There are numerous reasons you may need to rent a storage facility. Maybe you had a family member that passed away and now you are the one left with their belongings. You’re not ready to let go of things, but you also don’t have room in your home. So, you rent a storage unit.
Another scenario could be that your teen has gone off to college, and they’ll be moving into their own place once they’ve graduated. They don’t have room in their college dorm for their belongings of their first 17 years of life, and you want to turn that room into a home office, so you rent a storage space.
How Much Stuff Are You Storing
Measuring the size of the storage space you need is fairly similar to the specifications of a moving truck. One size is good for a studio apartment worth of stuff, another for a one bedroom apartment, and so on.
Something like a 5×5 storage unit would be idea for that teenagers one room belongings, but if you planned to store some other household items for them you’d want to upgrade to an 8×10 or larger. The more stuff you need to store the larger the unit will need to be.
Will You Be Getting Stuff Out Occasionally?
If you plan to need to get items out of your storage unit on occasion, you may want to rent one that is a little bigger than you think you need. This way you can ensure that you have space to walk around inside and find what you need.
If you plan to need things that you are packing in boxes and totes, make sure that you aren’t stacking them too high, and that you are clearly marking the boxes so you know which ones you need to be digging through when the time comes. That will save you a lot of time and energy.
What Are You Storing?
How big a storage space you need may also depend on what type of things you are storing. If you have many items that cannot be stacked together, or cannot have things piled on top of them, you’re going to need a bigger unit. That would be like boxes of glassware, antique or fragile items, and other things that could easily be broken.
Make sure that you are packing your breakables safely, with things like bubble wrap and packing peanuts. Clearly write on the boxes that they are fragile and should not be stacked on, as well.
It never hurts to go a little bigger on your storage unit choice if you really aren’t sure about the size you’ll need. You may be paying extra, but it’s better to have the extra space than not having enough.