No Sweat Storage: Blueprints for Successful SpaceMaking
No Sweat Storage: Blueprints for Successful SpaceMaking
a word from Melanie
July 16th, 2026
Whether you’re storing long-term or just a couple months there’s a few best practices that can optimize your experience. Preparation is key to ensuring your belongings return back to you in as good of condition as when you set them aside. From prepping the lot to staging a unit, here’s a few tips we’ve picked up along the way.
The Clean Truth
Take the time to vacuum and disinfect. Mold has three travel friends: heat, moisture, and bacteria. A basic storage unit in the Midwest during summer provides the first two. Remove the bacteria ahead of time and foil the fungus.
Freshen up your furniture with the appropriate upholstery aid and dry it completely before considering that trip to your unit. May we suggest a quick turn of shrink wrap for a final layer of protection?
Taking everything, but the kitchen sink? Remember, after the wipe down, refrigerators should be stored upright and with the door left ajar to keep from developing an odor inside.
Contain Yourself!
Do yourself a favor in advance so you can keep your cool at the unboxing. Wrap your fragiles in yesterday’s news before you box them up. Pull out that stash of grocery sacks from under the sink and put it to work. Tear them into strips and use them as a packing buffer. It’s not like anyone’s folding them around text books anymore!
Pop your clean, dry mattress into a mattress bag before you load it on the truck, and plan to store it upright and supported or laying flat up top to avoid permanent deformation.
Thoroughly dry the laundered apparel that you intend to store. If your goal is long-term, be careful not to overcrowd the threads. You don’t want to lose the shape of your favorite ugly sweater before that party invite hits your inbox. Throw a couple desiccant pouches inside your plastic tote and fit the lid…or in this case, lid the fits! Amazon offers a reusable packet with a color changing indicator so you know when it’s time to bake it.
With those items you prefer to hang, there are handy wardrobe boxes available at various retailers. Keep it local and Call Country Trailers, your Neighborhood Uhaul Dealer, to check out their supply of moving boxes, but don’t set those cardboard containers directly on the concrete!
It’s All About the Base!
Our units are slabbed with concrete, which makes for a nice clean storage surface, but there’s a science to understand. Concrete sweats! These floors hold the temperature for a longer period of time than air. A warm day following a cool night can introduce prime conditions for surface condensation that deserves a little airspace. How about throwing down a pallet or sliding a square of tarp underneath to keep the boxes and furniture legs off the floor? Plastic totes generally have little feet on them that offer just enough airspace to do the trick.
Map it Out
Our size guide can help you choose the right amount of space needed. Plan to fill your unit categorically, and leave room for certain areas to grow. Stage your seldom used items toward the deeper section; and the items you are likely to access more frequently, closer to the door. Take advantage of vertical space by stacking free-standing shelving. This is also a great way to create aisles and designate sustainable pathways. Keep a list of your stored items handy so this service can be a tool that simplifies every project.
Eyes on the Prize
Be sure and check on your stored items at least once a month. Most surveillance systems begin rewriting over data of a certain age. Your friendly storage operator needs ample research time to find the information you’re looking for if any questions should arise about the activity at your door. This gives you a nice timeline to refresh your desiccants and maybe you’d like to swap out a couple decor pieces for the mantle while you’re on site! Hopefully you’ve stored them near the door for easy access!
📦Ready to start packing? 📞Give us a call at (712) 218-4350 for help deciding on a size or use our online MoveIn.
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