We’ve all been there, the nightmare of down sizing. You want to keep everything, but you just don’t need it and you certainly can’t afford it! When it comes to moving into a smaller place, there are a great many ways to make sure it isn’t to much of a heart wrenching affair, and and making sure that you are choosing storage in Clapham or the surrounding area can be a major one.

There are so many things to keep a track of when moving house that your storage options can often be over looked, and cause a disaster when the time comes to get all of your belongings stowed away safely. When getting round to looking into your storage options it will seem however that there is more to think about than you may have thought! In this article we’ll discuss some of the things that you may come up against when you start out, and help to make the important decisions before hand, maximizing your efficiency when the push comes to the shove!

The first thing to consider is How much you actually need to store. A large part of moving in the first place can be about getting rid of the  detritus that you don’t actually need in your new place. It can be an emotional time and a very hard thing to do, but it is of the upmost importance in the long run that you rid yourself of that which you don’t really really need. If there are things that you are certain that you will need in the future, but do not have room for at present, then storage is your obvious option, and there are lots more options to look at once you have decided that you need it in the first place!

A very important factor for consideration is location. Do you want your items to be near by to your new residence, or are you happy for them to be a bit further away to make the initial trip a shorter one? Having your extraneous items in storage before the move can even further reduce the costs of the move in the first place, as there will be less time spent getting those items in a van and over to the new property. Be aware as well, that location can affect the price of your unit, especially in built up areas, where space is of a premium. If you’re moving into the city then it may make more sense to rent a lock up further out into the suburban regions, as the savings will certainly be worthwhile.

When you have carefully selected your location, there comes the issue of size. You obviously need to have a good understanding of how much you actually need to get into your unit, as you need to avoid any nasty surprises when you arrive with a load of your belongings. There are various ways of measuring the space needed, from literally measuring all of your items, to working out the amount of space available to you compared to a room in your house, or a garage. Make sure to leave a fair bit of room to accommodate extra items, and potential miscalculations.

The last, but sometimes the most important thing to consider when choosing a storage unit, it the condition in which your items will be kept. There is a great many different types of storage, and they are all susceptible to different amounts of conditions like damp and pests. if you have very valuable items, then it is clearly best to keep your items in a unit that is contained in a warehouse, but if your items are not too valuable and could be kept in a garden shed or a garage, then outdoor lockups are considerably cheaper.