Complete Guide to Organizing Your Storage Unit in Cincinnati
Organizing your storage unit is one key to having an effective experience at Circle Storage in Greater Cincinnati. Whether you need storage for three months or three decades, having a climate-controlled or non-climate-controlled storage unit in Cincinnati can make managing your day-to-day life easier.
Read our complete guide to organizing your storage unit in Cincinnati. You’ll find that an organized storage space makes it easy to move, add, and remove items when you check on the unit every so often.
Table of Contents
1. Planning Your Storage Needs
2. Packing Your Items
3. Utilizing Space Efficiently
4. Accessibility & Safety
5. Seasonal or Rotational Storage
6. Protecting Your Items
7. Regularly Checking Up
8. Circle Storage in Cincinnati
Planning Your Storage Needs
Ask yourself a series of questions as you assess your need for a storage unit in Cincinnati.
1. How long do I need storage?
2. How much storage do I need?
3. What items am I storing?
4. How close am I to the storage facility?
5. When will I access the storage unit?
6. How often do I need to get into the unit?
7. How much can I spend on storage per month?
8. How easily can I get in and out of the unit?
All of these questions are important to think about before you sign up for a storage unit in Cincinnati.
Long-Term vs. Short-Term Storage
If you don’t need storage for very long (three months or less), and you don’t expect any weather fluctuations, non-climate-controlled storage might work for you. If you need a long-term solution, consider climate-controlled storage to prevent your items from degrading due to the ravages of heat, cold, and humidity.
Long-Term Storage
Long-term storage typically involves storing items for several months or even years. In such cases, careful planning and preparation are essential.
For items sensitive to temperature and humidity fluctuations, such as furniture, electronics, or papers, climate-controlled storage is the best option. Prioritize facilities with security measures, including surveillance cameras, gated access, and on-site management.
Short-Term Storage
Short-term storage is often needed for temporary situations like moving, home renovations, or downsizing. In these cases, flexibility and convenience are probably at the top of your mind. If your items are less sensitive to temperature changes, non-climate controlled storage can be a cost-effective option.
Sizing Your Storage Unit in Cincinnati
You don’t want to overpay for storage, which is why selecting the right size is important. A general rule of thumb is that one entire room of belongings would need a 10x10 unit because you need to leave enough room for aisles and rows if you need to access things in an orderly fashion.
Our handy storage size guide can help you more accurately assess how much storage you need. It’s very easy to use.
Five rooms of items are listed: Bedroom, Kitchen, Living & Dining, Office, and Outdoors.
Approximate sizes are shown, like a king-size bed at 70 cubic feet.
Add how many of the items you have using the plus and minus counter.
As you add items, it will show you how much room you have left for our levels of storage units, from 5x5 to 10x30. For instance, a king-size bed shows that a 5x5 storage unit is 58% full.
The approximate sizes of our storage units are as follows:
5x5: Size of a standard closet.
5x10: Standard walk-in closet, like one attached to your master bedroom.
5x15: Small studio apartment or one entire room of your home.
10x10: Can hold the contents of two small rooms.
10x15: Could hold the contents of a small house or two-bedroom apartment.
10x20: This is the size of a one-car garage.
10x25: Do you need a place to store a houseful of furniture? This would work if you have a three-bedroom home.
10x30: This storage unit is for a three- or four-bedroom house, perfect for moving.
As you might expect, the prices for different sizes go up. However, it’s not always true that a 5x10 costs twice as much as a 5x5. You might see better cost savings with a 5x10 instead of two 5x5 units. Also, climate-controlled storage costs more than a non-climate controlled unit of the same size.
Location, Location, Location
Most people prefer having a storage unit in Cincinnati within 3 to 5 miles of their home for easy access. This is particularly true if you plan to frequent the storage unit once a month or have seasonal items.
Look for a storage facility near your place, with many sizes available and with long access times during the day. Ours have gated and locked access from around 6 or 7 in the morning to 10 at night.
We have eight convenient locations to serve you, from Harrison to Amelia, and many points in between!
Packing Your Items
Packing your items properly allows you to make the most efficient use of your storage unit in Cincinnati. We recommend corrugated cardboard or plastic tubs as sturdy containers to organize your items.
Boxes or Tubs
Pack the boxes or tubs full. If you can’t pack a box full of items, add filler material like packing peanuts, a blanket, or bubble paper to fill out the space. Filling a box completely will help it maintain its shape while in storage.
Label everything correctly. You can be as high-tech or low-tech as you want. You can write on the top and side of a box in a permanent market to say what room the box came from and what’s in it. Meanwhile, write down what’s in the box and use a numbering system. For example, Box 1 for the dining room contains the napkins and placemats while Box 2 for the dining room holds silverware, and Box 3 has the tablecloths.
