I’m the last person who should be giving organization advice. My idea of cleaning the house is shoving everything into one closet. But after my last move, where I spent a solid afternoon looking for a can opener I swore was in storage, I had to get a system. A real one, for people who hate systems.
Here’s what I actually do now. No fluff.
First, You Gotta Get Mean
Before you pack a single box, you have to do the hard part. You stand in your house, look at all your stuff, and get ruthless.
I make three piles:
- Keep: Stuff I use or truly love.
- Donate/Sell: Stuff that’s fine, but I don’t need it.
- Trash: The “why do I even have this?” pile. That half-used candle? The broken lamp I was gonna fix? The twenty-seven random takeout menus? Trash. Be honest. You’re paying money to store this stuff. Is that broken lamp worth $20 a month?
This is the most important step. Less stuff to move means a smaller, cheaper unit and way less work.
Boxing: Keep it Simple
You don’t need fancy stuff. You need:
- Small boxes. I get them from the grocery store. Big boxes are a trap. You’ll fill one with books and throw out your back.
- A Sharpie. I duct tape one to my belt loop so I don’t lose it. I’m serious.
- Tape. Lots of it.
- Old blankets or sheets to throw over furniture.
Labeling is Your Superpower
This is where most people mess up. Writing “Kitchen” on a box is useless. You have to be weirdly specific.
I don’t just write on the top. I write on the side, too, because you won’t see the top once things are stacked.
My labels look insane, but they work:
“KITCHEN – LEFT OF SINK
- Potato Masher, Can Opener, Measuring Cups.
- Spatulas (the good one and the burnt one).
- BOTTOM: Vase (Fragile!).
When you need a can opener, you don’t open five “Kitchen” boxes. You find the one that says “Can Opener” on it. It’s that simple.
The Unit Itself: Your Game Plan
You walk into that empty, echoey space. Don’t just start chucking things in. Take a breath and make a plan.
- Leave a Path. I leave a skinny walkway right down the middle, from the door to the back wall. It feels like you’re wasting space, but you’re not. This path is your best friend. It’s the difference between “I’ll just grab my winter coat” and a three-hour, sweat-filled nightmare.
- Front and Center. The space right inside the door, on both sides of your path, is gold. This is for stuff you might need. For me, that’s my Christmas tree, my toolbox, and a box of off-season clothes.
- The Deep Dark Back. The very back wall is for the “see you in a few years” stuff. My kid’s kindergarten art projects, my old yearbooks, that sort of thing.
Stacking Without Disaster
- Heavy stuff low, light stuff high. Books and tools go in first, on the bottom. Pillows and blankets go on top. If a stack feels wobbly, it is. Fix it now, not after it falls over.
- Take things apart. That bookshelf? It probably comes apart. That table? Take the legs off. It makes everything easier to stack around. Put all the screws and little bits in a baggie and tape it right to the furniture. “I’ll remember where I put them” is a lie.
- Use your furniture. That dresser you’re storing? The drawers are empty? Fill them up with light stuff! Throw your linens in there. Put your pillows in there. You’re already storing the dresser, so use it.
My Secret Weapon
If you can, spend $50 on a cheap wire shelving unit from a hardware store. Put it at the back of your unit. Now you can put boxes on shelves instead of just stacking them to the ceiling. You can see every label without moving a thing. It is, hands down, the best thing I ever did.
Packing a storage unit right is a gift you give your future self. Your future self is tired, busy, and just wants to find the holiday decorations without having a breakdown.
And listen, the whole thing is less stressful when you know your stuff is somewhere solid. That’s the whole point of A-Affordable Storage. We’re not a fancy corporation; we’re local folks who provide clean, secure, and affordable units because we know you’re storing your life in there. We get it.
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