Call Exceld Storage in Galena, KS for all your needs for
storage near Joplin, MO! 870-403-8810
Regardless of how efficiently you are using your home,
sometimes there’s just not enough room for you and your family to really
thrive.
Fortunately, there are simple ways to squeeze a bit more
space from your home, from rearranging furniture to sorting through your
belongings and deciding what stays and what goes. Renting a storage unit will
help you declutter your home while also allowing you to hold onto stuff that’s
important and useful to you. Here’s how to declutter your home using self-storage
in five easy steps:
1. Start with a thorough sorting of your stuff.
From clothing and books to furniture, appliances, sport
equipment and tools, you should sort through all the main categories of
belongings in your home. The task might seem intimidating and overwhelming at
first, but you can make it more manageable by splitting it into smaller
segments — go through one category of belongings per day.
Get rid of the items you have not used in a while. Donate or
sell everything that’s in good shape and recycle or throw away the damaged
stuff. Here are some basic rules to make the process easier:
Clothing and footwear — everything that’s damaged,
stained, no longer fits or you simply haven’t worn in over a year should go.
Kitchen appliances, small electronics, tools — if you
have more than one of each (two blenders, or two drills, for example), keep the
one that you prefer using and ditch the other. Also, give up on items you don’t
use. We all own that one juicer or bread-making machine we bought years ago but
it’s still in its original packaging taking space in your pantry, so just let
it go.
Papers, documents, photos, drawings, magazines — these
items tend to pile up without you even noticing, and they end up creating a lot
of clutter in your home. Go through everything and put aside documents and
photos that are important or meaningful to you. As for the rest, drop them in
the recycling bin. If you have a hard time parting ways with certain items, try
some fun upcycling projects — for example, a scrapbook or wall art made from
your favorite postcards, magazine cutouts or of your children’s drawings.
Furniture — reevaluate the furniture you’re keeping
around the house. Do you have a sofa that no one sits on or a table that your
family rarely uses? Maybe you should replace them with something more
practical, or simply take them out to create more space.
2. Decide what should go into storage.
Once you finish sorting your belongings, it will become
clearer what items simply take space in your home without bringing any benefits
(and thus must go) and what you are using daily around the house. However,
there’s a third large category of belongings — items you use only
occasionally, or seasonally, but you still need. Putting them in self-storage
creates extra space at home, while also allowing you to hold onto them. Here
are the main categories of household items and personal belongings that it pays
off to keep in storage:
Sports equipment — whether you’re passionate about
skiing, golfing, mountain biking, etc., you probably don’t get the chance to
practice your favorite sport every day. In fact, as many of these sports are
seasonal, there might be months on end when you can’t use your equipment, so a
storage unit is a good solution.
Outdoor furniture, gardening tools, grilling equipment —
depending on how winters are in your area, there’s a good chance that you don’t
use these belongings for a few months each year. Leaving them outside at the
mercy of the elements will shorten their lifespan, while putting them in your
garage or basement might prevent you from using that space properly.
Baby toys, clothing, and accessories — good quality
baby items are expensive, and you want to keep them if you’re planning to
expand your family. However, it could be a really challenging task to deal with
your child’s current stuff, plus all the items they’ve outgrown, so you should
consider self-storage.
Furniture — maybe you need to switch things around in
the house temporarily, like replacing the bed in your guest bedroom with a
desk, for example. Pack what you’re not using and put it in storage for now.
You’ll gain flexibility in setting up your interior for different functions,
such as working and studying from home, exercising, entertaining and so on.
Collectibles and antiques — these items not only take a
lot of space at your home, but they’re also quite fragile and might require
special conditions. Climate-controlled storage units are the perfect
environment for such belongings.
3. What size storage unit do I need?
Storage units are available in a huge variety of sizes, from
small lockers to units large enough for an RV, so you can pick just the right
size for your needs. Here’s how to decide what size to rent:
A 5×10 storage unit allows you to store
larger pieces of furniture, such as a queen-sized bed with mattress,
nightstands, and a drawer chest, if you stack them carefully. You could also
fit in a few boxes with miscellaneous items. It’s also the right size for
storing your barbecue grill, gardening tools and some outdoor furniture.
Medium storage units, such as 10×10 and 10×15,
are the most used while moving, and for the long-term storage of extra
furniture, tools and equipment, home appliances and more. To help you get a
better idea, the 10×10 unit is about as big as half of a garage and can hold
the furniture you would use in a studio apartment. The slightly larger 10×15
can accommodate the content of two to three bedrooms, or of a large living
room. You could also use it for keeping snowboards, motorcycles, four-wheelers,
and other light utility vehicles.
Large units (10×20 and up) are big enough for storing
all the stuff from a big house (3+ bedrooms), cars, boats, or RVs.
4. Improve the flow of your home.
Make sure that you use your newly found extra space at home
as efficiently as possible. Rearrange larger pieces of furniture (sofas,
tables, armchairs) to make it easy to navigate around your house. The path from
one room to another should be unobstructed.
As you managed to get rid of quite a lot of unnecessary
stuff and put in storage the belongings, you’re not using daily, you should
have significantly more free storage space in your home. Use it to deposit the
bits and pieces in your home out of sight for an inviting, airy interior.
Create areas dedicated to different activities, such as
studying, working, or exercising. This will help you keep the clutter around
the house at a minimum and ensure that everyone in your family will be able to
do their own thing without disturbing the others.
5. Keep things under control by regularly sorting through
your stuff.
Once you reach your home decluttering goal, it’s important
to maintain it. We encourage you to do so at least once each year. Take
advantage of spring cleaning as a fun and trendy time to clean up your living
space. Or take a couple days to go through things around the holidays. You are
already shuffling things around and in the flow of housework, it’s a great time
to assess the items in your closets and store those items you didn’t use in the
past year but can’t get rid of! Being more mindful of your buying habits and
foregoing impulse shopping also helps when it comes to maintaining an airy, neat,
and comfortable interior.
Call Exceld Storage in Galena, KS for all your needs for
storage near Joplin, MO! 870-403-8810