Choosing the right storage solution for your needs.

When deciding where to store your belongings, it’s important to understand the key differences between where you want to store your things, and the benefits of each.

Location and Accessibility:

Proximity can be a big factor in terms of your decision. Depending on how conveniently or quickly you need to be able to access your items can be a deal breaker. As an alternative to a self storage solution for example, the convenience of immediate access can make garage storage appealing for frequently used items or those needed on short notice. However, this convenience can also lead to clutter if the garage serves multiple purposes, such as parking or workshop space.

In contrast, self-storage units are usually situated in dedicated facilities, which may require a short drive from your home. While this separation means less convenience, it also offers a more organised and clutter-free storage solution that isn’t inside your home. However, keep in mind that some self-storage facilities typically have controlled access, with specific operating hours that might limit when you can retrieve or store items (But this means better security!)

You could also just opt to get rid of your belongings that you don’t quite know how to store. But this comes with the limitation of trying to sell you things, and potential regret. If there are items you don’t want to get rid of, you still need somewhere to store them.

Distance can play a key role in your storage decisions, make sure you understand what it means if you need any of your belongings.

Space and Capacity:

When deciding on where to store your belongings, the space and capacity is a key consideration. You want somewhere that can comfortably hold all you want to store.

If you decide to store your belongings in a garage, the number of items to be stored can be impacted by the size of the garage. If the garage is also used for parking, a workshop, or a home gym, the available storage space can be significantly reduced. As such, storing your belongings here can lead to a cramped and disorganised environment.

The same can be said for storing at a friend or family member’s place. While the convenience of storing things with friends is great, you will end up being limited in what you can store there (It’s unlikely you’ll be able to store all of your things at their home because they will need to store things too). We’d recommend you discuss this with the people you’re planning to store your belongings with. 

Consider how much you want to store, and whether your family and friends have the capacity for it. 

Self-storage units, on the other hand, come in a variety of sizes, allowing you to select the one that best fits your needs. Whether you need to store a few boxes or the contents of an entire house, there’s likely a unit that suits your requirements; however, the other alternatives are free, which leads to a much more cost-effective method of storage.

Alternatively, if you have completely run out of space, selling or donating your items can be a way to reduce the need for storage. This way, you don’t have to worry about security, space, capacity etc as belongings that might have needed the space are out of your hands! Keep in mind though, that selling items can take time, and as such donating might be the quicker solution in this regard.

Security:

The safety and security of your belongings is paramount when considering a storage solution, especially a self-storage alternative.

Garage storage security for example, largely depends on the overall security measures of the garage and home. While you can enhance security with locks and alarms, garages are generally more vulnerable to break-ins, especially if they are detached or not equipped with advanced security features. This could impact what you choose to store here, and result in you keeping your belongings in another more inconvenient location.

It’s a similar situation to storing your belongings with a friend or family member’s home. You are giving responsibility for your belongings to the individual you are storing with. Depending on where you store your belongings in their home, they may also be at risk of damages or accidents. However, you can rest assured that these are in a home that is generally secure.

In comparison, self-storage facilities might offer different security measures, including surveillance cameras, gated access, individual unit alarms, and on-site staff. These features provide a higher level of protection for your belongings, but this added security will likely come at the expense of an added cost. 

We recommend you consider what it is you are storing, and how these different options might benefit it accordingly. So now that you know the differences let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each option.

Garage Storage: The Pros and Cons

When considering how to store your stuff, garage storage is a common option due to its convenience and cost-effectiveness, after all, it’s quite literally in your house. However, it also comes with certain drawbacks…

The pros: 

Convenience: One of the most significant advantages of garage storage is its convenience. Since your garage is part of your home, accessing your stored items is quick and easy. You don’t have to travel to a separate location, making it ideal to store and access items you use or need on short notice.

