Stack heavier boxes at the bottom and keep what you need near the door. The end. Well, it’s a bit more complex than that, how to organise your storage unit. And we’re here today with our handy guide to keep you right.
Did you know that our Box Shop takes care of all your packing needs?
Whether it’s personal items you’re storing or the business stock, you need to organise that room like you mean it. A well-organised storage unit not only saves you time but money too, so let’s dive into how to keep that unit in perfect working order.
Plan it of the tapes
The word planning can clatter about our heads until they ache. But without at least some rough outline or idea, you’re just going to be wholesale shoving things in willy-nilly. We know that you might be moving that day and want to get the van unloaded and move on to your next task and get it all over and done with, but even half an hour extra taking care and being mindful of where you’re packing things can make a ton of difference.
The way you arrange your space will help you retrieve stuff when you need it. You could be there for a few hours each time you return to your storage unit, if not, hauling it all out and then back in again to find that one document, favourtie coat, or stapler.
High-demand items should always be labelled and placed front and centre within the space, with a path to them, and not taped up too heavily. It’s the cutting through the forest that spends most time and energy. For personal storage, keep clothes and seasonal items near the door. If it’s business storage you’re considering, hot-cake stock or most-used equipment should be where you can grab it.
Shelf life
Shelving can make all the difference to the capacity of your storage unit. Valuables love a shelf and with fragile items elevated too, no more standing on stuff or hearing the dreaded slide and crack when the rough stacking system crumbles, and goodbye glass frame.
Many of our business customers use shelves for document storage etc., but perhaps more of our personal storage customers could also benefit from them for storing stuff like shoes, or keyboards or anything else that has a horizontal vibe to it.
Code dependent
Labelling is, frankly, the backbone of a well-organised self-storage unit, and writing every label out by hand or printing them off isn’t the only option. Perhaps you might want to investigate some type of colour coding? This is one of the quickest and simplest ways to keep everything tip-top and Bristol fashion.
QR codes can be a good idea for business storage, linked to an online inventory that you can, of course, keep tabs on without ever needing to step inside your unit.
What can be a fun way to do it, and if you’re the uber-organised type, is some type of printed map next to the door just to remind you where each colour-coded section resides.
No lane, no gain
Your self-storage unit is not a puzzle to crack, and if you organise things in lanes, or like a grid system, then you’ll have the wriggle room to find it, rather than wriggling through all those S-shaped bends and clambering over other obstacles to find your desired item.
Think ladders, not snakes.
Business storers – you might be able to create lanes wide enough for a small trolley and effectively create a mini-warehouse.
Stack around
It’s perhaps a human instinct to stop stacking at shoulder height. But you can go higher if you realy want to. Even to the ceiling. Sounds obvious, but this is perhaps where people fall short in not maximising space.
And if you are going down the skyscraper route, then it’s perhaps a good idea to get some clear stackable crates for more delicate items, or if not, keep them apart somehow (maybe on shelves?).
Winners circle
Rotate, rotate, rotate that stock! For business storage, this means moving old inventory to the front so it’s sold before the new stock arrives, of course, and you can apply the same rules to personal items too, like winter stuff to the front in October, and summer essentials around Easter time. Keep things fresh and avoid purchasing duplicate items while you’re at it, because you’re on it!
Storage within storage
There are always more places to utilise, like inside cupboards and sideboards and bed divan drawers and suitcases. Especially the squidgy stuff like bed linens etc.
Drawers are fantastic for this type of thing, and can be criminally underused. Just think of how much stuff you have to sort through when you clear out a drawer.
What the tech!
Smart tech is also your friend here. Your storage unit can benefit from, as we say, inventory management apps, while for all you personal storers out there, or potential ones, a quick video walkthrough on your phone post-re-arrangement can help you find what you’re looking for quickly.
You can’t have it all
If, during this process of organisation or re-organisation, you do stumble across stuff that you have no intention of really ever using again or don’t need, then you can recycle or regift it or donate it to charity. Another great way to keep the breeze of easy-finding flowing through your self-storage unit! These items could be earning you money rather than clogging up space that you may need for new stuff to join the existing that you do decide to keep.
We have a visual
As well as all that lovely visual satisfaction a well-organised self-storage unit brings, a wee bit of organisation might also empower you to do something similar elsewhere.
