Are you moving, renovating or running out of space at home? Here is some advice on how to declutter and how Self Store & More can help you.

Preparing your home for sale or moving into a new house is the perfect excuse to purge excess items you no longer need. However, if you already live in a great location but the house is just too small or overrun with toys, tools, boxes or broken bits then extending or simply having a declutter and rearrangement of space could be the answer you are looking for.

Whatever the reason, it can sometimes be tricky to determine what to keep and what to throw away. Storing is, of course, another option, especially for those items you don’t use often enough but don’t want to dispose of for sentimental or value reasons.

Here is some advice to help you evaluate if you should pack, throw or store your belongings.

How to Categorise Your Items.

When sorting through your belongings, ask yourself a series of questions to help categorise items:

·        How often do I use it?

·        How emotionally attached am I to it?

·        Is this ready for an upgrade?

·        Could someone else get more use out of it?

·        Does it still function correctly?

·        Will this fit the décor of my new home or extension?

·        Is there room for this in my new house if I move?

Pack up or keep all the items that pass these questions. The rest will fall into one of the categories in the following sections.

What to Throw Away (and Other Options)

Remember to be honest with yourself when sorting through items. This will help eliminate unnecessary clutter taking up valuable space in the future. Besides broken items, some items to consider kicking to the curb are:

·        Items with missing parts.

·        Old greeting cards, letters, magazines.

·        Rusty equipment, such as gardening tools, rakes or hoses.

Although getting rid of excess items can be a relief, sometimes it may be difficult to just throw your items away. If so, why not consider other options that can give your useful belongings a second life, such as donating, selling or giving them away.

·  Apparel that is no longer worn.

·  Extra or unused kitchenware (plates, glasses, mugs, silverware).

·  Lightly worn furniture.

·  Lightly worn rugs.

·  Décor that is no longer used, such as lamps, paintings or sculptures.

So How Can Self Store & More Help?

Some of the items you want to keep may not be of use to you anymore but have sentimental memories or be future hand-me-downs for when the children go to university or move into their first house.

Self-storage is a perfect solution as you’ll have access to them anytime without taking up space in your home. At Self Store & More, we offer a wide range of cost effective options so, whether it’s one box or a whole house, we will listen to, and discuss with you the best solutions to suit your needs. For example, even if you only have a small amount of family keepsakes that you want to keep safe, we have secure racking space available from only £1 per week.

Some items to consider storing, include:

·        Unused musical instruments.

·        Holiday decorations.

·        Family photographs or keepsakes.

·        Patio Furniture.

·        Kitchen appliances.

·        Seasonal apparel (e.g. coats, hats, sweaters).

·        Outdoor tools (e.g. lawn mower, rakes, shovels, DIY tools).

If you wish to discuss your storage requirements, or simply need some free advice then please call us on 01981 541180 seven days a week or email via our contact us page. 

How can self storage help you this Christmas

It’s coming to that time of year when our thoughts turn to Christmas with so much to organise; booking your food shop, baking, planning travel, de-cluttering house for friends and family, decorating the tree, writing Christmas cards and buying/ordering all of the presents are just some of the things we try to achieve before the 25 December. Although it can bring great joy, it can also place a huge strain on your time and energy so here’s how Self Store & More can help.

No Room at The Inn?

With friends and family visiting, it can be quite a challenge to find the space needed to host them for the day or few days if they are staying over for the festive period. However long they stay there are normally a host of bags and belongings that come with them. Whether it’s finding somewhere for them to sit or getting their things put away, your rooms become overcrowded. That problem could be solved if you declutter a week before Christmas and use a self-storage unit to create space in the short term.

You might also have a spare room in the house where you normally store your extra Christmas goods until they are required on the day. However, this same space may be used all year round to store things that you’ve ‘tidied up’ or bought but only use from time to time. It would be wise to de-clutter in the build up to Christmas and use a small self storage unit to help create some much needed space. Once the festive season is over, we can either bring your things back to the house or keep them in the unit as part of your overall New Year clean out.

Damage Limitation

When the 12 days of Christmas is up, how many of us strip the tree, unclip the lights from the front of the house and store them in the nearest cupboard, wardrobe garage or shed? How many people ruin their Christmas decorations because they don’t have a suitable storage solution? If you have a lot of decorations, a sizeable tree and other seasonal goods that aren’t going to be used, why not use a self-storage unit to keep them safe and damp free until next year? We can even collect them direct from your door using our Mobile Self Storage service so you don’t even have to spend the time, money or effort doing so yourself. To see how this great service works, please visit www.selfstoreandmore.co.uk/mobile-self-storage

Hide and Seek

It’s quite a challenge hiding Christmas presents from your loved ones, especially over excited little ones who simply cannot wait to see what they are getting. The most popular choices of hiding places; on top of the wardrobe, under the bed or in the boot of the car really aren’t that hard to find! Where does one hide a trampoline? How do you wrap a bicycle so it’s not obvious? If you have large or numerous items with no ideal space to store them then why not rent a storage unit for a week or two so the surprise stays just that. You can even arrange to build and wrap the items in our clean, dry warehouse unit ready for the big day if needed.