Cost-Effective: One of the more obvious benefits is that using your garage for storage is essentially free, aside from any costs for organisational tools or enhancements you might purchase – For example, you might buy some specific shelving so that your belongings are stored in the garage but out of the way, rather than just shoved in a box in the corner of the space. This makes it a highly cost-effective option compared to renting a self-storage unit.

Immediate Access: With garage storage, you have unrestricted access to your belongings at any time. There are no limitations on when you can retrieve or store items, which is particularly useful if you need something during off-hours or on weekends.

The cons:

Space Limitations: The amount of storage space in a garage is limited by its size and other uses. If you also need the garage for parking, a workshop, or other activities, the available storage space can be significantly reduced. This can lead to a cramped and cluttered environment, making it harder to find, stack and access stored items.

Security Concerns: Did you know that ‘27%’ of garage owners in the UK have been burgled?

While you may save on costs by storing your belongings in your garage, you may end up having to spend out anyway on advanced security features like alarms and surveillance cameras. This makes garage storage less ideal for valuable or sensitive items, which can end up limiting what you might actually store there. 

Potential for Clutter: Because garages often serve multiple purposes, they can easily become cluttered and disorganised. This is the case particularly for people who are using their garages for other things than storage.  

Furthermore, without a proper organisational system, it might be challenging to keep track of where items are stored. How many times do we leave things that are supposed to be in one room, in another? You might hang a coat on a dining table, or put your laptop in the lounge. The same might be true for your garage if this is a space that is commonly used. This would end up resulting in storage becoming cluttered, and things being added overtime.

Storing at family or friends: Pros and Cons

Storing your belongings at a friend’s or family member’s place can be both convenient and cost effective. People might choose to do this when they’re moving house, or redecorating. And, just like our other solutions, this comes with its own set of pros and cons. 

The Pros

Cost effective: While with other options you may end up spending out, whether it’s on the cost for the self storage unit, or if it’s for additional shelving in your garage, when storing at family and friends you don’t have the worry of added costs. 

Convenience: Specifically for short term storage, storing with family is one of the more convenient ways to store your belongings. It’s a quick and efficient way to get your things out of your hair.

The Cons

Potential strain: While storing things at family and friends place will feel convenient for you, it may lead to some tensions if time restraints aren’t met, for example if you say that you are storing your things for two months, but now it’s been four, causing tensions to rise. 

Space constraints: For smaller storage requirements, storing with family and friends might work for you, but just as your home is limited by space, so will your friends and families homes. As such, you may be limited in what you can store. Following this, your belongings are in your families and friends homes, this will limit how much you can access your things! 

Liability and privacy: If something happens to your things while they are stored at your friends place it might lead to some awkward or difficult situations which might again result in some tension amongst your loved ones. Furthermore, some might feel uncomfortable with storing personal and valuable items at someone else’s place for fear of these being accessed without your permission.

Donate and sell (Declutter): Pros and Cons

Instead of trying to store anything at all, another option people might prefer to do is to declutter entirely. They might do this through donating belongings, selling things or simply taking a trip to the tip. 

So, what might be the benefits and drawbacks to doing this?

The Pros:

Financial Gain: Naturally, selling your items is a quick and easy way to earn some money, now depending on your reasoning for looking into self storage (for example, moving house), financial gain is always going to be useful. However, depending on your situation, there will be things that you can’t sell, if you are moving, you might not be able to sell your furniture

Save on space and hassle: Naturally, the more things you sell or donate, the more room you will have in your home regardless of your reasons for potentially investing in self-storage. This will help you to live in a more organised and spacious environment, and might even assist you in where you then decide to store your belongings (now that you have less to worry about) 

The less things you have to store for example, the more inclined family and friends might feel to help you out.

Review what you need: This can be a time to review your current belongings and decide if you need them. For example, moving home, it could be the ideal situation to replace the old dining table, and declutter your new place. You can go through your belongings and establish if it’s worth keeping.

A way to go through everything might be: 

• Have you used it recently? 
• Are you likely to use it again/at all? 

This can then save on the need to store these items.

