It seems that the older that we get, the more belongings that we accumulate. Moving out as a teenager probably consisted of a couple of small bags or even a single backpack. That backpack held our few belongings as we entered the adult world for the first time. From there, each and every move got bigger and bigger. As your family grew, you probably required moving trucks and even the rental of a local personal storage facility. Eventually, it gets easier to just throw everything in storage rather than go through it. Now, you might be left with a personal storage unit full of items you never touch. These organization tips will help you efficiently sort through them.
Clean out your garage yearly
Your garage is the perfect storage place. It is often somewhat temperature controlled and is easy to access. When you place your items in a personal storage unit, you have to make a special trip to get them. Also, using your garage as storage requires you to often go through it. About 25% of people with two car garages do not have room to park cars inside them because they fill up the space with belongings. Try to make it a point to clean out your garage once per year. As you plan for spring or fall cleaning, add a full garage clean out to your list.
Use your attic space
Attics are another useful storage space. They are a good space for items you will require again one day, but not for many months. For example, you might use your attic to store winter clothes during the summer, or summer clothes during the winter. Label each of your boxes before placing them in the attic for easy retrieval. Also, make it a point to organize and clean your garage, at least once per year. Many homeowners throw boxes into the attic until it is full and then forget what is stored up there. If you intend to store a box for many years, moving it to a personal storage unit might be more beneficial.
Move larger items to a full service storage unit
Larger items take up more room. This prevents you from properly organizing or using your home?s storage space. For example, if you have a piece of furniture that has a lot of family meaning, but you do not yet have room for it, consider moving it to an on demand storage unit. Putting it into your garage or attic will just take up space that you need for items you are likely to use earlier. Additionally, most personal storage units are larger and have more room for these larger items. There is approximately 2.3 billion square feet of self storage space in the U.S.
Know when to throw out or donate
Try not to get into the habit of storing items that you will never use again. Throwing those items out will give you more storage room for items that have more meaning to you. Donating those items will give use of them to people who need them more than you do. Storage solutions are a great option for storing items you want to keep, but try not to use it to store items you simply don?t want to throw out. Currently, there are 300,000 items in the average American home. Decluttering can help you feel relaxed, more efficient, and make it easier to keep a clean home.
Generally speaking, the older that you are, the more belongings that you own. If you are currently using your attic, garage, and have an offsite personal storage unite, it might be time to go through your things. Also, getting into the habit of choosing which items should go into storage in the first place can prevent you from accumulating too much stuff. Consider how much you need the item, how meaningful it really is, and whether or not you will actually need it in the future.