Whether it’s short term Christmas related storage or long term domestic or business storage, we at Self Store & More are here to listen, advise and help you find the right storage unit for the right price for as long as you need it so please do not hesitate to contact us on 01600 735001 or 01594 840860 for latest prices and availability.

Autumn is here so now is the time to start thinking about protecting your summer belongings from the winter weather.

Having seasonal items taking up room in your house can leave you and your living space a little cramped, particularly during the winter months when most of your living is done inside. Customers who use seasonal self-storage free up valuable space for those winter essentials when the garden shed, attic or garage is already full.

Creating space in your home by using a secure self storage facility can be a stress saver throughout the winter months but, before you do, why not follow these simple steps.

How to determine what summer items to store.

Before you can begin, you must first determine what stays and what goes into seasonal storage. Ask yourself questions, such as

• Will I use this item in Autumn or Winter?
• Have I actually used this item this summer or is it time to sell? After all, why pay to store something you never use (unless it’s a heirloom or something a family member will need in the near future).
• For an item you may need when the weather begins to get better, but don’t have room for at home, set it at the front of your storage unit for easy access.

Some summer items to consider putting into seasonal storage, include:
• Barbeques and outdoor furniture
• Summer sports equipment
• Christmas decorations (leave near the front ready for December)
• Summer clothing and suitcases (if no more holidays are planned)
• Gardening equipment
• Toys, bikes and outdoor play equipment

Benefits of a seasonal storage swap

If you store in a self storage facility, you can swap your seasonal items in and out with ease. Other benefits to seasonal storage include:
Extra room – No one likes clutter in their home – especially when it extends to the spare room, garages and outdoor areas. Having family stay over the holiday periods (yes, Christmas!) means space at home is of a premium. Why struggle to accommodate when a quick and easy declutter can take away some of the stress.
Clean, dry Storage – Storing items in garden sheds, garages or under tarpaulin during the winter months can affect the condition of your belongings over time. With no warm sunshine to help dry them out, water, mould and mildew can wreak havoc on your belongings during the rainy season.

Secure – Storing your belongings in the garden shed, garage or under cover may give you the space you need inside your home but are they secure? A professional self storage company will have numerous security measures in place such as on-site security, CCTV, fire and intruder alarm systems with 24/7 monitoring to provide the best protection and peace of mind you and your belongings deserve.

If you need any help or advice with your self storage requirements then please don’t hesitate to contact us 7 days a week to suit your needs.

Building Work – Don’t let your dreams turn into a disaster.

With the warm weather and longer days, you’ll want to get all your building work or renovations done now. After all, having work done in the house when it’s pouring down is no fun at all – in fact, it can be a major inconvenience!
While the workers you hired are happy to get on with their tasks, you’re probably on standby with the hoover to catch any dust or are busy keeping the kettle on the boil for any on-demand brews.
This is all fine. The problem begins when you have to tuck all of your belongings away. This can be a bit challenging and send your stress levels sky high. Of course, it doesn’t have to be like that. Building work shouldn’t be synonymous with building stress.

No Space, No Problem
If you don’t have a lot of space in your home you will probably need to move your furniture about. After all, the workers need to move around freely without being hindered by your furniture. However, you may not be able to place your furniture in another room of your home, especially if you don’t have a spare bedroom (and piling your stuff on top of your other stuff is far from ideal)!
And can you imagine anything worse than having to take out all of your furniture and put it on the kerb while you have work done in the house? You’ll soon get tired of explaining to your neighbours that no, you’re not having a garage sale or quickly trying to cover your prized possessions in plastic during the unexpected rainfall.
On the other hand, putting your furniture in storage temporarily, can solve all of your problems. You don’t have to worry about space and will have peace of mind of knowing that everything is safe and ready for you to collect when you want.

Damage Can Be Real… Very Real
If the work you’re having done has even a slight chance of damaging your belongings, you’re likely to be stressed about it. It could be simple paintwork, a mess about with the water pipes, or the installation of a new floor.
No matter why you’ve called workers to your home, the last thing you want is to be on edge worrying about your antique table or model car collection.
The only sure way to ensure you can avoid any damage to your belongings is to get them out of the house! By placing them in storage, you can rest assured that your belongings will be well-taken care of and there’s no way they will get damaged during the building work.