 

The Cons

Time sink: Decluttering a house can be time-consuming. There are lots of things to consider, such as sentimental value that can add to the time, as well as advertising said items that you intend to sell.

Emotional challenge: A lack of space shouldn’t lead to you giving up things you care about. You might find a big declutter emotionally challenging. While we still recommend people declutter when they are planning to store items anyway, we don’t think people should give all of their belongings up just for the sake of space. 

As such, there is the risk of over-decluttering. What might feel like a good decision at the time, you might regret further down the line, as you have given something up / sold something that you want or need. As such, if you discard items you later need you’ll likely end up spending the money to replace them anyway.

Self-storage: The Pros and Cons.

Though this is a self-storage alternatives article, it would be remiss not to include it, as they are an invaluable storage solution.These units offer a dedicated space for your belongings outside of your home. This option comes with numerous advantages, but there are also some drawbacks to consider…

The Pros

More Space: Self-storage facilities offer units in a variety of sizes, allowing you to choose one that best fits your needs. Whether you need to store a few boxes or the contents of an entire house, there’s likely a unit that suits your requirements.

Enhanced Security: Self-storage facilities typically provide security measures, including surveillance cameras, individual alarms, and on-site staff. These features significantly reduce the risk of theft or damage, offering greater peace of mind. Depending on what you need to store, for important or expensive belongings self-storage might be the safer option. 

Organisation: Using a self-storage unit allows you to keep your home or garage clutter-free. With a dedicated space for storage, you can organise your belongings easier, making it less stressful to find and access them when needed. Furthermore, having your belongings so close almost encourages use, whereas putting them in specific storage means that these are out of reach ready to be retrieved when you most need it.

Flexibility: Self-storage units can be rented for short or long-term periods, providing flexibility to meet your changing needs. This is one of the issues with Garage storage, while it might work if you’re living at home, if you intend to move the garage is only going to benefit you for so long, whereas self-storage can be available for as long as you need it to be. In other words, self-storage is great situationally. 

Some times that self storage will be ideal over a garage storage include:

• Business inventory 
• Moving house
• Long term travel
• Decluttering
• Seasonal item storage

Variety of Uses: Self-storage units are versatile and can be used for personal, business, or recreational storage. Whether you need to store things for a business, or personal items, self-storage units can accommodate your needs.

The Cons:

Cost: Unlike owning a garage, renting a self-storage unit involves a fee, which can add up over time, depending on: the size, location, security measures, and how long you intend to store your belongings for. 

Less accessible: Unlike having items stored at home in a garage, using a self-storage unit requires travel to a separate location. This can be inconvenient, especially if the facility is far from your home or if you need to access your items frequently. 

Self-storage offers numerous benefits, including ample space options, enhanced security, and more. These advantages make self-storage an excellent choice for safely and efficiently storing a wide range of items. However, it’s important to consider the costs, and the potential access restrictions when deciding if self-storage is the right solution for your needs.

Getting rid of the items: While self storage is great for storing your belongings, it’s also a quick and easy way to end up procrastinating, discarding and hoarding unnecessary items. Decluttering can be a tough decision for many and in our experience people can often use self storage units to delay the tough choices involved in decluttering! 

Furthermore, items might accumulate if not managed properly, Overtime people have a habit of putting items in storage, rather than dealing with them, which can lead to things building up and using unnecessary space in your storage unit. 

Having the space with a storage unit is always a benefit, but it needs to be managed accordingly to avoid this happening.

Final thoughts: 

There are lots of alternatives to self-storage to consider.  While they all offer unique benefits they also both come with their own set of limitations. It is up for your specific requirements, and situation which might impact your decision. 

By weighing the pros and cons of each, you can make an informed decision about which storage solution best suits your requirements for storage. Ultimately though, people generally end up using a combination of all of these alternatives to ensure that they don’t end up keeping unnecessary items and cluttering one space. As such, self storage is a quick solution to get these things out of your hair.