Three Seasonal Storage Tips

Renting storage space for seasonal items can free up room in your basement, attic, or garage. Most people own items that are only used for a portion of the year, such as winter sports equipment, holiday decor, garden items, or boating and lake items. You need a way to store these so you can quickly rotate out the needed items without having to sort through everything else every season. The following tips can help.

Tip #1: Use color coding

Plastic storage tubs are the best option for seasonal storage because they keep out both moisture and pests. Just make sure any items, particularly outdoor items, are completely dry or they may mildew from trapped moisture within the tub. When choosing your tubs, use a different color for each season or purpose. For example, you could use blue for summer items, green for garden items, red for Christmas items, and orange for Halloween items. This way you can quickly spot the tubs you need to grab. Another option is to use colored tape to mark single color storage tubs or cardboard boxes. Just make sure the tape is on all sides so you can see it regardless of box orientation.

Tip #2: Create a working layout

Climbing over things or having to pull everything out of the unit to find the summer lake supplies is no fun and it wastes a lot of time. Have a planned layout and stick to it to avoid this problem. One way is to put in shelves around the walls, perhaps even creating an aisle up the center, then stacking the tubs on the shelves only one deep so you can walk right up to the item you need. If you don't want to invest in shelves, simply mark out aisles on the floor with masking tape and do not stack anything in the aisles so you can reach all the tubs. Another option is to only stack tubs one deep along the walls, keeping one season or holiday per stack. The center is left free to store a large item, such as a small boat or law equipment.

Tip #3: Take inventory

Finally, make sure you know what you have in storage. Make up an inventory for each storage tub, then number the tubs and write the number on the appropriate inventory list. Leave a copy of the inventory list in the tub, but also keep a digital or hard copy at home. This way you can look over the inventory and decide which tubs to pull before you head over to the storage unit. This saves time and effort.

For more help, contact a storage facility near you. For more information, contact a company like Sentry Mini-Storage Inc.