It is important for your peace of mind when moving house that you are confident that your possessions will not be damaged during any stage of the moving process. There are many ways to help put your mind at ease and ensure the safety of your belongings. Many are down to some common-sense methods that won’t cost you much upfront and will reduce issues of breakages.
At Instore Storage, we like to provide our customers and followers with real-world examples of how storage applies to various situations. That’s because we want to be informative and give some context about how it benefits people. Online blogs are sometimes slightly vague and miss the most important aspect of highlighting how to apply storage.
When we think about how we store things, the default position is to keep everything at home or in the office, where we have dedicated rooms or spaces. The problem with this begins when space runs out, and we start cramming things on top of wardrobes and under beds. For a workplace, change this to a back office or buying more filing cabinets.
Before you know it, you don’t have anywhere else for things to go. Not only that, you’ve lost a number of rooms in the process, and it starts to become a major problem, specifically for businesses where compliance and spacing regulations are strict. That’s why it’s important to consider how you’re currently storing things and whether it’s the best choice to do it yourself.
Spring is on its way – it’s time to start thinking about swapping your storage! Using self-storage to store items not in-season helps free up space in your house as well as helping give you that spring feeling and a fresh start to the season. Here are a few tips to make swapping your spring items out of storage.
Make a list of winter items which you would like to store
Go through and sort out exactly what you want to be putting into storage over the summer season. Christmas decorations and snow gear is a good place to start before moving on to less obvious contenders. Perhaps you have some thick blankets and winter duvets which will take up a large amount of space in your cupboards at home? Keep this list as it will come in useful when you swap back your storage in the autumn.
Sort out your Wardrobe
In the UK, where we can experience all four seasons in a single day, its very easy to be short of space in your wardrobe and this is when self- storage is perfect. Make sure that you properly clean any clothes, polish any boots before storing them over the summer. Go through and make sure that there aren’t any clothes that you could get rid of or donate instead of just throwing them into storage.
Work out what you want to take out of storage
It is very helpful to have a list of what you have put into storage so you can work out exactly what items you want to take out again without having to go to your storage unit and rifle around! Sports gear, bicycles and children’s toys might be top of your list but don’t forget other items such as gardening equipment. It is much better to make sure that you have everything that you need the first time round so that you don’t have to keep coming back to retrieve you belongings from storage.
Spring cleaning
Take this opportunity to do some spring cleaning in your storage space, you’ll be very glad of this come autumn.
Take a look at our flexible storage solutions here.
When preparing to put your house on the market, you need to ensure that your home is not cluttered with all of your belongings first. Here are some top tips on what to put in storage when selling your home and where to put your belongings.
What to put in storage
Where to put it
inStore offers secure storage in its own easily accessible depots providing dry, safe and secure storage at competitive rates. Click here to look at our flexible storage solutions to store large or small quantities for the short or long term – perfect for when you are waiting to sell your house.
Moving into a new area will generally involve getting to know your neighbours, and while you may feel like you don’t have the time, it is worth making an effort to introduce yourself to those around you and will help you settle in to your new neighbourhood. Our advice is to take the time to visit those next-door to you and say a friendly hello – and you might even get a nice cup of tea!
Housewarming party
If you are moving into an area in which you already have some friends or family not too far away, you may be thinking of hosting a housewarming event to introduce everyone to your new home. Be aware of noise and let your neighbours know in advance -perhaps even consider inviting your neighbours for a drink to get to know them a little better.
Parking
Parking disputes are always a good way to get off on the wrong foot with your neighbours, so make sure that you don’t accidentally block other people’s access to their homes (not only with cars but with children’s bikes etc) and if your unsure as to whether you might be able to park in a particular space or not there is no harm in asking!
Get involved in the community
There is always something that you can get involved with to help you feel more part of the community and let others know that you are willing to make an effort to join in and contribute. This might be something as simple as volunteering once a week at a local institution but it makes a big difference to helping you feel at home and letting others know you want to help.
When you love wine than you are entering a whole world of wine knowledge and opinions. What makes a good wine, what you should eat with what wine, how to savour the taste, how to look after your wine, what etc. it’s all about the most enjoyable experience. The Wine Cellar is a famous place, an underground cave of liquid delights, where the seeker chooses just the right bottle for the moment. But why is wine stored in a cellar anyway? The concept that wine gets better with age is not strictly true, Most wines are intended to be consumed as they are bottled. The following varieties are known to mature/improve with age:
Nebbiolo – Cabernet Sauvignon – Syrah – Grenache – Sangiovese – Pinot Noir – Riesling – Chenin Blanc – Marsanne and Chardonnay.
Generally speaking the more expensive the wine the more likely it will hold and improve it’s quality over time. When storing wine you need to consider the following to keep it’s integrity:
Artificial or natural light through the bottle can alter the chemical composition and therefore the taste
The more you slosh a bottle about the more it can deteriorate the cork, as well as making unessary bubbles. Once that happens oxygen can get in and that the biggest killer of wine.
Wine should be stored at an even temperature of about 13C or 55F. Wine stored in fluctuating temperatures can have negative effect over time.
