Storage. I know, this isn’t the most glamorous topic but is something I have been really appreciating lately. The ability to have a place to store items and not clutter up our current living space has been life saving. We rent a storage unit to put some extra furniture that we have inherited, totes of seasonal items, and even wedding registry items that don’t quite fit in our current home (but they will someday)! The storage unit is organized chaos but is really only organized at all thanks to my husband who did most of the tetras work to get furniture, totes, and everything else to fit in nicely.
The need for a storage unit only came after my apartment flooded in 2019. I actually had to get two storage units because I had one for the “wet items” and one for the “dry items”. When I eventually moved back into my apartment I was able to toss some of the damaged items and condense everything else into one storage unit. The fact that I had the storage unit to rely on really allowed me to move back into the apartment with a more minimalist mindset. I was able to only bring back what was functional for me and my soon-to-be husband. Not to mention less is more when you are trying to clear space for kids too! We were able to utilize our apartment in a whole new way! Little did we know that shortly after all of this happened that our home would become our work-from-home office due to COVID-19.
With all that to say, we wouldn’t have made it through the flood and the moving in and out process if it hadn’t been for the storage units. Now the one storage unit is a place we go every few weeks, whether it is to get something that we need or to bring other items there. It is an extension of our home that I am extremely grateful for. We can hide the kid’s Christmas gifts there, any large item that we don’t use often enough (but we do use monthly) like our Yeti Cooler, or extra clothing like our summer and winter clothes… it is so nice to pop over and grab what we need or take things there to declutter our home.
With housing prices skyrocketing (especially in Washington state) it is honestly cheaper to get a storage unit rather than to rent a bigger place. No we don’t intend on having a storage unit forever but I highly recommend it if you feel like your area is getting too cluttered and it is hard to find certain items. Consider getting another location to store some things, spread it all out, see what you have, label it, and store it properly. What are your best storage tips and tricks?
The Salty Exchange 