When you decide to reorganise your belongings and box them up it’s important to have a plan in place. Not only will it ensure that your stacked boxes are safe, but it also makes it easier to work out where items are if you need to dig them back out. Here are some ideas to help you come up with the best organisation of your stacked boxes.
Make a plan
When you are storing items, whether in a storage facility or simply your attic, cupboard, or wardrobe, you may have items that you are simply holding onto for sentimental reasons (such as baby clothes), items that you need on a seasonal basis (such as winter clothing or sports gear) or items that you may need in a hurry but will only need to access sporadically (such as historical paperwork). When you are packing up your items, it is a good idea to have a plan on where you will store everything, so that it’s easy to find your winter coats at the change of season without needing to unpack everything to get to your gear. Try to pack the items you need more often higher and towards the front and the items you won’t need in a hurry further back and lower. As every box goes into your storage space, record it on a grid layout so that you know where to aim for if you do need to access items in a hurry.
Label everything clearly
It might go without saying that you need to label everything, but it’s not just a case of labeling items with contents but as much detail as possible. If you have several boxes of winter clothes for example it’s a good idea to label them with types of garments (footwear, coats, or jumpers, for instance) or the household member that these belong to. Often, more general labels, while potentially clear when written, might be less than memorable if you need to access the boxes several years later. This can also help you to check that you still want items in boxes if you later go to cull items from your storage space, without the need to unpack all of your items.
Invest in strong boxes
It can be tempting to try and reuse boxes from the grocery store or reuse existing moving boxes. However, if you are planning on stacking boxes on top of each other, it is important to use boxes that have the structural integrity to keep your items safe from collapsing under the weight of items stacked above. Unfortunately, many of those lighter boxes from supermarkets are relatively flimsy and can become easily crumbled or compromised over time in storage. Instead, purpose-built plastic stacking storage boxes are a sound investment, particularly for items that you may wish to protect from humidity or water damage, such as your important paperwork. Moving boxes can be purchased from us and many storage spaces and are ideal for storing items for extended times.
Coming up with a good plan for safe storage and stacking can save you time and stress later on! Get in touch for more help on packing boxes and materials.