The Old “I’ll Just Cover This with Plastic”
No matter how long workers take to finish the job, it’s likely you won’t want to live in a crinkly mess for that time. Maybe you’re having the house painted or maybe you’re finally getting that wall knocked down to make more room for a baby – instead of resorting to plastic, have you considered putting your belongings in storage?
This way, your home will still look tidy (well, as tidy as it can be when you’re having work done…) and you don’t have to live in a plastic nightmare!
Take Advantage of Self Store & More’s range of storage options to suit your needs
Be it because you don’t want to keep moving furniture around or because you’re afraid that despite your precautions your possessions may still end up damaged – take a look at our range of self storage options available as we are sure there is a solution to suit your needs.
The alternative is to keep covering the furniture with cloth or plastic sheets, keep moving each piece around as needed (especially difficult if they weigh a ton, making you regret getting that solid oak dresser!), and constantly and obsessively checking for any marks or chipped corners. Not to mention the inconvenience of clambering around and over all the out-of-place items.

Why go through all that?

With building work ongoing, life is often stressful enough. So, don’t add to it by stressing about your belongings all the time.

Why not visit our website pages and take a look at the following options to find out which solution suits your needs? Of course, if you wish to discuss your requirements with an experienced member of staff then please do not hesitate to call our 24/7 customer support service, email [email protected] or complete our website Quote Request Form.

• Warehouse Storage Units – Available in three different sizes
• Mobile Self Storage Collection Service – Save time, money & effort on removals and van hire and let us collect direct from your door.
• Store @ Your Door – Why not have a secure storage unit delivered and sited at your home – the most convenient storage solution you’ll find.
• Steel Storage Units – Available is 8’, 10’, 20’ and 40’ lengths
• Heated Store Rooms – Starting from only 45 sq. ft

Access to all of our units are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (some by appointment only) so, if you need to collect, drop off or simply have a look through your items, we will be here to help when it suits you.

For further information, please have a read through our website or contact us 7 days a week to find out how we can help protect your possessions in a cost effective, convenient and stress free way.

Spring is here – Is it time to declutter your clothing storage?

 

Winter is over so it’s a great time to declutter your clothing storage and make more room by putting your bulky winter items away for next year.

It may not be a one-day job, or even a one-person job, but imagine how much better you will feel looking at your immaculate wardrobe every day and on no occasion wasting time finding your favourite outfit.

Here are some top tips:

Remove everything out of storage and cupboards.

It’s easier to start with a clean canvas and you’ll see how much storage space you’ve got in your wardrobe. Sort through each piece of clothing. Ask yourself, do you wear it anymore? Does it make you feel good? Is it just wasting space?

Neatly, fold all your loved items and put them back in their rightful place. If you are unsure about a piece of clothing, make another pile – you can always come back to it.

Take any of your partners, your kids or your winter warmers like coats or thick knitted cardigans that you won’t need anymore and store them in a suitcase, sturdy boxes or vacuum-packed bags for safe keeping until next winter. You can always keep a few cardigan’s handy just in case you need an outer layer before Summer arrives.
Wash or dry clean your items before storing away as any dirt or stains can cause long term damage to your clothes.

Dispose or donate?

Go through that “unsure” pile again and if you are sure it can be of no further use to you or someone else then simply dispose of it. If you however believe it could be of further benefit then start a donation box. Nothing will feel better than donating perfectly wearable clothes to others in need. You won’t feel like you’ve wasted your money if it’s going to someone who will get lots of wear out of it.

Organise your storage space

Every item needs a designated storage space. Organisation will help your time management. Keep your work clothes in one space and your t-shirts in another. Hang up your dresses or shirts because no one likes to iron. Keep your shoes together and while you’re there, sort through and let go of any worn out, unwearable pairs. If you’re lucky and have walk in or built in clothing storage, have one side for your partners clothes and one side for yours for extra organisation.

Organising family storage

If you are decluttering your own clothes, you may as well help your partner or your kids (or both!!) while you’re at it. If your partner is unenthused about decluttering get him or her to sit down and answer a simple “yes or no” game. Hold up each shirt, blouse or pair of jeans in front of him or her and make quick decisions.
As for kids, how many toys do they really need? Have they grown out of anything? Keep a few of your favourite items for sentimental reasons and donate the rest. If you don’t want to part with anything, store it all for when you have grandkids!

Don’t get distracted, stay focused on decluttering
Yes, it’s hard, but stay focused – the more you procrastinate, the more time it will take to achieve your goal and you’ll end up living in more mess than when you started. Make it a family joint effort or if you are working solo, grab a glass or mug of your favourite drink and pop on your favourite music!
Take a step back and admire your decluttered clothing storage space.

If you want to declutter clothing (or any other belongings) but don’t wish to throw items away, contact us 7 days a week at Self Store & More to find out how we can help provide stress free storage for as long as you need.