Moving In Together – A Guy’s Point of View
Moving In Together – A Guy’s Point of View
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Monthly Archives: March 2016
Spring Cleaning & Indoor Storage Units
Spring Cleaning & Indoor Storage Units
Why Spring cleaning? Why not Summer cleaning, or Winter cleaning? The answer is simple. Spring represents renewal – a fresh start ! It’s time to go from jeans and sweatshirts, to shorts and flip flops – from snow shovels and ice melt, to lawnmowers and beach chairs. It’s time to open the windows, clean, and get organized !
Do you have storage space?
Having a garage can be a big plus when organizing storage. Whether you have a garage or not, indoor storage units can come in handy. Avoid just piling everything into the garage. It may seem like the easiest solution but is often ineffective, and rarely actually solves your clutter problems. The garage should be used only for items that you need regular access to, but that wouldn’t be appropriate to store in a living area.
Seasonal item Storage
Arrange your garage in a way that will keep warm weather items such as seasonal tools, lawn care products, paints and stains, bicycles, and beach chairs handy, with space to access them as needed. Be aware of items that will not be needed until next Fall or Winter, such as Halloween costumes, holiday decorations, snow shovels, and ice melt, these items are good candidates to be moved to indoor storage units.
Closet Clean-out
In most homes, a quick look into the closets will reveal that we have many more pairs of shoes, and articles of clothing then we can actually store correctly. This is a good time to sort the cold weather items such as boots and winter jackets, and move them to your self storage units until Spring . Most self storage facilities offer wardrobe boxes, made specifically for storing clothing items. Now you have space in your closet for your next shopping spree!
Documents and Sentimental Items
You no doubt have a drawer, box or file cabinets full of documents and records, many of which you will need to keep, but not access regularly. We all have items that we rarely use , but that are of such sentimental value that we can’t bear to part with them – old family photographs, grandma’s rocker, or that kitschy lamp that we bought for our first apartment. This is a good time to move these items to indoor storage units for safe keeping. Remember to store your documents and photographs in waterproof containers.
Spring cleaning is not a fun job, however these tips on utilizing indoor storage units should make it a little more bearable. Remember to donate usable items, rather than trashing them..When in doubt, use the Golden Rule for spring cleaning. If you haven’t used it in the past year, and it doesn’t fall into the sentimental or document category, it’s got to go. Happy Cleaning!
By Jerry Brown
3/17/16
Using Self Storage Space Effectively
Using Self Storage Space Effectively
There comes a time In many families lives, where the kids have now grown and left the home, and we just have too much house – it’s time to downsize! The Catch-22 is that while we don’t need as much space to live, we still have just as many items to store, and our new smaller home just doesn’t have the space. It may be time to consider Self Storage, so we size up what we have to store, and head off to the local self storage facility. If you’ve never done this before, it can be a daunting task. How much room do I need? For example, our local self storage facility, The Storage Inn in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, has over 45 different sized units! How high can I stack the items? What should I store them in? These are all very good questions, so here are a few self storage space tips that might help .
Storage Unit Packing Tips
- If finances allow, choose a self storage space that is slightly larger than what you actually need to leave a space between the furniture, bins, and boxes for easy access.
- Try to use containers that are tough, water resistant, and fairly uniform in size. Begin by placing your heavier items towards the bottom, and lighter items towards the top. This will allow you to stack higher, and without danger of crushing the lower containers. Save the fragile and breakable items for the very top.
- Make sure that all boxes are packed full so that they do not collapse when stacked. Use towels, bubble wrap, or old newspaper to fill them if necessary.
- You may want to consider placing disposable moisture absorbers, such as “Damp Rid” in your unit. Covering the floor with plastic sheeting , or installing wooden in your self storage space pallets can also help to preserve your items.
- Leave the doors of any appliances open to avoid odors and fungal growth. You can also use the space inside of appliances to store smaller items.
- Metal items such as gardening tools should be treated with a rust inhibitor prior to storage. Other delicate items such as books may be stored in an airtight container along with a small moisture absorber.
- Never store flammable or hazardous materials inside a self storage unit.
- Keep a written record of the items that were placed in the unit, when they were put there, and when they were removed.
- Keep the security gate code and the keys to your padlock in a safe place so that they will not get lost, and only you will have access to them.
Keep these tips in mind if you’re heading out in search of self storage space. They could make your storage space adventure a bit more bearable. The Storage Inn serves Ocean, Cape May and Atlantic Counties, including such places as Pleasantville, Ocean City, Atlantic City and more
By Jerry Brown
3/11/16
Self-Storage and Small Business
More Small Business’ using Self-Storage
When we think of self storage, most people think of long rows of metal doors that hide boxes, bags, and bins of unneeded household items. What we don’t think of is innovation and entrepreneurship, yet in growing numbers, that’s exactly what you might find.
Self-Storage Benefits for Small Businesses
What attracts small business owners to self-storage spaces? For most it is simply a flexible way to store goods and materials until sold. For many business owners, self storage offers needed space without being tied down, giving them the opportunity to respond quickly to the changing needs of their business’. Storage space can easily be increased as the business grows, eliminating the headaches of being tied down to a retail or warehouse space with expensive multi year leases.
With this lower overhead, the small business owner has more money to invest in his goods and services, and in many cases the cost of self-storage can even be deducted as a business expense. Most self storage facility today also offer the capacity to accept deliveries for the tenant, eliminating the need for a small business owner to wait around for a shipment to arrive.
Greg Meckel, Owner of The Storage Inn self-storage in Egg Harbor Township and Ocean City New Jersey offers his thoughts on the subject: “Many of our commercial customers store with us because we accept deliveries on their behalf. We sign for and take the goods into the store while they are out and about running their business, thereby avoiding them wasting their time waiting for deliveries”.
The market for small business self-storage use has boomed dramatically over the last two decades. Savvy self-storage business owners have recognized the desire for affordable storage space, and have turned their attention to this lucrative pool of potential customers. Self Storage experts estimate that 30 – 40% of rented units are now for business purposes. Could a self-storage unit be the answer to your small business needs?
By Jerry Brown
3/3/16