While fun and sometimes necessary, household renovations can, unfortunately, expose your personal belongings to dust, paint, damage and various toxic chemicals. Furthermore, many household renovations require homeowners to empty the room they’re working in, causing the rest of the house to quickly become cluttered for the duration of the renovations. Not only can this be dangerous, especially if you have little ones running around, but it can be annoying to have to try and squeeze through narrow hallways or block off areas you commonly use around the house.
Fortunately, there are several ways you can make storing your items during a renovation more efficient (and with minimal cost and effort). Continue reading to find out what they are:
Storing Items During a Renovation
If you’re getting ready to renovate your home, here are a few quick tips to making the process easier:
- Be sure to remove everything from the room you’re renovating before you get started. When you’re updating a space, even if you’re doing something as simple as painting, it can be tempting to only move what’s in your way as opposed to everything in the room. Unfortunately, failing to remove everything can not only limit the space you have to get around but can also increase your risk of injury. Additionally, moving everything out of the room first will help ensure your items don’t get damaged during the renovation process. While this does involve more work upfront, removing every item from the room first will help make the process more efficient moving forward.
- Store similar items in boxes and don’t forget to label them. When you’re renovating, it can be easy just to toss everything in a box with the plan to sort it out later. However, that can be incredibly time-consuming and frustrating, especially if items for certain rooms aren’t easily retrievable. If you’re planning on putting the same items back in a specific room once the renovations are complete, be sure to label the boxes with which room they belong to so you can set everything up quickly.
- Disassemble furniture (if you can) before moving it. If your furniture can be disassembled, it’s recommended you do so before moving it, even if you’re only moving it to another part of your house. Dissembling furniture will not only make it easier and lighter to transport, but it also reduces the risk of it getting damaged.
- Throw out what you don’t need. Oftentimes, before a renovation, homeowners will just toss everything in a room or cabinet into a box without taking the time to sort through it. This is always a bad idea, especially since the more you want to pack, the more money you’ll be spending on boxes, tape, markers, and even a storage unit. Take some time to weed through the items before you pack and throw out anything that doesn’t work, is expired, or that you no longer use or need.
- Don’t pack what doesn’t have to (or shouldn’t) be packed. One of the worst things is finding out that you already packed something you still need to use. Unfortunately, we’ve all been there, which is why we recommend taking an inventory of everything you’ll need to use during the renovation before throwing them in boxes. Avoid packing any perishable items, cleaners, and utensils but keep them in a safe place so they’re not exposed to any harmful chemicals or sawdust.
- Dedicate another room in the house for storage. If you have space and don’t mind temporarily storing all your furniture and household items in a different room of the house, this is an efficient and cost-effective method to use during renovations. However, this isn’t always feasible, especially if you need to use the other rooms in your house or don’t have an attic or garage.
- Search for and rent a storage unit. If you know your household renovations are going to take a couple of weeks or months or if you don’t have ample space to move items around in your home, renting a storage unit is your best option. When searching for a unit, make sure to find one that’s local to you to help cut down on the amount of time you’re spending on the road. Likewise, be sure to find out what the storage center offers. Do they offer 24/7 access? Are they climate-controlled? Do they offer the size you need to easily fit everything? Self-storage units are a great alternative to keeping your items safe while you fix up your home.
Conclusion
If you’re planning a household renovation and believe a storage unit is the best option, Cork Storage Centre can help. We offer multiple storage units that are suited for all of your personal, business, and commercial needs. We even offer yard units to store your work vehicle or other large items that are unable to be stored in a traditional self-storage unit. Our storage in Cork are accessible 24/7, so you never have to worry about trying to rush around to drop something off or pick something up before we close. Our team is available by phone so be sure to give us a call at 021-4965580 to check for availability during office hours.