Moving

Whether you’re decluttering and staging a home to sell, or storing items for convenience before your next move, here are some tips to simplify your self storage and/or moving experience.

» Decluttering Tips:

• Schedule a specific weeknight or weekend dedicated to decluttering your house, office, or apartment. If you plan a time, you’re more likely to actually meet your decluttering goals.
• Be objective, not sentimental. It’s okay to store family photos, shoe boxes full of love letters from college, and the boxes stuffed with baby clothes. Zippy Shell will keep your precious memories safe. Just think, with all the extra space, you’ll be able to redecorate!
• Pace yourself. Tackle one room at a time. Pick one corner of the room and work your way around. Set small, achievable goals for yourself. You’ll be done before you know it.
• Work from small spaces to larger ones: drawers first, cabinets second, closets third, rooms fourth, the garage and/or basement next, then the shed (if you have one). In that order.

» Staging Tips:

• Have your home “staged” before putting it on the market. “Home staging” is the process of having your home professionally organized and decluttered. It makes your home look more inviting. It also attracts more prospective buyers, helps your home sell faster, and often draws higher offers.
• Be sure to clean well before showing your house. Once you’ve decluttered, be sure to run the vacuum, check the walls for fingerprints, scrub the tub, and tidy the kitchen.
• Remove pictures of family members or other people that guests might not know. A new space that’s free of unfamiliar faces is easy for guests to envision themselves in.
• Make sure all your light bulbs are working, curtains are tied back, and windows are clean to allow for the maximum amount of light.

» Storage Tips:

• Disassemble small furniture, such as coffee tables, to save space in your Zippy Shell.
• Thoroughly clean furniture, boxes, and all contents of your Zippy Shell of all food or perishables.
• Consolidate your belongings and make efficient use of space by packing smaller items, such as pots and pans, inside large appliances or dresser drawers.
• Always secure the contents of your Zippy Shell with high-quality locks.
• Avoid storing any combustible materials, such as paint or fuel.
• Write down a list of the supplies or personal belongings you store in your Zippy Shell to help you remember what you have in storage.
• Use a digital camera to take pictures of what you pack and save the images in your files. It a great way to keep a visual record of the items you packed in storage.
• Keep your valuable and confidential paperwork, such as birth certificates, passports, tax returns, wills, bank records, contracts, with you at all times.
• Pack seasonal items, such as storing bulky winter coats and skis during the summer, so you can save valuable storage space in your closets, basement, or garage.

» Moving Tips:

• If you must clean your old place before moving out, pack cleaning supplies last so you’ll have plenty of rags, mops, and cleaning solutions on hand to finish the job.
• Suitcases and luggage make excellent storage for clothing, towels, and bed linens.
• Color code your moving boxes according by contents of room in which they belong (yellow sticker denotes living room contents, red sticker denotes dining room), and write the contents on the side of each box in large lettering.
• Avoid packing cardboard boxes too heavy. Rule of thumb to remember is: “Not too heavy, not too light, makes packing just right.”
• Use small plastic kitchen containers to pack large quantities of small items, such as nails, screws, or silverware from your kitchen drawers.