Storage Tips

If you have landed on this guide, chances are you are gearing up for a move sometime soon! One of the biggest obstacles when you move or perhaps even when you are decluttering your home is finding storage for all those items that are you are packing. If this is your problem, then you have come to the right place!

Thank you for visiting our storage tips guide. Here at Smart Self Storage, we are invested in our communities. We love being a part of a community and offering our services to those who live here! Regardless of whether you need short-term storage or long-term storage, we can accommodate your needs with ease! And, we are always here to help with whatever issue you may facing. We hope you enjoy our storage tips guide.

Have You Experienced a Life Changing Event?

There are a multitude of life events that lead customers to our doors. Today’s guide starts with tips by life event. Search below for your particular life event for tip relevant to your situation!

Tips For Moving to a New House

One of the biggest life changing events is moving to a new house. Just how can Smart Self Storage help with this? Find out here:

Many people opt to use our storage units when they are getting ready to sell their home to complete their move. Why? It has been proven that having more clutter in your home makes your home look less attractive to those who are buying a home in the area. It’s time to clear the clutter!
Have you already started packing? If so, consider storing your packed boxes in storage units for a temporary solution to your space issues! Many people find it easier to do this, and you can always have professional movers arrive at your storage space to load your packed boxes and move them to your new home.
Perhaps there are items that you do not want to get rid of, but your new home might not have the space for them. Many people use long-term storage to store those items that may have sentimental value, until they are ready to part with these items or they are ready to place them back into their home.
Storage units are also great for those who may have sold their home and are moving, but have yet to figure out exactly where they are moving to. This way, you know your items are protected at our storage units and can be available when you are ready to move into a new home.

Are You Adding a New Member to Your Family?

For those new parents, a baby in the house may mean putting some things away and out of reach. Many new parents rent self storage units to place items that they may not need until the baby gets older, or those items that are not safe for a baby to be around just yet. For example:

If you are converting your second bedroom into a nursery, chances are you are not going to have room for that extra bedroom suite just sitting around your home. Instead of selling this, put it into self storage for later.
Do you have collections that would be tempting for any baby to break, pull off a table, or maybe are just dangerous to have around a baby? If so, put these into storage units.
Maybe for your baby shower you received a lot of items that you won’t be using for at least a year until the baby is older. You can place these items into your storage unit and retrieve these when you are ready to use them.

Did You Just Get Married?

If you have recently married, first off, congratulations! This can be a great time full of joy, but it can also be stressful. For those couples who have recently wed, combining their property is one of the biggest obstacles they will face together. How can storage units help?

Placing things in a self storage unit is a great way to store items that you may not need all the time. For example, maybe your new home together doesn’t have room for your sporting equipment. You can easily store them via Smart Self Storage and come grab these items whenever you need them.
Many items that a bachelor or bachelorette had may not be what they want to bring into a married household. However, they may not be ready to part with these either. Storage units are a great way to store these items until you are ready to get rid of them completely.
Maybe the happy newlywed couple is deciding where to live together. In the meantime, they may move into one of their apartments and need a place to store their items until they find a large enough home to accommodate both of their belongings. Self storage is the best option in this scenario!

Recently Divorced?

Have you recently divorced? If so, self storage may be a great option for your life circumstances right now as well.

When moving out of a home after a divorce, one or both parties may need to store their items until they find a new home.
This can be a great way to store items that you know you will want later, but simply cannot keep for the time being.
Sometimes during these circumstances, things need to happen quickly and items need to leave the house on short notice. If you’re stuck without a place for your belongings, you can take comfort knowing that you will have a place to store your items.

Tips For Downsizing Your Home With Self Storage

Downsizing is a common activity for those who may be moving to a smaller home. But, the question is what do you do with all those things that you may not be ready to get rid of? You can put them into storage! Here are a few tips when you are downsizing, (and these items will be in storage for a longer period of time):

Be sure that you leave a center aisle in the unit so that you can always access what is in the entire unit. This will make easier on you if you decide to remove or add an item later!
Use pallets or skids when placing boxes onto the floor. You do not want to store these boxes on the floor directly since this will increase the chances of air not getting through these items, causing a musty smell later.
Do you have a ton of memories? Such as pictures or scrapbooks? These can also be included in your downsizing project, as they can be placed into storage as well. The key with this is to properly pack these items, so that they are not ruined! Whatever the reason for downsizing your home, getting a self storage unit is a great solution.

