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August 7, 2023

It may very well be the most common use for storage: decluttering and organizing your home. "Stuff" is easy to accumulate, especially at this time of year, just after Black Friday and around the Christmas season. Considering seasons like Christmas, there are probably many decorations and items in your home that you use seasonally, the rest of the year, they're, well, clutter.

There are likely many other items that, while you may not want to get rid of them, they are also clutter in your house. All of these belongings are exactly the sorts of "stuff" that can find a much happier home in a portable storage container.

At Cubeit, we provide our clients with portable storage containers that keep your personal or business belongings safe and away from cluttering up your home, while also providing you with the most convenient access to those items. To help you keep your home organized, we've created the following guide for how best to declutter your home with self-storage.

Deciding you need more space

The first thing you need to figure out is the amount of additional space you really require to properly organize your home. Going through the items in your house will reveal that there are probably many items you will be happy to dispose of, but it will also reveal how many items you do not want to dispose of.

Seasonal tools, such as lawnmowers and snow-blowers, are excellent examples of items you only require for a portion of the year. Other items, like your wedding dress or an inherited grandfather clock, are items that might not be a great fit in the home, but you certainly do not want to dispose of. Additionally, old research projects and educational books are resources you do not want to lose, but are also not needed as a resource regularly.

What you should be doing is going through your house and deciding which buckets, "Keep," "Store," "Donate/recycle," and "Dispose," each item falls into. Make an inventory list to keep track of all this. Your list will give you a good idea of the number of things you need to store and the space you will require for them.

Why portable storage is the best answer

Decluttering the house will provide you with much more space, but to do so, you need space outside of the house. Portable storage is your economical answer to this problem. Trying to hide items in closets and basements will only work for so long. Eventually, they will all find a way out of those hidden spaces and re-clutter your home. The best answer is to get them out of your home, and into portable storage.

Cubeit provides a unique service when it comes to storage, our portable storage comes to you. You can keep your portable storage unit on your property if you have space for it there. This provides you with the most convenient access to your storage unit possible; just walk across the driveway. Otherwise, we can remove your portable storage container when ready, storing it at our secure facility until you require access. We'll bring it all back to you when the time comes.

How to organize your unit to organize your home

The key to a successful storage project is being prepared with an inventory list, and then organizing your storage unit to suit your needs. Never just start bringing items into your storage unit. Always bring the right items in the correct order so that you can easily retrieve the items you need when you need them.

Let's imagine that you're storing several different items: seasonal tools, seasonal decorations, seasonal furniture, sentimental items. Piling all those items into your storage container might make the loading day move slightly faster, but it will also make retrieving those items an absolute nightmare when you return to grab, say, your Christmas lights in December. Rather than piling everything together, plan the unit well, and create aisles for ease of access. Of course, labelling items is a must, but keeping all like things together is also important: all decorations, for example, can be stored in the same area, making it very easy for you to locate your Christmas lights when December arrives.

An old shelving unit or two will be helpful in creating straight aisles, and will also provide a number of surfaces for smaller items to be stored on. The items you will most frequently require access to, leave those items until the end of the load, so that they go into the storage unit last. The items you will be least likely to use on a regular basis, load those into the unit first.

Items like your patio furniture should all be stacked together in one area, ready for the spring time. In fact, organizing items in your unit by their seasonal use can be a great way to know where to find things when you need to. Be creative in figuring out the best way to keep things organized like this before you load your storage unit, and life will be much easier at the other end.

If you plan your storage unit, then you will surely get the most out of your storage unit, while keeping your home completely organized as well.

Keep using it

We can all use a little more organization in our lives, and portable storage is often the best way to achieve this. If you have prepared your inventory, then speak with your Cubeit agent for advice on choosing the right amount of storage space required for your items – or, speak with them today for any questions you might have about organization or what portable storage can do to help you achieve it.