Storage and the 4Ds of Life (Death)

This is the beginning a four-part series that talks about item storage during different major phases of life.

The first phase is about dealing with storing memories and property after a loved one passes away. It can be difficult to go through all of the belongings in the short time you have available to you, requiring you to either bring all of the items home until you can sort through them all, or find alternative arrangements. Instead of cluttering up your home with furniture, boxes, mementos, and piles of things to go through, you may want to consider storing the items so you can go through them at your leisure.

Turning to Storage Facilities Allows You to Take Your Time

Chances are, your loved one is going to have quite a few items in their possession when they pass away. If you only have one box of items to go through, then it shouldn’t take up much space, but this instance is quite rare. Typically, you will have numerous rooms of items to go through. This means finding places for bedroom sets, living room furniture, chairs, tables, lamps, and potentially much more.

You could bring all of those items home and put them in your garage, basement, or wherever you have room. However, that is incredibly disrupting to your life, and leaves you in a position where grieving must be combined with sorting through all of these items. By turning to a storage facility, you can rent a space just as large as you need, and only for as long as you need it. Instead of being forced to sort through these items each spare moment of the day while also grieving your loss, you can go to the storage unit, grab a few items, and go through them as you have the ability.

Rushing Through Grieving is Not Good for You

There are multiple stages of grief, and rushing through them means you are leaving some of the stages unfinished. This means that the process will remain incomplete, and it could leave you open to problems down the line when it comes to processing your loss, or the loss of another loved one. Instead, you need to take however long it needs to take to go through the process organically.

By allowing a trusted storage facility to hold your things during your time of grief, you are able to take your time and enjoy the process of reliving those memories. To find out more, call Total Storage today, and see how they can help you during this process.

Ask Yourself This Question Before You Purge Your Closet

Ask Yourself This Question Before You Purge Your Closet Purging your closet is a great way to start off the new year. It can give you more space, help you organize, and allows you to have only the clothing you wear around. This is often a part of New Year’s resolutions to get your life more organized. However, the problem comes in when it comes time for you to face your closet. How do you know what to get rid of and what to keep? Asking this simple question may make that process a wee bit easier.

Ask Yourself This: If You Were At the Store, Would You Buy That Item Again?

By asking yourself that question, you can get a good idea how deeply you like an item. If your gut reaction when you see a piece of clothing is something along the lines of “what was I thinking?” then you know that the item is safe to donate to others or sell at a garage sale. On the other hand, if you see an item of clothing and you smile, then you know that it is one to place into the keep pile.

Go through your closet from one end to the other. Take out everything you wouldn’t buy again, and see how much space that buys you. For some, this will buy them a bunch of room, allowing them to know they can buy themselves a few new pieces to complement their wardrobe as time and money allow. However, for others, this may only buy them a few extra hangers worth of space in the closet. That means it is time to go a step further.

Now that you have a pile of clothes you know you would buy again, how do you make more space? You sort through the clothing again. The items that are too big or too small to where you only rarely wear them, you put into a separate pile. Once all the properly-fitting items are back into your closet, you should have enough space to be able to move around the closet more easily. Then, box up those clothes that you rarely wear and either chance storing them in your musty garage or basement, or protect them by putting them into a local storage unit that has climate controls. That way, when you do need one of those items of clothing, you are sure that the clothes will be smelling great and ready to go!

Don’t Get Buried Under Gifts with This Easy Trick

Christmas gift in the wood Are you worried about getting a cluttered home after the influx of gifts hits your home this year? It is a common concern that a lot of people have during the holiday season. There are a few things that you can do to minimize the impact on your home, such as asking for specific things to replace old or broken items that you love or having people simply give you cash for the holidays. However, that isn’t a lot of fun. If you want to figure out a way to keep from getting buried, one simple trick can make keeping your home organized much easier.

What is This One Simple Trick?

When your goal is to keep your home organized and uncluttered, follow this tip. For every single thing you get, donate two things you no longer use. That means that for each gift that you like and keep, find two things in your home that you can either move elsewhere or donate to someone that could use those items more than you do.

Every home in the world has at least one or two things that do not get regularly used. Most homes have far more than just one or two items that nearly never get used. Most homes have basements, attics, and garages that are full of stuff that no one uses, but people don’t know what to do with those items. They sit there and collect dust, take up space, and clutter your home. Instead of adding more to your home, make this holiday season one where you get to keep the organized home you love when all is said and done.

For items that you never use that you cannot donate or part with for whatever reason, you can also opt to get a storage unit to keep your home from getting cluttered up by your new gifts. You can get a little storage unit for just a few items, or you can go with a large unit if you want to finally take back your basement, attic, or garage space that has been holding all of your excess items all this time. Give Total Storage a call today and find out what size options they have to offer. You do not need to live a life of chaos, clutter, and confusion, so take this holiday season and start putting effort into keeping the clutter down and making your home a happier, more organized place.

Quick and Easy Ways to Prevent Holiday Clutter

Christmas decorations in a box With the holiday season quickly coming upon us all, the clutter that comes with it can also engulf our lives. If you fear this time of year because of how much disorganization and chaos it throws into your home, then know that there are simple things that you can do to keep clutter to a minimum. Here are a few tips to keep clutter down at your home, so you can spend the rest of your time enjoying the holiday.

Pick and Choose Your Decorations Carefully

When you go to decorate your home, pick the decorations that mean the most to you. Then, when you decide which decorations to use, take out items that are currently in your home that would take up the same space. One of the biggest mistakes that most people make is they try and put the holiday decorations in with the rest of their decorations.

Instead, for each decoration you put in, pick something that is similar in size and replace it for the time being. If you put ten things into your living room, take ten things out and package them up to store during the holiday season. Then, when it comes time to take down your decorations, you put your items back and are on your way.

Let Someone Else Use Decorations You Don’t Use

We all get to where we have more decorations than what we can realistically use or put up. This can be due to them being handed down to us, finding more that you’d replaced because you thought they were lost, getting too busy to put up all the decorations you have, or just buying something on the spur of the moment that made you smile.
Either way, when we get to the point of having too many decorations, it is time to cut down on the collection. You can either go online and sell off your extra decorations, or an even better idea may be to donate them to people less fortunate than you are who could use a pick-me-up. Let someone else get a smile from your decorations, that way, your house is not too full of decorations that are always difficult to find homes for.

Keep Extra Holiday Stuff in Storage

One of the best ways to keep your holiday clutter to a minimum is to keep things that are not a constant part of your holiday gatherings in storage. For example, if you are going to a family member’s house for a holiday gathering, put all of the wrapped gifts into large storage bags and store them. That way, when that event comes up, you simply grab that bag and head on over.

You can do this in your basement, but you may chance that the gifts may smell like your basement. A better option may be using a small storage unit, as you can hold your extra decorations prior to donating them, the items you take out of your home for the decorations, and the gifts, all in the same secure location.

If you need to find the perfect, small storage unit to help keep your home uncluttered during the holidays, give Total Storage a call today!

Decluttering

Turning to Storage Facilities Allows You to Take Your Time

Rushing Through Grieving is Not Good for You

Pick and Choose Your Decorations Carefully

Let Someone Else Use Decorations You Don’t Use

Keep Extra Holiday Stuff in Storage