move with quite so many boxes. We all accumulate a lot of stuff, and some of it will be stuff we’ve only used once, forgotten we own, or has been hidden away I a cupboard for the past few years. In this decluttering process it’s best to make 3 piles – bin, donate, keep. But there is often a 4’th pile – the ‘I’m not sure’ pile. In it are all the things that might be genuinely useful, that you might have an emotional attachment to, or you might only need once in a blue moon. These items are perfect for a storage facility. That way you don’t have to move house with and unpack them – just put them in a box and into a storage unit. They’re stored away safe, ready for when you need them, but not taking up space in your new home while you get the feel of it.
When it comes to selling your home, every little thing counts. Ideally you want to make your home look as attractive as possible, while remaining a neutral space so that buyers can imagine themselves living there. Having fewer items in your home is an ideal way to do this, as well as avoid putting off any potential buyers with strong tastes and preference in décor. But what do you do with all of those personal items while you’re having viewings? Simple – pack them away and put them in storage. While you’re selling, your home needs to be a show home, so consider this element a ‘pre-packing’ exercise. Gather all of your ornaments, artwork, general clutter and very visible or distinctive items and get them packed ready for a move. Then, put them in a self storage facility. They can stay there until you’ve completed your move, at which point you can bring them back out again.
The fewer things you have to move, the quicker the move goes. That’s why teens just moving into university accommodation can do so in a morning – because they only really have a room full of stuff so far. But you’ve got a house’s worth of stuff, and that takes substantially longer. But, if you assign some of the more unnecessary items to a self storage unit first, it means you only need to move the necessities on the day. So you can focus on the important things and getting them set up in your home, and you can unpack the less urgent elements in a leisurely fashion, maybe even over several months. So when packing your home, see if you can split it into ‘week 1 essentials’ and ‘unpack later’. All ‘unpack later’ boxes can go to self storage, leaving you with half the number of boxes to move on the day, and making your moving day just a little easier.
Moving takes time. As much as you plan and write out timelines and work on logistics, there are always going to be unexpected issues that crop up and make everything run late. The only thing you can do to prevent this is prepare as much as you can in advance, so that when something does crop up, the impact it has on your move is minimal. And one of the simplest ways you can make a big difference is by keeping a lot of your household contents in self storage. That way whether it’s a delay that prevents you from moving in, you need to spend some time in temporary accommodation, or you have some transport problems, you have an easy solution.
At Blue Box Self Storage, we specialise in helping movers make the most of their storage space for an easy, stress free move. If you would like to know more, or need some help planning your move, just get in touch with the team today.