PERSONAL STORAGE: DECLUTTERING YOUR LIFE

Off-site personal storage at Asheville Storage is easy and secure. As you look around your house, you realize that you have accumulated more than will fit into the square footage available in your home. It may be that you cannot abide by junk and regularly rid your home of worn out items and things no one wants anymore. Still, you see that too many things are cluttering your home and hiding its style and pizzazz. If you decide to rent a personal storage unit, give Asheville Storage a call, we have many different options to choose from. This will allow you to rotate your treasures in and out of your house at the whim of your inner design guru.  Now comes the hard part. What should stay and what should be tucked away in your personal storage unit?

Keepers

• Hold onto clothes that are in season and that you wear regularly.

• Keep at home practical items in regular use like silverware, towels, bedding and soap dishes.

• Retain often used furniture.

• Keep photos and wall hangings that add a spark to the décor.

• Hold onto board games and enough toys to fill your child’s toy box.

• Keep enough of your college student’s personal objects to make them feel at home when they visit.

• File current bills and private documents like social security cards and bank account information at home.

• Show off collectors’ items in a display cabinet.

• Make room for sporting gear that someone in the house uses every few days (basketballs, yoga mats, bikes and more).

• Carve a niche for that emergency household tool kit.

Storage-bound

• Store out-of-season clothing and footwear.

• Box up extra items that clutter your cupboards like excess towels, the good silver used only on holidays, extra blankets needed only in winter and toothbrush holders that have been replaced by a fresh design.

• Store the rocker that the only grandma sits in when she visits every six months or the footstool that no one uses but everyone trips over.

• Store photos and wall hangings that make the room look too busy or just don’t fit your current design scheme.

• Pack away extra toys that you have no room for. Rotate them in and out every few weeks so that your child can enjoy all of them. Involve your child in the decisions.

• Put away your college student’s bags, balls and other belongings that spill out of his closets into other rooms or that make his room uncomfortable for guests.

• Stash tax documents and other papers that may be needed but are seldom reviewed.

• Store collectors’ items that take up too much room and don’t look good on display. If you have several collections or many items, you may want to rotate them.

• Pack up an out-of-season sporting gear.

• Bundle garden tools together in the offseason and stick them in a garbage bin in your self-storage unit.

• Ultimately, use your discretion to decide what stays and what goes. Label your stored goods well. If you are keeping them, you should rotate what you can into daily use every so often.

SPRING CLEANING AND STORAGE

That time of year has arrived when the days get longer, and it becomes easier to do something about the carpet stains, dust and stale air that have built up during the last few weeks and, perhaps, months. Finally, you can throw open all of the windows and let in the fresh air without freezing. Now, get ready to revitalize your home with a good spring cleaning.

Whether you conduct a full-house cleaning once a year or once a month, you may want to consider renting a personal storage unit, from Asheville Storage to get things out of the way during the process. In addition, cleaning and organizing easily can turn into redecorating. Personal storage facilities, like Asheville Storage, are great places to store items for the long-term that do not fit into your updated home design scheme but that you are not ready to toss, sell or donate.

Spring cleaning tips:

• To keep track of what you have already accomplished, clean from the top down, dusting and washing ceiling fans, light fixtures and corners first. Then wipe and wash walls, windows, counters, furniture, and floors. A similar philosophy works with windows. Try cleaning the inside from left to right and the outside from the top down. This will make it easier to tell which side has streaks, if either.

• Replace smoke detector batteries, test the smoke detectors and give them a good wipe down.

• Clear counters and shelves and wash them thoroughly. Wash knick-knacks and dust books. If you have accumulated stacks of papers or bills, now is a good time to file the important documents in your self-storage unit. Recycle junk mail, outdated magazines, and used envelopes. Shred old bills and other papers that contain personal information.

• Pull out appliances and wash the sides and floor. Clean normally hidden spills and wipe the walls.

• If you plan to paint or thoroughly shampoo the carpets, consider moving your furniture into a self-storage unit. Many companies will rent units for as little as a day. Mobile storage companies will even bring a storage unit to your house and remove it when you are done with it.

• When cleaning mattresses and other furniture, consider laying down a tarp and leaving the bedding and upholstery outside on the driveway for a few hours. Some strong sunlight and ultraviolet radiation can help eradicate microscopic creatures that are trying to take up residence there. A thorough steam cleaning may leave your furniture feeling and smelling fresh, also.

• Sort through seasonal clothes. Wash or dry clean them, and sew on buttons or stitch up minor tears. A wardrobe box with a hanging rod will help keep clothes looking good and can easily be placed into your storage unit. Remember to look critically at your garments. Get rid of overly worn garments and things you never wear.

• As you clean the nooks and crannies, you may find leaky faucets, broken door handles or cracked tiles. Take time to make these repairs now to prevent them from becoming more serious or costly problems later. Get seldom used tools out of the way when you are done with the repairs by placing them in your self-storage unit.

• Remember the small stuff. Sweep the corners where your vacuum does not reach, wash down air vents, clean the dirt from the tracks in your windows and patio doors, and wipe crown molding and window frames.

• Don’t forget the outside of the house. Use a power sprayer to remove grime, empty wasps’ nests and spider webs from exterior walls and windows. Spray down the garage floor while you are at it to rid the space of fluid leaks and road salt or sand that can easily be tracked inside and stain your carpet.

• Remove lawn furniture from your basement, garage or personal storage unit. Clean it. A good spraying with the hose will usually do the trick. Replace the furniture with snow blowers, snow shovels and winter toys like sleds and snowboards. These bulky items can get in the way when stored at home. As these seasonal items don’t need to be removed often, you may find that when you tuck them away in a personal storage unit you have taken a very practical step toward keeping your home free of clutter.

• Trim bushes, aerate the lawn, lay down fresh mulch, and maybe even plant a few flowers. Garden tools can be bundled together and placed in trash barrels in your personal storage unit when they are not needed.

Spring cleaning may be a lot of work, but the payoff is a brighter, safer home that can give you a new perspective and prepare you to meet life’s other challenges.