How Can Extra Storage Make Moving House Less Stressful?

This morning my friend rang me in a bit of a panic as she’s got 3 weeks between 2 houses and she’s currently using every flat surface of both houses as well as the car bonnet to make temporary shelves for her ‘stuff’. She just needed somewhere to put all of her things for now.

First there is the act of moving itself. Then there is the time after the move when you are not quite settled in your new home. Most people do not talk about this time, and it is probably the hardest time of all.

The overlap problem is real

Even with the best made plans, most people find that their moving schedule does not work as planned. For example, a couple settled into their new home on time. However, a few weeks later the couple found themselves moving between their two homes – storing most of the items in storage at their new home and bringing occasional items to the new home from their old home. The old home was now vacant but all of their items were scattered between the two locations in two different states of disarray.

Things start to get out of control, and things start to get in the way of where you are trying to live while you’re getting all of your things moved to a new place. That means things get to be stacked up along your hallway, things get to be stored in your garage or your relative’s garage, and things get to be stored in the back of your van that you are paying $80 per day to have sitting on the street. This is not ideal, and it’s not very comfortable.

Innovative Storage Solutions can help alleviate the stress of your move by storing all of your household and office furniture and effects in one storage unit. No longer will you have to worry about items scattered around 5-6 temporary locations and try to work out how you can get to the other end of town to collect from a storage facility when you have been fighting with removalists, trying to organize the change over with various utility companies and attempt to notify approximately 400 different organizations of your new address, 3 times longer than anticipated.

Downsizing is its own kind of complicated

So, as can be seen, in order to downsize to a smaller home, there are many items that a person holds dear and this can be very stressful to get rid of. In the heat of a move many people get rid of things that they later regret. They may have donated items or sold them but after they have been removed from their home they realize what great memories they had gotten from these objects. So, while the person who has done the downsizing to a smaller home may be thrilled with their new home, there may be some things that they are quietly mourning.

And lastly, even when we are downsizing, we need to remember that it is very important not to rush through the decision making process. I have found that there are so many people who donate or sell things thinking that is the best thing for them only to realize years later that they made a huge mistake. I am talking about things like arm chairs, bookshelves that fit perfectly in your old study, or that great big kitchen table that for years was the hub of your dinner parties. Having a storage unit means that you can take your time to decide what to do with your stuff, to move into your new small house first and see how it all works out for you and then to make decisions based on experience. It is not avoiding the decision, it is just being sensible and taking your time.

This is not avoiding the problem, it is smart and under-rated!

There are many self storage facilities throughout the south-west of Western Australia that can offer temporary storage solutions for individuals that are currently undergoing the process of a downsize move. Anchor Self Storage is a leading provider of self storage solutions in the area of Bunbury, which is a short distance from the city of Perth. They offer a wide range of different storage units and solutions, which can be rented on a short-term basis to provide the perfect solution for individuals who require additional space to store a variety of different items while they are deciding what to keep and what to get rid of in their new home.

What Goes Into Storage During A Short Term Period Of A Move?

Stuff that you wouldn’t think you would store in a short term storage unit in lead up to a removal and subsequent renovation of your home. The following are some of the more common items that I have come across that people store for short periods of time during their home.

Furniture that doesn’t fit the new layout (but you’re not ready to sell)
Seasonal items, sporting gear, and tools that clutter staging during open homes
Sentimental pieces you want to keep but don’t have immediate room for
Business equipment or stock if you’re moving home office operations
Boxes that are packed but can’t be moved in until the renovation crew finishes

None of the above storage solutions would be suitable for long term storage for a number of reasons including short term access, prone to pests, moisture, become a warehouse of unwanted items. Storage facilities are best used as a ‘pressure valve’ to release pressure whilst you sort other items in the short term.

Renting vs. storing: a quick reality check

Whether storage can be more cost effective than other alternatives, and how to make the comparison.

Option	Typical cost	Flexibility	Stress level
Keep hiring a moving van	$80–$120/day	Very low	High
Store at a friend/family’s place	Free (but costly in other ways)	Awkward	Medium-high
Dedicated storage unit	$100–$250/month depending on size	High	Low
Rush-sell or donate everything	Often regrettable	Irreversible	Deceptively low at first

The cost of storage against the cost of alternative methods of management, very quickly, becomes a cost of management against the cost of your sanity. Free storage in a relatives garage is free until it becomes a bill for strained relations.

Renovating? Same logic, different chaos

You and your furniture are relocated from room to room within your own home. Rooms are cleared and then used for temporary periods of time. Other parts of your home are used as a ‘base’ for that time and you and your furniture are set up in that part of the home like a Hermit Crab, surrounded by lots of clutter whilst plasterer, Dave does his thing in the rest of your renovated home.

It is recommended that you clean the room that the renovation is taking place in prior to contractors commencing work. Whilst it is common for people to believe that cleaning up prior to a renovation will add ‘extra’ work in the form of tidying up on a daily basis, the reality is that by having a completely cleaned room your contractors will be able to complete work in a timely manner, and thus complete the whole of the renovation sooner than you had anticipated. And that is worth more than the cost of storage space.

Empty the room completely before work begins
Store displaced furniture off-site so living areas stay liveable
Move items back in stages once each section is completed

Many of the renovation horror stories that are read are based on mistakes made by homeowners in relation to storage and the decisions made prior to the start of the renovation. Typically these mistakes are made with the best of intentions and it is not until the renovation takes longer than initially quoted that the homeowner realizes that the biggest mistake made was leaving everything in the renovation area and working around it.

Give yourself the gap

As life changing as a move is, it is consistently underrated as to how long it will take to get through your stuff and to settle into your new home. People’s focus is normally on getting the best removalist, sufficient numbers of quality boxes and paying a deposit to secure their dream home. However in the best of circumstances the time taken to sort through a house hold goods and settle into new home takes weeks. In the interim time all surfaces can become a ‘stack’ to keep items that are in transit at hand.

In summary, if you are in the middle of a stressful and chaotic move and have the opportunity to utilize a storage shed or unit for a short period of time, it could prove to be one of the best decisions that you make. It will give you a little space and a little time to think clearly about all the things that you have brought with you to your new home, and make the job of deciding what to keep and what to get rid of so much easier. Sometimes a little storage space could be worth more than a larger moving truck.