How to choose what to put into a storage unit?

Having a storage unit is great. You will be able to accumulate a lot of stuff without clogging up your home. But when the time to choose what to put into a storage unit comes, you will need to make some decisions. Storage units Columbus Ohio can hold a lot of your items but knowing what to keep and what to store is paramount to using your unit effectively. In a nutshell, you want to store the items that will not be used for longer periods of time. This article is going to go into a bit more detail, however, and the knowledge you get from it might prove to be very useful.

How to choose what to put into a storage unit?

The name of the game here is “use”. The more you expect to use your items, the less valuable they are within a storage unit. You will need to figure that out for yourself, though, every person has their own set of priorities. But there are some outliers that are safe picks to store. Zippy Shell Columbus advises storing your seasonal gear as a number one safe pick. You are not going to be using your snowboard in the summer, after all. And if you do end up wanting a trip to the mountains, it is really easy to retrieve it. There are also items that are necessary for your day-to-day life, which you should not really store. Thus, the first task you have ahead of you is to:

Separate necessary from unnecessary items first

Go over your belongings and think about when you might end up using them. Everything that you deem necessary you will keep in your home, while the unnecessary items go to storage. It is not as straightforward as this, but this is a general principle. There will be items that are “on the fence”, after all. You may need further consideration for those. When you finish pondering, it is time to decide on the type of storage unit. If you have a lot of items that are in danger of humidity, climate-controlled storage is the way to go. But if your items are not in any danger from the humidity, a regular unit will work just fine, and you will save some money on the rent.

And on that subject, always go for a unit that is about 10-15% larger than what you think that you need. This will save you quite a bit of money in the long run.

Choose what to put into a storage unit with ease!

Here are some of the safe picks to store:

• Big household appliances
• Old furniture
• Seasonal items
• Power tools
• Books and magazines

Big household appliances

If you have some older appliances that still work, it is a real waste to throw them away or sell them for a pittance. It is always better to store them and have them readily available, just in case. One example is the washing machine. You will change a couple of those during the course of your life, and having a backup means that you will always have your garments clean, regardless of your current financial situation. Storing these items requires some preparation, though. Try to do some research on how to store home appliances before sending them to storage. After all, you want your appliances to work if you need them. Proper preparation will all but ensure it.

Old furniture

If you have some furniture pieces that you simply can’t let go but you have newer stuff, storing them is the way to go. Furniture takes quite a bit of space and it is simply not feasible to buy new pieces and still keep the old ones. If you bring them to a storage unit, they will be safe and sound while they wait for their new home. You never know when the opportunity to deck out a place with some furniture will arise, so having some spare items might come in handy. Besides, we get attached to some of our pieces and they become memorabilia. I’ve had a sponge bed that I look fondly on to this day, even if I replaced it way back when.

Seasonal items

As mentioned previously, seasonal items are the prime candidates for storage. Depending on your hobbies and activities, you might have a lot of these items around. They include, but are not limited to:

• Shoes and clothes
• Seasonal equipment
• Decorations

Remember, storing these items does not mean you will not be able to access them if the need arises. But the chance of you needing your seasonal equipment in the off-season is kind of slim to start with. Simply store them and forget about them until the season comes.

Power tools

Power tools are a bit of a dividing subject. After all, you never know when you will need to do some work around the house. And, let’s face it, we all love having our power tools in our homes. But the fact of the matter is that you will end up not using them much more than the other way around. Unless you work with them every day, which would then make them essential. Storing power tools also requires special preparations, much the same as big appliances. Perhaps even more so. There are few things more maddening than taking your power tool from a storage unit, only to need to repair it first before using it. Make sure to give them proper care and everything will be fine.

Items you should put into a storage unit – Books and magazines

Finally, if your home has a lot of magazines and books that you never get to reading, it might be best to simply store them away. Yes, you might get an itch to read The Da Vinci Code for the 7th time, all of a sudden, and might end up needing it, but the reality is that those books are simply taking up a lot of your space. Actually, when you want to choose what to put into a storage unit, always consider papers of any sort.  And, just to be clear, I don’t mean storing “decorative books”. Those have a place in every home, and they really liven up the place. Store those that are out of sight and you will be well on your way to freeing up more space.