Or, the stuff we wish everyone did on move-in day.
Every so often somebody comes back to their unit after three or four months, opens the door, and just stands there for a minute. You can tell they’re doing that thing where they’re trying to remember which box has the winter coats. Or the extension cords. Or the file with the tax stuff.
It happens all the time. And it’s fixable — you just have to spend twenty extra minutes at load-in doing a few things you probably weren’t planning to do.
1. Leave a walkway down the middle
This is the one nobody wants to do because it “wastes space.” It doesn’t. It saves you from renting the next size up when you realize you can’t get to the thing at the back.
Load the unit in a U-shape: heavy furniture and long-term stuff against the two side walls, walkway down the middle, “stuff I might need soon” near the door. If you’re going to be pulling anything out over the next few months — kids’ seasonal clothes, holiday decorations, that side table you might sell — put it up front where you can grab it without doing archaeology.
2. Label the sides of boxes, not the tops
Boxes get stacked. You cannot read the tops when they’re stacked. This seems obvious but I’ve watched more people than I can count write “KITCHEN” on the top flap in beautiful handwriting and then bury it under three other boxes.
Big marker, side of the box, one or two words. Better yet, number the boxes and keep a list on your phone. Sounds nerdy. Saves your life in February when you’re looking for a specific coat.
3. Heavy on the bottom, light on top
Also obvious, also constantly ignored. A wardrobe box full of clothes weighs almost nothing. A copy paper box full of books weighs about 40 pounds. Do not put the books on top of the clothes. The clothes box will collapse and everything above it comes down.
Book boxes on the floor. Dish boxes on the floor. Kitchenware on the floor. Then furniture cushions, linens, lampshades — the light stuff — on top.
4. Wrap upholstery so it can breathe
This one matters more in the summer. Waldorf gets humid, and our units are drive-up masonry — solid and dry, but they’re not climate-controlled. If you wrap a couch or a mattress in plastic sheeting for six months in July, you’re basically making a terrarium. Anything with fabric or foam needs to be able to breathe.
For couches and armchairs, use furniture pads or old blankets. For mattresses, get an actual mattress bag (breathable — we sell them on-site) rather than wrapping it in a tarp. If you must use plastic, leave the ends open.
5. Books off the floor. Books not stacked on furniture.
Two separate warnings that both involve books.
Books directly on a concrete floor can pick up moisture if there’s ever a temperature swing that causes condensation. Slide a pallet, a piece of plywood, or even flattened cardboard under them. Costs nothing.
And do not stack heavy book boxes on top of wooden furniture — dressers, side tables, the dining room hutch. Over months, the weight will warp the top. I’ve seen a beautiful vintage buffet come out of storage looking like a very slight banana. That was books.
6. The things people forget to think about
- Drain anything with liquid. Fuel out of the lawnmower. Water out of the pressure washer. Anything with a battery — remove the batteries, they’ll leak.
- Fridges and freezers: door propped open. Wedge a rolled-up towel between the door and the frame. A closed empty fridge left for months develops a smell that will chase you out of the room.
- Wrap picture frames and mirrors, then stand them upright against a wall or between mattresses. Never lay them flat and stack stuff on top.
- Take a photo of the loaded unit. Two minutes. When you come back you’ll know exactly what you have and roughly where.
7. Don’t store what you should just get rid of
This is the part nobody wants to hear. If you’re paying month after month to store something you know you’ll never use again — the treadmill that’s been in the garage for four years, the giant CRT TV, the “we might need this someday” box — the storage bill will eventually cost more than the stuff.
Not our job to tell you what to keep. But every year we watch people cut their unit size in half after finally letting go of a few things. It always seems to feel good.
A few practical bits
If you’re not sure what size unit you need, our 10×10 holds about a 1-bedroom apartment and our 10×20 is close to a small garage. Full breakdown on the self storage page, or call us at (301) 843-5220 and we’ll walk through what you’re storing.
All our units are ground-floor drive-up, so you can back the truck (or trailer, if you rented one of our U-Haul cargo trailers) right up to the door. That makes the “walkway down the middle” thing easier — you can walk in and out with a hand truck instead of trying to squeeze past things.
Happy loading.