Self Storage Review

Whether you’re moving overseas permanently or for a temporary period of time one of the biggest headaches is organizing your belongings. Naturally, you would like the furniture or personal effects you own to arrive at your destination in one piece. There are a few simple rules you can follow that can help to do this.

Step One: What’s being moved and what is being left behind

Whether you’re moving overseas permanently or short-term, the first step you need to take is to go through everything you own and decide what to keep and what to get rid of. It is important that you do this before you arrange for the moving company to come in and make a quote. If there are items you will use up to the last minute but will not take with you, mark them clearly, so your moving consultant knows not to include them in the space requirements or quotation.

The next stage depends on whether you are moving permanently or on a temporary basis. Temporary moves may mean that you can leave items behind in self storage facilities. However, it is always important to consider what items are time-relevant i.e. if you’re storing your children’s toys and they will be three years older when you return, it’s not really worth the expense of storing these items.

Permanent moves will require a good hard look at what you own, love and don’t really need anymore. You can save yourself hundreds if not thousands of dollars by taking a realistic approach when sorting through your belongings. After a few overseas moves and quite some domestic I take the approach that if it’s not sentimental and I haven’t used it for more than two years - it’s time to say goodbye.

When deciding on what to take with you, you will need to get a good idea of the type of accommodation that will be available to you in your destination country. You may be leaving a house with good square footage to move into a much smaller apartment. In Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and parts of the Middle East accommodation rates are at a premium and you may not have the budget to acquire the same space you have now.

If you need to leave some of your furniture and belongings behind, or want to store your belongings while you work out the logistics in your new country - try self storage units and facilities. Your moving company may have this service available or you may find a reasonably priced local self storage company who can help you with your requirements.

Lastly, take the time to research the customs website of your destination country. Some may have restrictions or warnings about the types of goods that will require inspection (adding costs) and possibly fumigation. For example, if you are taking plastic containers overseas and also have a large amount of wooden furnishings you may be subject to fumigation at the receiving port. Plastic absorbs the chemicals from the fumigation and will not be suitable to hold any future food products.

Step Two: Logistics of your move overseas

You will need to engage a moving company; your best option is to work with one that can also arrange for customs clearance and delivery at your destination. Many companies have overseas affiliates or subsidiaries making the transition of your belongings less impeded.

Work with a company who has experience with your destination country, each country has their own customs regulations and you need someone who can advise you from experience. Also ask if they can arrange the insurance for your belongings.

The next stage will be to have an agent from the moving company come in and assess the space you will require i.e. part of, full use of either a 20ft or 40ft container. For smaller loads, usually the moving company can arrange for your goods to share a container with someone else who has space - saving you money.

For both insurance and documentary purposes you will need to prepare a full inventory of all the belongings you are moving. This comes down to counting how many CD’s, DVD’s, books etc you own. Along with the quantities you will also need to assess the value of each of these items so that you can ensure the insurance will cover the worst case scenario.
Note that fridges and freezes are not recommended to be moved overseas. Electrical items may not be insured, especially the more fragile items such as TV’s and stereo systems. Check with your insurer and your moving company.

During your inventory process, it is a good time to decide whether you need to airfreight any items for immediate use, pack certain more valuable and fragile items in your suitcases or take another serious look at just how much stuff you’re keeping. Remember also that you can use the option to use a self storage unit or keep belongings with family and friends (who don’t mind looking after them).

Step Three: Moving day

Warning never take logic for granted! You will not be able to move food overseas so ensure that you have already removed all of these types of items before the packers arrive. Secondly, check your house and ensure that all teapots, coffeepots, jugs, plant pots etc are all empty of their contents. It has been known for packers to pack these items complete with liquid and contents inside.

Mark clearly any items that you do not want to be packed or even better move them all to one room, garage or location with a sign saying that they are not to be packed.

If you are allowed to pack your belongings you will need to ensure that the packing meets shipping standards. A handy tip is to mark the boxes with the type of destination room you want them to go in, i.e. study, “tommys room”, storage etc. When you’re ready to receive your belongings at the other end post signs on the doors of the receiving rooms i.e. study, “tommy’s room”, storage.

Items such as towels, blankets and sheets make great padding and protection for more fragile belongings. If you are doing the packing you can follow a simple rule - heaviest items on the bottom, most fragile on the top with a good thickness of padding between the sides, bottom and top of the boxes. Lastly, remember that a person at some stage is going to carry the boxes - 40kg of books in one box is not advisable!

