Winter Storage Tips – NYC Edition
Preparing for winter can mean many different things. You need to stock up on groceries, decorate your home, and bring out all the warm bedding and clothes. One of the most challenging things that winter brings is finding space for storage. Unlike during the warm and sunny days, winter means many more items around your home. This is why having good winter storage tips is the only way to restore some order in your NYC home.
Declutter your space
One of the first things you need to do before you actually get to winter storage is declutter your space. You probably need to do this every year if you’re not a minimalist. For better or worse, we buy a lot of things that we either don’t or won’t need. What better time to throw them away than during the winter days, right before or after the holidays? Make sure to do this in an organized manner. Divide everything into piles, ones that you need to throw out, donate, and store. Once you’ve done this, everything else will come much easier.
Pack ASAP
Once you’ve thrown away everything you don’t plan to keep, you need to organize all the items you’ll pack for storage. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that packing and organizing items for storage is easy. The first thing you should do is make a rough inventory of everything you own. Once this is over, make sure to divide your items into categories. You’ll want to store dishes with other dishes, for example, since that’ll make it easier to unpack later.
Clean everything before storing
When everything is divided into piles, make sure to clean your items before packing and storing them. This way, you’ll have a much easier time unpacking them later. Especially if you don’t use some of these items, you’ll need to at least wipe them down. Likewise, if you’re using packing supplies that you already own, make sure they are clean as well.
Create a timetable
Creating a timetable for everything you need to do will make your schedule much easier to follow. Although writing down plans seems somewhat unnecessary, you’ll benefit significantly from it. If you’re not that great at planning, ask someone to help you out. Having a fresh set of eyes is always a good idea. Make sure to take into account all the winter rush that’s regular in NYC traffic, as well.
Plan your relocation on time
If you’re looking for winter storage tips because you’re moving, make sure to plan that first. Organizing a relocation, especially in NYC, takes a lot of time and effort. If you’re busy and don’t have much free time to spare, hire residential movers to help you out with everything. Regardless of whether you need help to transfer to your new place in Queens or just pack, they’ll assist you through it.
Find the right storage unit
If you don’t have a lot of room in your home, you’ll need to look for another place to store your items. Finding the perfect storage unit might be a great idea, even if your home is not that cluttered. This way, you’ll know that all your items are safe and sound. Your storage unit should be dark, cool, and dry for maximum safety.
Insure your items
Seeing how most storage units don’t guarantee the safety of your items when it comes to theft or accidents, you should look into insuring everything that you’re storing. Even though this is an extra expense, you’ll be glad that you did it. If nothing else, your conscience will be clear.
Organize transportation
Organizing the transport of all the items you’ll be storing is another thing that you should pay attention to. If you’re unable to do it yourself, for whatever reason, make sure to find someone who can. If you don’t currently live in NYC, going through this process will surely teach you a thing or two about commuting in the city. One thing’s for sure, getting around NYC, however daunting, is worth the trouble.
Find ways to save some space in your storage unit
If you own a lot of items that need storing during winter, make sure to rent a storage unit that’s big enough. If not, there are some tricks that you can implement to make everything fit. For example, if you pack all your linens and summer clothes into vacuum-sealed bags, you’re bound to save a lot of space. Additionally, these items won’t collect any dust, and they’ll stay clean for when you need to unpack and use them.
Take special care of fragile items
- Dishes and vases
All your dishes, vases, glasses, and anything else that could easily break must be packed very carefully. Use a lot of padding and make sure that there’s no room for these items to move.
- Items that need a special climate-controlled environment
If there’s anything that needs special treatment, it might be a good idea to consider climate-controlled storage units.
- Decorative pieces
Even though you’ll probably use many of your decorations during the winter holidays, you still need to find space for all those items.
Maintain your winter storage
Regardless of whether you wish to continue using your storage unit once the winter is over, you should set aside some time to maintain it. Even if you’re just looking for winter storage, you should still check on your items once or twice to see if everything is where it should be. This is one of the most important winter storage tips to keep in mind.