For a high-tech solution, printable barcode labels on your home computer. Download an inventory app to your phone, where you can take notes on what’s in the box. Then, scan the barcode with your phone’s camera. You could also take a video of what’s in the box and talk on the video to say what’s in the box. You can replay the video later for reference. It’s important to label the video correctly so you know what it refers to. So, Video 1 could be 30 seconds about Box 1 for the dining room, which you’ll write on the side of the box.
The snafu with putting stuff on your phone is that if you change phones without switching the SIM card or lose the phone, you won’t have access to that information. So, do what you deem best.
For tubs, consider a white label on the side so you can still write on it. There’s no sense in marking the plastic of the tub. Invest in sturdy plastic tubs with strong lids.
Furniture
For furniture, it’s important to optimize the space. Remove items from the furniture as much as you can, such as spare shelves and legs. Put blankets or padding over wooden furniture to prevent scratching when moving the items. Glass items, like display cases or mirrors, should be wrapped completely with a blanket or furniture pad.
Moving the furniture should be done with caution, especially for larger items. When you invest in a climate-controlled storage unit at one of our facilities, you’ll get a dolly or wheeled cart to help you move bulky items.
Utilizing Space Efficiently
Organizing your space lets you get in and out of your storage unit in Cincinnati easily without having to remove everything just to get to one item. Your organization skills will be more effective if you get in and out of your storage unit regularly, like once a month or once a season.
Shelving Is Great for Boxes and Tubs
If the majority of what you need to store is boxes and tubs, consider temporary shelving for your storage unit. This can be plastic shelving for lightweight items or metal shelving for heavier objects.
Shelving is great for when stacking boxes or tubs on each other is impractical, like when you don’t have enough large, heavy objects to form a foundation for organizing your storage unit. The best place for shelving is along the back wall and the side walls. These give you a basis for setting up aisles while making the most efficient use of space.
Stack Boxes & Tubs in Layers
You’ve got about 8 feet of space to work with from floor to ceiling. We don’t recommend stacking items that high. You shouldn’t stack more than what you can reach safely while standing on the floor.
Stacking in layers lets you make use of the vertical space in the self-storage unit. Start stacking with the heaviest items on the floor first. This is why you want to back the boxes with as many things as you can. It can prevent the sides of the boxes from collapsing.
The heaviest items on the bottom can prevent the stack of boxes from falling over. Again, if you want something stronger, you can utilize this method with plastic tubs. Stacking boxes 6 to 7 feet tall can help you get the most out of your storage unit in Cincinnati.
If you combo plastic tubs and cardboard boxes, consider putting the tubs lower and stacking the boxes on top of the tubs. Plastic is generally sturdier than cardboard.
Line the Walls First
Begin with the back wall, in a corner. Put the heaviest box or tub down first, and stack from there until that back corner is filled as high as you can reach. Then, go to the next spot along the back wall and make a similar column of tubs or boxes. Once the back wall is filled as much as you can, move to the side wall and use the same process. Lining the walls first makes it easier to place large, bulky items. If you have large pieces of furniture, try putting them against a wall.
Create Aisles
After all three walls are filled in, leave enough room to maneuver in the storage unit when making aisles. We recommend leaving at least 3 feet of space between the columns to give you enough room to maneuver. If not, it might feel cramped as you move things in and out.
If you don’t have enough space for aisles and rows, stack things evenly and straight as high as you can. You’ll need to make sure every row is even and squared off. How you use the space in your storage unit depends on how often you need to move things in and out of it. We highly recommend rows and aisles if you plan on moving things around monthly or quarterly.
Keep Quick Access Things Close to the Door
We understand that not everyone can have the ideal storage unit with neat rows and aisles for easy access. If you have to fill the storage unit completely, think about having items you want to get as close to the door as possible to prevent moving a lot of things in and out of the storage unit in Cincinnati.
Accessibility & Safety
All of our storage facilities are safe, secure, well-maintained, and well-lit. However, It’s still a good idea to be safe when accessing your storage unit.
Use Elevators & Carts for Climate-Controlled Storage
One advantage of our climate-controlled storage units in Cincinnati is the ease of accessibility. There’s a keypad that requires your individual code for access. Once inside, there are sturdy, four-wheeled carts that can help you move items to the elevator if your storage unit is on a higher floor. Maps will show you where various unit numbers are located in every hallway. If you want extra help finding your unit, you can take a video on your phone as you walk to your unit. Save that video for quick reference next time!
Prepare for Weather & Darkness
If you have to get out in the elements, dress appropriately. Check the weather before you head to your storage unit. For our climate-controlled facilities, we have an overhang that will keep the rain and snow off of you.
Moving items from a non-climate-controlled unit in rainy weather always takes a little extra effort. Consider renting a moving truck to get the move done in one trip versus several trips if you’re getting a lot of things out at once. You can back the moving truck (if it’s a smaller one) up to the door of the storage unit to lessen the amount of walking you need to do.
