American adults often own a lot of items. In fact, the average household, counting everything inside, may have as many as 300,000 items, from articles of clothing to cutlery to kids’ toys to electronics, and there must be room for everything. But the storage for these items does not have to be on a person’s property. In fact, larger items can be relocated to self storage units elsewhere, and a self storage unit can do a lot of good if a household has important but excess items ranging from furniture to sports gear all the way to a car or a boat. Boat storage is possible with an outdoor parking lot and a trailer, a self storage warehouse should have a fair price and satisfactory security on site to prevent theft. In the home, meanwhile, mini storage can be done with certain items and furniture, rather than a separate storage unit site. Mini storage can be used for small items like hobby gear, or for some clothing or small kids’ toys. Mini storage is best done at the home, but mini storage containers like drawer units can also be delivered to a self storage site if so desired.
Storing Smaller Items
Small items, such as painting supplies or tabletop miniature figurines, can be stored easily at the home. Retailers often offer such gear as cube unit organizers, drawer units (wood, metal, or plastic), shelf units, and more for storing smaller items. Books in a limited quantity, for example, can be a great option for mini storage, such as a bookshelf that a homeowner can assemble on their own. Or plastic containers or shelf units can be used for kids’ toys or art supplies or tabletop board game figurines. Some of these items may be best off stored where small children or pets cannot get to them, both to prevent a choking hazard and to prevent damage to the items. Clothes can be more easily stored with new dressers or hangers, too. But what about bigger items like furniture or a car that have no room on a person’s property?
Self-Storage Sites
The solution for storing larger items is to find and rent space at a self storage unit, and there are many such sites all across the United States, ready for rental. Over 52,500 such sites can be found, nearly five times as many Starbucks locations, and a person who has storage needs can easily conduct an online search to find local ones. Queries such as “self storage near Los Angeles CA” or “storage units near me Boston MA” can be helpful, and a person may find a list of several such sites, then choose the best one. A person may not want to rent a unit that is far away, unless the site is very affordable and will only be visited rarely. Other times, a closer unit may be more desirable, but price-friendly sites close to major cities may be popular and finding rental space may be a challenge.
Why is a rental unit so useful? They offer outdoor parking lots for storing cars, trucks, RVs, and even boats on trailers, which can be a real relief for renters who have no such room at their properties. Self storage also involves buildings with metal doors protected with secure combination keypads, and these indoor units can store nearly anything that can fit inside, and protect the contents from weather and robbers alike. This is where larger items such as furniture or sports gear may be stored, for example. Or, a company may rent such space for storing seasonal items such as Halloween or Christmas stock that is not needed during certain times of the year.
Someone looking for self storage units like these may have criteria such as storage volume and the location and price of the site, but security is another concern, and security measures may vary. Most sites will have fences to protect the parking lot and tough buildings for inside storage, but some sites may go further, such as security cameras or even armed guards on the premises. A customer can visit a sit and inquire about its security features if they are concerned about potential robberies while their possessions are stored there.
