Our top tips for maximising your self storage space 

While many use self-storage, we often see people simply filling their storage space without any thought. While this might be a quick solution for those wanting to store their belongings as soon as possible, it can result in not being able to store everything you would like, or even damaging the items you are storing. 

To ensure that you make the most of your space, you should follow our steps…

Plan beforehand

While you might just want to get stuck in and begin packing your belongings into your self-storage, we urge you to take a bit of time beforehand to plan. Planning your self storage will not only help you to optimise your space effectively, but will also help you keep track of what is going into your storage. 

So how do you effectively plan for self storage? 

To plan your self-storage, you first need to take some time to assess what you intend to pack and how much space you have to work with. Some people go as far as to draw out maps of how they intend to pack their belongings, however, if you don’t feel like doing this, our suggestion is to consider the following: 

Create an Inventory List: Before moving items into storage, something you can do is make a detailed list of everything you plan to store. This list helps in tracking and managing your belongings. This ultimately benefits you when it comes to packing. You get a good idea of what’s going in, and in the future what’s coming out.

Categorise Items: Group similar items together (e.g., kitchenware, seasonal decorations, documents) and store them accordingly. One thing that you can do to help with your categorisation is to label your boxes. This can help to keep track of what you’ve packed, and ensure that when it comes to retrieval, it’s easier to find what you’re looking for. 

Organise the Layout: One tip when it comes to organising your layout would be to place more frequently accessed items/belongings near the front where they’re easier to access. This will help to avoid any accidents or damage, and help save you the time of hunting for what you need. 

Planning your storage before you go to actually fill your self storage, is an effective way of both keeping track of what’s going on, and also ensuring that you can make the most of your space to fit more inside. 

Optimise your packing

One of the big challenges you will face is packing your belongings. While this sounds easy, it can be done in a way that will optimise your space. 

In fact, before you start let’s first consider what you’re going to put your belongings in. If you’ve got your carrier or bin bags out, put them back in the cupboard! The main way to fit more things into a space is to pack and stack. While you technically could do this with bags, it’s not as efficient as using other alternatives. 

Not to mention the risk of damage that comes to your belongings if you pack and then stack them in bags.

So what should you use? 

Stacking & ordering made easy

We highly recommend you use and consider the following:

• Cardboard boxes
• Storage bins

Protection and Organisation: Boxes provide better protection for your belongings compared to bags. They help prevent items from being crushed or damaged, especially fragile items or those prone to breakage.

Stacking and Space Efficiency: Cardboard boxes and storage bins are great for stacking, which will increase the use of vertical space in your storage unit. Bags, on the other hand, are often difficult to stack and will lead to wasted space, or broken belongings.

Durability and Longevity: Quality cardboard boxes will withstand stacking and handling better than bags, which may tear or puncture putting your belongings at risk. Additionally, storage bins made from durable materials like plastic offer even greater protection and longevity. Consider using these for items you will store long-term.

Following this, we recommend that if you do use cardboard boxes, you use ones that are good quality. And, for even more space utilisation, you might use boxes which are the same size as this will help with your stacking.

Ease of identification: Boxes and storage bins can be easily labelled, for example you might write on the side of a cardboard box what is inside ‘Fragile, lounge ornaments. This makes it simpler to locate specific items without having to open multiple bags, and will help you figure out what needs to stack on top of what. 

Declutter as you pack: Oftentimes we hold on to items and just put them in storage, when in reality you might have outgrown them, or simply have no use for them anymore. Decluttering provides a fresh start, helping you to reassess your possessions, and, doing so while you pack for storage ensures that everything that goes into your storage is relevant, and that nothing unnecessary is taking up space. 

Pack your belongings from the outside in

One way that you can make more room in your self-storage is to pack it strategically. All this means, instead of placing boxes wherever, you should pack from the outside in. This will help you to arrange items more efficiently. 

Vertical Space: Self-storage units offer ample vertical space, which is often underutilised. Stack boxes and containers up to the ceiling, ensuring heavier items are at the bottom to provide a stable foundation for your belongings. Lightweight and fragile items can be placed on top to prevent crushing, or saved for placement in the middle of the space.

Corner and Wall Packing: Begin by placing your heaviest and bulkiest items in the corners and against the walls of the storage unit. This leaves the central space more accessible. 

Additional Tips for Efficient Packing:

Leave a Walkway: If possible, leave a small walkway through the middle of your unit. This will allow you to access items at the back without having to move other boxes around.

Use Uniform Boxes: Using boxes of the same size can make stacking easier and more stable.

Protect Items: You can use bubble wrap, and furniture covers to protect your items from damage and dust.

Shelving and Racks 

Using shelving units and racks in your self-storage unit provides several advantages. They help to maximise vertical space, keep your items organised, and make it easier to access specific belongings without having to move everything around. You can also use pallets, as these will also assist with loading your items into the self-storage unit. 

Shelving units are perfect for storing boxes, bins, and other items in a neat and orderly manner. And, relate back to our earlier point of packing from the outside in. With shelves and storage you ensure that you, rather than stack boxes on boxes, are instead placing your belongings on something a little more sturdy. 

When packing your shelves place heavier items on lower shelves to maintain stability and lighter items on higher shelves to make the most of vertical space.

Using Pallets for Heavy Lifting

Incorporating pallets into your self-storage unit can be a game-changer, especially for heavier items. Here’s how pallets can help:

Elevated Storage: Placing items on pallets elevates them off the ground, protecting them from potential water damage and dust. This is particularly useful in units that may be prone to moisture.

Ease of Movement: Pallets make it easier to move heavy items! You can use a pallet jack or forklift to lift and transport pallets within the storage unit, saving you time and effort.

When it comes to using shelving, the main thing to remember is that to make the most of your storage unit, strategically place shelving units and racks alongside the walls. This leaves the centre of the unit open for larger items or for a walkway. Position pallets in designated areas where heavy items are stored.

Packing furniture to save space

One of the bigger challenges that come with packing into a self storage is packing furniture. While most of your belongings can go in a box, there are those, in this instance your furniture that simply won’t fit. 

Some people might assume the solution here is to simply bung as much as they can into their self storage. We advise against it. 

How you pack your furniture might vary for example: 

• Chairs: Assuming these are kitchen table chairs, a simple solution for these is to stack them and place them somewhere out of the way.
• Cupboards: Much like how you would buy shelving for your storage unit, if you know you are packing things like a wardrobe, a drawer, consider how you might utilise this piece of furniture to pack other belongings inside it. This way you are using the otherwise empty space within your furniture to make the most out of your space. 
• Sofa / Beds: Our main recommendation for bigger pieces of furniture like a sofa, or a bed is to dismantle it (if you can), just be sure that you are aware of how to put this back together and make sure you box, and label where you put the specific parts for that piece of furniture.
• Tables: A table you might pack on its side out of the way, you could dismantle it, or you could also use this to stack furniture on / underneath. Just be sure that you don’t damage it in the process. You should always take into consideration how much weight your items can hold. 

On the other hand, rather than packing a sofa on its legs, you might place it on its side in the corner of the space, this just means you have more space in the centre of your self storage for other pieces of furniture, or belongings. 

Final thoughts

Packing your things into self-storage isn’t as straightforward as you think. While it can be, shoving as much stuff as you can into your storage with no thought is a quickfire way to damage and lose your belongings, or to miss out on excess space you could have utilised. 

Think of packing your storage as a game of pre-planned Tetris. You want your belongings to fit, but in this instance you need them to fit in a way that utilises the space that you are paying for. Ultimately, the key to fitting more in your self-storage, lies in careful planning, careful packing, and some time spent thoughtfully stacking from the outside in!