When it’s dark, you’ll need to have enough light to see into your non-climate-controlled unit. Bring an electric lantern with fresh batteries so that you can easily see what’s happening. Consider pointing your vehicle’s headlights to have steady illumination.
Be Aware of Your Surroundings
We understand that our facilities are generally safe. However, you should always be aware of your surroundings when accessing your storage unit in Cincinnati. If it’s going to be a longer trip to storage, bring a helper. Drive through the locked security gate slowly to avoid damage to your vehicle. If you see anything suspicious, let our team know.
Leave enough time to go through your storage unit. Rushing through something can lead to snafus, like locking keys in your vehicle, misplacing something, or forgetting to get an item or two from storage.
We want you to have a positive experience with your storage!
Seasonal or Rotational Storage
Seasonal or rotational storage refers to items you only keep in storage for a few months.
These are the typical seasonal storage items we see here:
● Outdoor patio or deck furniture
● Items for your pool
● Holiday decorations (Christmas or Halloween)
● Gardening/landscaping tools and equipment you only use during the summer
● Seasonal clothes or wardrobe items (swimwear, heavy coats)
● Party supplies or party items for birthdays or holidays
Sometimes, you don’t keep or maintain the same items from season to season. We recommend assessing your storage needs every time you check on your storage unit with seasonal items. Assessing your storage needs every season helps you save money, time, and effort if you need more or less storage.
Did you add three more Christmas inflatables this year? Did you buy a bigger Christmas tree? Have you downsized since last Christmas? Have you added more lawn equipment now that you’re more active in the garden?
The point is, if you add or subtract enough items, you might need a bigger or smaller storage unit to meet your needs. We’re happy to help you determine what is best for your situation.
Tips for Moving Things Into and Out of Your Storage Unit in Cincinnati
Think about making a list of everything you need to get or put in the unit. You’ll have less of a chance of forgetting something, which would mean another trip to storage. The idea here is to keep your trips to a storage unit in Cincinnati as productive as possible.
If you have a long day of moving things around, take frequent breaks even if the weather is mild. Bring water to drink and snacks. Moving companies can add some labor help to your move, even if you don’t want to hire them to fill one of their trucks. Research the best moving company for your needs!
Protecting Your Items
Keep your items safe when moving them to and from storage. You’ll also need to make sure your items are protected once they are in storage.
Get a Strong Disc Lock
We highly recommend a disc lock. They are nearly impossible to break and resist bolt cutters. We have disc locks for sale as retail items at our locations. The disc lock should fit perfectly into the latches on our storage units in Cincinnati. Make sure the lock has the key side facing away from the sidewall so you can access it easily with your key.
Transporting Your Items
When moving your items, whether you pack your SUV or a moving truck, make sure fragile items are packed properly and marked Fragile on the boxes. If the items are in boxes, add filler items or packing peanuts so they don’t slide around in the boxes.
Wrap furniture in blankets or furniture pads to prevent scratches. Do the same with mirrors and glass. Nothing should shift around when you move your items. If the moving truck isn’t filled all the way, use straps or rope to keep things from falling over or shifting when the truck moves.
Non-Climate-Controlled Storage Items
Remember, items stored in non-climate-controlled units could be subjected to seasonal temperature and humidity changes. We cannot guarantee that pests or moisture won’t intrude on your items. If you have concerns about mold, mildew, or bugs, you can use mothballs or cedar blocks to deter them. You can use silicone moisture absorbers to try to prevent mold.
Remember, storing hazardous materials is not allowed. So, that includes rat poison or insecticides to deter pests. The best deterrent for pests is packing your items properly or investing in a climate-controlled storage unit where pest control is handled in the building itself.
Regularly Checking Your Storage Unit in Cincinnati
We recommend checking your storage unit at least once every season, particularly if you have a non-climate-controlled one. Open the unit to see if everything is as you left it. Check the latch on the unit to determine if it slides in and out properly. If your items are insured, consider snapping a few photos or taking a video of the unit so you can have it for reference. You can compare your current photos to previous ones if something seems out of place.
Walk around the aisles to see if anything fell over. Look for signs of pests or water damage. Check any sensitive items for any wear and tear. Consider checking any wooden items to see if they have held up during the temperature changes between the seasons.
You should check your storage unit:
● Once a season
● After severe weather hits the area
● When moving items in or out
● When your storage needs change
Of course, if you need any help, contact us based on where your storage unit in Cincinnati is located. We have eight locations to serve you!
Circle Storage Facilities in Cincinnati
With eight locations and many years of serving the area, Circle Storage can meet your needs for self-storage in Cincinnati. We have two new facilities with climate-controlled storage, one in West Chester and another in Blue Ash.
Our friendly staff is happy to help in any way we can. Contact us for more information. Peruse our individual location listings to see what kinds of move-in specials we offer every month.