With some planning, logical and preparation your move overseas can be made a lot simpler. There will be so many logistical items you will be working on to make the move, so it’s important you contract a moving company that can remove as many headaches as possible.

Before you go out and buy storage containers etc…..there are a few things that you need to do!

Firstly, it’s a good idea to go through everything so you know what sort of container, basket, draw unit, shelf unit etc you will be needing. Its no use going out and buying a load of storage units, only to find when you get home that they either don’t fit where you need them to or just aren’t right for what you need.

You also need to measure the amount of space that is available for the containers etc to go in. I know normally especially if its a wardrobe, linen closet or wardrobe unit, I measure once everything is out.

So you get a true measurement. Oh and don’t just measure from one side to the other and the base of the cupboard…..remember that a linen closet goes all the way to the ceiling generally, as do wardrobes :o) and you want to know exactly how much room you have.

But be careful in linen closets, the space between the top shelf and the outer wall can be narrow.

Once you have the measurement and an idea of the sort of containers you will need, go shopping.

Ok some ideas - Wheelie bins are great for toy cupboards (one for drawing equipment, dress ups, barbie, building blocks, puzzles, games) Keeps everything together and is easy to teach the darlings how to put everything back after playing.

- In a shelf unit, a great way to create storage is to use weave baskets that slide in like draws. Just make sure that you measure well and buy sturdy ones.

- In the Kitchen, try to stick to clear containers, they can have coloured lids, but clear so you can see what is in them. And if possible, try to get self adhensive labels.

- Wardrobe storage wise, there is a lot you can get these days, hanging shelves, shoe boxes, canvas boxes (great for Jerseys and jumpers)

Just try to keep it as simple as possible, the more you bring in the more you need to find a home for!

If you have a lot of small fiddly bits in a particular room, tackle boxes are a great purchase. I have friends that use them as sewing boxes, paint boxes and sorters.

Remember also that although its great to get things sorted into containers, it is also very easy to put things in containers and still not know what is where. So make sure when you start organizing your belongings - keep it simple!

Labeling is a great idea. And even, labeling the shelf that the container sits on is a good idea. If you have children, you want to make it easy for them to know what is in the containers, so they don’t start going through every single container every time, stick one of what ever is in the box for them to see. Makes it easy for them and you!

One last thing, take your time and try to have a clear picture what you want to go where before you sit down and start putting things away.

More later, have fun with this…

Most of us notice that we are starting to have less and less space in our own home and that our living area is shrinking due to the goods we have acquired over time. Nothing compares to living in a clean not crowded house. Whether we are aware of this or not, the items we keep on buying take up our available space and they even start collecting dust, which is bad for our health.

If you find yourself in such a situation and you don’t have any room for your items, it is probably time to resort to a storage company. Self storage represents the best solution for London people who are running out of space and they don’t want to give away some of their goods. Another idea would be to consider a self storage facility. For those of you who are not familiar with the term, self storage is a storage service which allows customers to rent a room that has the size they need in order to deposit their goods for as long as they want.

Self storage for London offers you the possibility to move your things to a secure storage place instead of selling them because you no longer have the necessary space to keep them in your house. The problem of storage is not a recent one but fortunately nowadays we have the possibility to improve the quality of our life by keeping our houses clutter-free. Storage London facilities don’t cost a fortune but if you wish to resort to such services, we advise you to add extra insurance if you live in an area with extreme weather conditions.

Self storage London is the solution to your problems, solving the storage problems for businessmen, householders and students. It is great to know that you have a safe place where you can store your belongings and that you can have them back anytime. Usually most London Storage companies will ask you to pay a monthly rent and they are responsible for your goods as long as they remain in the storage facility. Thus, you no longer have to worry that your items will be damaged or stolen.

Self storage is a great idea for those of you who are looking for a new home, redecorating your house or even for those who wish to sell their house and by resorting to a storage facility they make it look less crowded and more spacious. Nowadays even some sports and hobbies require a lot of space and why not store our items away in a secure place if we have the possibility to do that?

Storage in London puts at your disposal a wide range of options and many storage rooms of different sizes from which you can choose from. Some people choose to resort to a storage facility even for depositing their seasonal clothing and wardrobe. Even couples who are getting a divorce find themselves in a situation in which they need to store their furniture and belongings until they sort out their problems.

Self storage for London is exactly what you need if you are looking for a secure and cost-effective storage place. You can easily resort to a storage facility that will make sure that your goods are being kept in a safe and proper environment, without having to worry about their safety. As you can see, self storage is a practical business, one that is used by a variety of customers in a huge number of ways.