Storing your furniture: 5 tips
Furniture storage
Whether it’s an extended stay abroad, a move to a smaller apartment or moving into your first home with your partner. Life takes us through various phases that sometimes require us to say goodbye to beloved furniture and memorabilia. However, instead of hastily handing over your belongings to the first interested party or even disposing of them, it often makes more sense to storing furniture safely.
In our role as a self-storage company in Vienna and Brunn am Gebirge, we specialize in offering this special service. You can store furniture securely at STORE ROOM and retrieve it at any time if required. This is flexible and saves time. However, there are some important aspects to consider when renting a storage unit. We have therefore put together five valuable tips for you to ensure a smooth storage experience.
1. The right storage compartment for your furniture
Would you like to rent a storage unit for furniture? Anyone who has already taken a closer look at self-storage knows that furniture storage units come in various sizes. From compact 1m² compartments to spacious storage units of 20m² and more, there is something to suit every requirement. The individual customization of the storage compartments makes it possible to optimally meet personal needs. For longer storage periods, it is advisable to choose the storage unit size carefully. This helps to save money.
When it comes to storing all your home furnishings in a storage room, the rule of thumb is to plan around a tenth of the living space for furniture storage. For a 100m² apartment, this would mean a storage compartment of around 10m². However, it should be noted that this is only a rough guide, as the amount of items to be stored can vary greatly from person to person.
It is helpful to visualize the largest and bulkiest pieces of furniture to get a rough idea of the required size of the storage compartment. For a more precise estimate, however, it is advisable to draw up a storage plan in advance, which leads us straight to the next point.
2. Furniture storage: Create a storage plan
Self-storage companies usually provide very detailed information about the storage units they offer and their dimensions. This makes it easy for you to create a plan in advance that ensures the best possible storage of furniture and other items. It’s best to start by creating a list of all the items that will ultimately be stored and arrange them in order of size. To organize smaller items more effectively, it is advisable to group them together in boxes or moving boxes right at the planning stage. You can then draw the corresponding storage space on a sheet of paper and enter the objects to be stored to scale.
If you don’t want to draw, the smart self-storage company STORE ROOM can help you. With the storage space calculator, you can set up your digital storage compartment with just a few clicks to find the perfect size for your needs. You can choose from over 30 different pieces of furniture and other items from the kitchen, bathroom and other areas, and the software then determines the required dimensions of your storage unit. Unnecessarily high storage costs for unused storage space can thus be effectively prevented in just a few quick steps. Putting furniture into storage has never been so easy!
3. Pack and protect furniture properly
After thorough planning and choosing the right storage compartment, it’s now time to think about the appropriate packaging and protection for your furniture and other items.
Fragile and delicate items such as vases, paintings or mirrors should definitely be wrapped in bubble wrap. If you don’t want to get additional bubble wrap, blankets or plenty of newspaper can also help.
Large and bulky pieces of furniture such as cupboards, display cabinets or tables should ideally be dismantled and then wrapped in cardboard or foil to avoid scratches and save space in the storage room. This not only makes transportation easier, but also saves costs. Small parts such as screws and keys should be stored in small bags to prevent loss and make reassembly easier.
Smaller items should be stored in sturdy boxes. Make sure the containers are sturdy enough to withstand several weeks of storage and stacking multiple boxes. Fill empty spaces in the boxes with newspaper or similar material to provide additional protection and stability. Don’t load the boxes too heavily to protect not only your back but also your valuables. When choosing storage space for furniture, follow these tips to ensure safe and efficient storage.
If you store upholstered furniture, mattresses or similar items, protective covers or sheets are highly recommended to prevent soiling or damage. These simple precautions will not only preserve the material of your beautiful leather couch, but your nerves will also thank you.
Another important tip is to avoid moisture at all costs when packing your stored goods. Especially over longer storage periods, there is a risk that instead of a safe storage place for your belongings, an ideal breeding ground for mold will develop.
STORE ROOM also offers the option of providing high-quality packaging material. So if you want to play it safe, especially with fragile objects such as mirrors or works of art, this is another point where it’s worth putting your trust in our storage expertise. If you would like to rent a furniture storage unit, we are the right contact for you.
4. Optimize storage costs
Before you put your furniture into storage, it’s really worth considering whether it’s worth keeping. Your still stylish but slightly aged chest of drawers, which you once bought at a good price from your trusted Swedish furniture manufacturer, might no longer represent that value. Not because you should blindly follow the trends of a throwaway society, but because the cost of storing it for several months would simply not be justified and it might make more sense to buy a new piece of furniture. Always consider the size of the item, because more space always means higher storage costs. When looking for furniture storage, it’s important to take these considerations into account.
However, the decision as to whether items are worth storing always remains a fundamentally subjective assessment. In addition to the pure material value of a piece of furniture, its intangible value also plays a role, which is difficult to quantify. Your grandparents’ old glass cabinet, for example, which might not cause a stir at a flea market in Vienna, could still have an inestimable value as a memento and therefore be better off in storage than in a waste collection center.
5. Temporary furniture storage: the right transport aid
Once the planning, deciding and packing are done, the most difficult part is still to come: the actual furniture storage. Larger furniture or furniture that cannot be dismantled is a challenge. But don’t worry: STORE ROOM helps with transportation to overcome this hurdle.
You have the option of borrowing a suitable transport vehicle from our location in Vienna South. As a new STORE ROOM customer, you can even borrow a transport vehicle free of charge if you make a six-monthly or annual advance payment.
Alternatively, you can leave the entire storage process to experienced experts. This option is particularly practical if you need to store furniture from your old Viennese apartment on the fifth floor.
As you have learned, there are many details to consider to ensure a smooth process when storing furniture and other household items. However, with our 5 tips and tricks, you’ll be well equipped to avoid any potential pitfalls.
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