Five Little Tips For Packing Your Storage Unit

Packing everything into your storage unit may not be a task you look forward to, but it does not have to be one you dread, either! There are plenty of ways to make the process easier, while also making things easier on your future self who has to unpack the storage unit. Start with these five simple tips.

Take furniture apart when possible.

Trying to organize boxes around a standing table or awkwardly shaped entertainment center can be a real hassle. To make things easier, disassemble furniture whenever possible. It's easier to stack a few legs and a tabletop in the corner than to pack boxes around an intact table. 

Put hardware in bags in a drawer.

Gather the hardware for each piece of furniture you disassemble into a small, resealable bag. Label each bag with the name of the piece of furniture that the hardware belongs to. Then, stash all of these little baggies inside a single dresser drawer, or perhaps even inside a small appliance like a microwave. This saves space and also makes reassembling the furniture easier.

Use uniformly sized boxes.

If all of your boxes are different sizes, you'll really struggle to stack them without having them all come tumbling down on top of you. So, it's worth purchasing boxes rather than just looking for free ones so that you can have numerous boxes that are all the same size. Choose smaller boxes over larger ones so that you don't struggle getting boxes on top of the stacks. Make sure you fill each box completely so the tops do not collapse.

Label the sides of boxes.

So often, people label the tops of boxes. But you can't see the top of a box until you unstack everything on top of it! Label the sides of your boxes -- and label all four sides so you don't have to worry about them facing the right direction as you stack them.

Create aisles of items.

If you just pack everything into one big pile, you'll waste hours trying to sort through and find what you need later on. A better strategy is to create "aisles" of stacks, making sure you can access each stack directly.

If you ask plenty of friends to help and also follow the tips above, packing your storage unit should be a rather straightforward process. Remember to also give yourself plenty of time, and to pick a warm, sunny day for this project.