Storage Solutions By Stages of Life

At Smart Self Storage, we experience customers from so many different stages of life. Here are a few examples of how customers at different life stages leverage Smart Self Storage:

Students often use our storage units during their time off to store their college gear in a place other than their parents’ house, especially if their parents do not have the room to accommodate these extra items.
Individuals use these storage units for items that they no longer have the room for, or perhaps when they are going through a life-changing event.
Couples often use these storage units when they are combining homes, or decluttering their home.
Families can be seen using these storage units for those toys that their children may have outgrown.
Businesses often store extra office furniture, or even use these storage units as a place to hold their old records or collections that are dated, but may be needed in the future.
Athletes utilize storage units as a way to keep all of their gear in one place. They can then access the unit at any time once they stop and collect the items they need.
Sales Reps are seen at our storage units from time to time. They often store those items that they are selling or demoing here so they have less clutter in their home.
When the weather turns cold and outdoor furniture is no longer needed, many Homeowners put these into storage, as they want to ensure that they remain pristine throughout the winter.

No matter what stage of life that you are in, you will find that there is a Smart Self Storage solution for your needs.

Are You an Outdoor Enthusiast?

One of the main problems that outdoor enthusiasts face every year is storing their equipment during the seasons in which a particular sport may not be taking place. Did you know that you can also utilize Smart Self Storage for these types of items? For example:

If you love kayaking, storing kayaks in your basement or garage can become a huge issue. Instead, why not drop your kayak off at your local storage facility?
Do you love rock climbing? Store your gear in a tote box and place this into storage. This way you always know where your items are located.
The storage space you rent is not limited to just bigger objects. There are those who are storing their bicycles, along with helmets and padding that they wear while riding. Others are storing fishing gear, hiking gear, and the like in their units. This option allows them to keep doing what they love without crowding their home!

Are You a Collector?

While most people think of self storage units as a place to put those extra home items that you no longer need, it can also become a hub for your collections. Self storage can even be a great way to give new life to your collection, allowing your collection to expand. Just how can this work?

Many people opt to put into furniture such as bookcases or stands into their storage units that will display their collections. This solution works great for those collecting smaller items.
While those who collect larger items may simply store them in boxes.
Your collections will be all in one place for whenever you want to browse through them, add to them, or take a special piece out to share with the world around you.
As a bonus tip, you may want to have a small chair in your self storage unit so you have a place to sit and admire your collection,

Looking For a Man Cave?

Many men come to Smart Self Storage with the goal of creating an awesome man cave. Man caves can include anything from collections to sports memorabilia. With a self storage unit, you can place these items here and know that they are in one place. In addition:

Many men often place these items into an arranged pattern so that they and their buddies can come up to the unit to see these items.
They may hang some of their décor on the walls of the storage unit.
They may even have seating in the unit, as this unit becomes a home away from home with their items.

Whatever they are doing, many couples are happier for it, as it removes some items from the home that may not fit in with the current décor style.

Storage Tips By Unit Size

There are many different units within our Smart Self Storage facilities that are meant to accommodate each individual and situation. Following are storage tips for different sized units.

Small Units: Our small units are great for storing those items that you may need to get to such as athletic gear or the like. They are on the smaller side, so not a lot of furniture will be able to fit into these units. These units can come in sizes of 5 x 5 to 5 x 10. Our small units can be a great option for students as well.

Medium Units: Our medium units are good for storing small apartments or home items. They can allow for some larger items to be stored. They range in sizes from 10 x 10 to 10 x 30.

Large Units: Our larger units are meant to help accommodate items from larger homes, including all the items that may go along with this, such as furniture, and even lawn equipment. They are a great opting for short or long-term storage depending upon what type of life event you are facing! These range in size from 12 x 30 up to 15 x 40 in most of our locations.

Parking Spaces: If you have an RV or even a car that you do not drive every day, and is taking up space at your home, we do offer long-term parking spaces. They will be located outside in most cases, so it is recommended that you weatherproof your vehicles to ensure that they can withstand the elements.

Some Closing Self Storage Tips

Quality Locks
Always have a great lock on your storage unit! Never use one that is flimsy or can be easily broken. After all, these items are important to you otherwise you would have simply gotten rid of them rather than putting them into storage.

Duration of a Storage Unit Rental
There are several options for how long you can store your items in our storage units. There is a time frame that is meant to help each individual. These options include the following:

Temporary Storage: For example, a person who may be moving might only need packed boxes and items in this storage unit for a few days before movers arrive.
Short-Term Storage: Maybe you only need storage for a few months, such as students storing their items during the summer months, and then need these again in the fall when the new semester starts.
Long-Term Storage: This is a great option for those who are downsizing and need a storage unit for the foreseeable future.

You can rest assured that whatever type of storage unit you need and for however long you may need it, Smart Self Storage is here to exceed your expectations.

Are you ready to store your items? No matter what life stage you are in or whatever life event you may be going through, we have the storage unit that will fit your belongings perfectly. You can rest easy knowing that if you need anything, it is right around the corner in your local community!

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