5 Creative Ways To Maximize The Use Of A Storage Unit

Whether you’re a college student looking for a place to stash your stuff while you go home for the summer or you’ve simply run out of space to store things at home, just about everyone finds themselves in need of a storage unit sooner or later.

Midgard Self Storage

Of course, if you’ve ever played Tetris to try to get all your stuff to fit, you know that it isn’t always easy to get your items into your storage unit. Fortunately, with a little smart planning, you can maximize your space, no matter what size of storage unit you have.

1. Vacuum-Seal or Roll Your Clothes

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Clothes, towels and linens can take up a surprising amount of room inside your storage unit. Even more troublesome, these items are often vulnerable to mildew and creasing when they are simply folded and placed in a box inside a non-climate controlled unit.

Vacuum sealed bags offer the perfect solution for both of these problems. Vacuum sealed bags remove excess air from your clothing, which dramatically reduces the amount of space that your clothing takes up. This can be especially helpful for big winter coats. At the same time, removing the air protects your clothes from common storage hazards.

If you can’t get vacuum sealed bags, rolling your clothes instead of folding and stacking them can also help save space. Rolled clothes take up less room, and they are also less likely to develop tough to remove wrinkles and crease marks while in storage.

2. Use the ‘Russian Doll’ Packing Method

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Most people are familiar with Russian nesting dolls — you open the doll, and inside is another doll. And inside that doll is another doll. And so on…

The same idea can work wonders for maximizing your storage space.

As Todd Allen, managing principal at Midgard Self Storage, explains, “You should never let empty space go to waste — fill it up. Suitcases can be filled with a wide variety of items. You can store clothes inside a dresser. You can put boxes on bookshelves. You can even keep socks inside your shoes or smaller kitchen items inside your coffee maker pot. Anywhere you have an empty space with one of your larger items, try to think of ways you can fill it. You’ll be amazed at how much can fit.”

Before you pack something into your storage unit, take another look at it. Could you fit something else inside? No matter how small, “nesting” can be a big-time space saver.

3. Think Vertically

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Never overlook the vertical space inside your storage unit. Vertical space along the walls goes unused all too often, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Many people place shelves or peg boards inside their unit so they can stack items vertically, rather than limiting themselves to the floor.

Even large furniture can potentially be stored vertically. For example, if you stand your couch up, it will take up only a fraction of the floor space that it would need if you just set it down “normally.”

Of course, you’ll want to be careful and get help to tip something as big as a couch into place — and to ensure that it will stay in that upright position. Make sure you have other items positioned around these items so they don’t fall over.

4. Disassemble Your Furniture

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Furniture can take up a lot of space inside your storage unit — but the good news is that a lot of it can come apart into separate, smaller pieces. For example, if you take the legs off your kitchen table, you can lay it on its side against the wall rather than having it take up a lot of floor space in the middle of your storage unit. The same is usually true of bed frames.

Taking apart your furniture only takes a few minutes, but it can open up a lot of space inside your unit. Just be sure to keep everything from the same piece of furniture together. Place screws and other small parts in a plastic bag that you can tape to the furniture so they don’t get lost.

5. Use One Box Size

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Are you the kind of person who saves all the boxes from your Amazon shipments so you can use them for packing? You might want to think again if you’re worried about fitting everything into your storage unit. You’ll typically be able to make better use of your space if all of your boxes are the same size.

This is because it’s much easier to stack boxes that have the same dimensions. Using several different sizes could lead to unbalanced stacks — and might even cause some boxes to topple over.

When your boxes are a similar size and shape, you’ll be able to stack them higher to maximize that vertical space. Make sure your boxes are strong enough, and always stack the heaviest boxes on the bottom.

Make the Most of Your Space

Packing your possessions into a storage unit isn’t always easy — but by planning ahead, you can make the most of your available space. Whether you’ll be using your storage unit for just a few weeks or for several years, these tips will keep your items safely and securely packed.