If your interior design is important to you (as it is to most people), you may want to start with an open-concept idea in your house. One of the biggest mistakes people make when designing their homes is adding too many things in too small of a space.

Moreover, if you live in one of the bigger cities in Tennessee, such as Nashville, finding a well-sized house or apartment within your budget can be challenging. Hence space becomes an issue yet again.

It’s time to consider getting rid of some of the belongings you don’t use or storing them away for a later time. Most people aren’t aware that storage is one of the best ways to keep your belongings safe without having to do away with them entirely.

However, there is a way of storing things to ensure they remain safe and easily accessible for retrieval.

This article aims to help you with just that. By the end of this piece, you should have a fair idea about how to pack items and store them in the best way possible. Seems simple enough, right? Read till the end of this article and check off the things you already do.

Weather guard your belongings

It gets cold here in Nashville, and your belongings can sometimes succumb to the cold. Especially if it’s been snowing, the moisture in the air could cause major issues if any of the Nashville storage units near your home aren’t insulated or don’t have internal temperature regulations.

Even something as mundane as a box of clothes can develop moisture and eventually begin to grow mold if you don’t keep weather as a variable when storing your belongings.

One of the best things you can do is to wrap the boxes with cling film or bubble wrap to ensure it’s airtight. Not only does this protect it from the elements, but it also creates a more secure box that sustains bumps and damages better than the average non-reinforced box.

You can be sure whatever is in those boxes will be safe and secure if the entire thing is covered in bubble wrap. Be it clothes, crockery, or other items, with an external and airtight seal, your belongings will be safe for months, maybe years!

Label everything

When storing your belongings, it’s best to label the boxes with whatever is in them. If you want to take it a step further and make it even more convenient, consider coding the boxes so that you know what is inside.

Code them in a way that you can cross-check the box code with an inventory to find out exactly which items are stored in the boxes or suitcases.

We understand that this may be an additional hassle that you might not have time for, but if you do manage to pull off a coded label system, it could make things incredibly easy when you are unpacking.

Not only does labeling help you, but it helps movers sift and sort which boxes go where if you are moving. Rather than dumping it all into one room, each box can go to its designated room and remain there till it is unpacked.

Line boxes with newspaper/ plastic at the bottom

One of the first places to sustain damage, water seepage, and general dirt is the bottom of the box. You might unknowingly place the box on a wet patch and leave it there for months. It may not seem significant, but because boxes are made of cardboard, the moisture will seep through and damage your belongings.

It would be best if you could line the bottom of the box with some sheet plastic to avoid such things happening. Even if moisture or dirt breaks the box, the plastic adds an additional layer of defense for your belongings inside.

Doing so will save you your belongings and a lot of hassle if the box breaks. Moreover, you may not realize that the bottom of the box has caved in till you lift it, and all the contents fall on the floor.

Add some sort of mild pesticide

We cannot comment on whether you should add it in the box or not (that’s up to you) but certainly in the rough area where you are storing the items. Something subtle and mild so that It doesn’t make the entire place smell and cause an issue.

Remember, your belongings will be here for quite a while; therefore, cockroaches, ants, rats, and other pests will probably take their chances with the box. Roaches and rats thrive on paper products like the ones your boxes are made of.

Consider spraying the room/unit where you plan on storing things before you put your stuff in there. Get the floors, spray the corners, and ensure that you have holistic coverage before adding your belongings to the area.

Opening your favorite summer clothes only to find a torn box with insects inside is a nasty experience.

Priority and easy access to storage

It stands to reason that you might need to retrieve some of these items more often than others. For example, a China set or a set of books that you will need next year. Since you will probably need to retrieve stuff from time to time, consider storing them in a way where you can reach priority items first.

If you’re using a storage unit, make sure it is near your home. Furthermore, be careful how you place the boxes. Things would become messy if that box of books were at the bottom, with many other boxes stacked on top.

Try stacking your boxes according to priority and importance. This allows you to make quick trips in and out of the unit where you don’t have to mess up the stacking and general order of things.

Moreover, it would be wise to stack around the room/ unit—pack against the side and back walls. Don’t fill the space in the middle of the room. You need to be able to walk into the unit and retrieve your belongings from time to time.

Conclusion

The tips mentioned above might help out when you’re storing your items away. From how to pack to how to store your belongings, we covered some of the best tips to help make the process easier. How many of these tips did you already use when storing your belongings?

We hope that this article made things easier for you!