People want to keep wine for special occasions. They may be given a nice bottle as a present and keep it back for a celebration, or they buy an expensive wine to commemorate a date. Then store it and bring it out at the poignant moment. Imagine gifting your child with their first bottle of wine at 18 (maybe before) that was purchased at their birth.
So if you really appreciate wine and don’t have perfect place to store it then we can hold that for you. All our facilities are temperature controlled, dry, away from light and stable. Your investment in the future will be kept safe waiting for that special moment. Give us a call on 01963 616161 or just get a quote
We are often asked about abandoned belongings in our Storage facility in Mere, near Gillingham and it’s an interesting question. Interesting, because it beings into question our whole ethos. Do we follow our own Terms and Conditions and dispose of peoples personal belongings just because they haven’t paid a bill. How long do we let a client not pay, how much space are they taking up and what harm are abandoned belongings having on the rest of our business.
My guess is that a pragmatic approach is the best approach in these situations, communication is key. Yes, we’ll write some pretty nasty letters about non-payment, but it’s important to remember these are largely designed to inform, rather than to scare. We are not Parking Ticket Collection Agencies.
But, that is also what makes us different from many larger franchise Self Storage companies, yes, we have systems and we try to be efficient, but that the end of the day one of the things that makes inStore Solutions unique in the world of Self Storage is our flexibility and our friendliness. We are all humans.
So, abandon belongs can be a problem for us, we’ve played many a tune on the old Grand Piano and we cannot remember who owned, maybe one day they will collect it and at that point we’ll come to an agreement on how to be recompensated of all the years we’ve looked after it.
What I can promise is that we will look after everything within our storage facility with exactly the same care and attention as anyone else’s belongings, abandoned or not. The reason for this is that it is simply not worth our while not to. Everyone’s possessions are kept dry, safe, secure and protected.
But in terms of abandoned belongings, the solution is always communication. If we know you still want your belongings and you explain to us the various reasons for delayed payments or why you are abandoning them, talk to us, however many letters we might send, it is always better to respond to them than to say nothing at all.
Congratulations, you have sold and hopefully sold well… but do you now need temporary storage, as you have not quite managed to find the perfect house to move into yet, instead you are looking for some temporary storage for your personal belongings.
Well, look no further, for we are the people you need. A small, local, personal, friendly and yet professional team of dedicated professional keen to impress, always smiling and with enough strong arms to lift a grand piano, okay be gentle on us, but you get the message. We’re open for business.
When you have successfully sold a house and you’re not quite ready for the new one, temporary storage is a must, you need somewhere dry, safe, secure and accessible, Self Storage is all the rage these days, but that means organising your own transport, your friends to help, or worse breakages during the move, far better to get the professionals in who will do the job cleanly, calmly and professionally.
Our process is simple. request a Quote and we’ll ask a few question about who much you need to store, then if you wish we can organise a site visit and someone from our team will come to you and go through what needs moving. Arrange times and finalise the Estimate.
We do all that is asked of us, and at the time you asked. And great your personal possessions are all safely in storage. Later when you buy your house or are ready to move in, a quick call and we’re on our way, flexible to the last we understand delays and can accommodate your needs.
Our service is designed from the outset to be cost-effective, we will match other quotes if necessary, easy, flexible and friendly. Give us a call on 01963 616161 or just get a quote.
Ok, summers here, schools out and it’s time to go home and get your laundry done and eat from your parents fridge and breath out. Your future is bright and abundant. Perhaps you have a work lined up. But there’s one more job you have to do. Clear out your stuff from your university digs. DON’T PANIC! Read this guide to student storage in Wiltshire and get it done in a weekend (or a day if you power through like when you did those assignments). Start like this: Catagorise your stuff, make 3 area’s/piles
If it’s broken, chuck it. It’s you can’t think of any use for it. Chuck it. Loads of papers that feel stressful to store, Chuck it. Recycle if you can for your conscious but don’t store crap you don’t need. Enjoy being ruthless. Then Chuck it out. Make Space to make progress.
Books your will not re-read, clothes that you don’t see yourself wearing again. un-necessary and working gadgets. All good stuff for someone else. Drop the lot off at a charity shop and feel good about yourself. if you donate to Oxfam you can attach your nectar card and gain points when they sell. Bonus! Once ready take it to the charity shop. Make space to make progress.
What’s left goes in a box. Does it look like a lot? Never mind, once its in a box it’s sorted. Instore can provide you will all the packing material you need. Boxes, wrap, tape Etc. The rule about packing is: If you see it. Put it in a box. Stick to that and you will make progress. Remember the bottom of the box needs to remain strong. When boxing imagine that are not going to open these again until some time so don’t stress too much about categorising them very well. Unpacking is always faster than packing.
Hover the place, give it wipe. You don’t have to be immaculate the landlord should thoroughly clean it before the next lot comes in. this puts you in good stead for a reference and its worth it. Tell the landlord about any stuff that needs fixing or wasn’t quite right.
Our instore Boys will pick this up, take away your trouble and you know it’s safe secure ready for the next adventure. Problem solved and sorted.
