Love In Store – Let Self Storage Hold Your Hand When Moving In Together

Ah Valentine’s Day, the season of love, the time of romance, when our thoughts turn to birds, bees, rental contracts, mortgages …

When you’ve found The One, moving in together seems like a natural step but, in the words of that ultimate Songstress of Love, Celine Dion, it’s always wise to Think Twice, not only about your decision to Netflix & Rent but about how to actually achieve it practically and peacefully without wanting to split up before your toothbrushes have even had the chance to sit in the same cup.

Some couples will turn to relationship counsellors, some to friends and family, some to social media gurus – even some to astrologists – for advice, but here’s our hot tip – one surefire way to keep the peace while merging your wardrobes is to make use of Self Storage.

Moving in together brings a whole range of challenges and adjustments for couples as you condense two homes into one. It’s exciting too, and you don’t want to end up remembering it as a time of bickering and arguments as you decide whose furniture to use, whose TV is best and … why the hell have you kept that towel for fifteen years?

Planning before moving in together – as with everything – is key, and the sooner you start, the more pitfalls you can avoid along the way.  Let’s look firstly at some solid tips for getting the ball rolling.

SLIM DOWN

No – they’re not suggesting you go on a diet already, simply that start off with a good declutter. ‘Move’, ‘Donate’, ‘Sell’ and ‘Bin’ boxes are a great way to focus the mind as you work room-by-room through your existing accommodation. Be tough on yourself – do you really need your school shoes from third year, or the copy in which you wrote that A-grade essay? If it’s something you can’t bear to be without, however, then have a think about the advantages of self-storage so that you can keep your precious things, but keep them out of the way. 

FAIR IS FAIR

Your stuff, their stuff – you’ve both already had a life separate from each other before now and with every life comes stuff. In an ideal world your new, shared address will be big enough to accommodate everything – your comic collection, their shoes, your christening robe, their inherited musical instruments that they can’t play …

Chances are, however, it will be a little more compact and bijou than that. So who’s stuff stays, and who’s goes? At some point, you’re going to have to sit down and discuss consolidating your belongings. This will require compromise and you’ll need to make decisions about what gets chucked and what gets adopted into your new life.

Or do you? 

A self-storage unit can be ideal to neatly hang on to all of those things that you might not have room for now but don’t want to give up – precious books or keepsakes, perhaps; photographs etc.

DOUBLE UP

Two lives means double stuff – kettles, sets of towels and sheets, pots and pans, TV’s – you’ve only got room for one of everything but maybe you don’t want to be the one who chucks their stuff when it’s not needed? Right now, that is. Duplicate items can be set aside to use as replacements or spares, put in storage for visitors or kept safe until you eventually do have the rooms and cupboards to fill. Waste not, want not, as they day, and keeping double ups in self-storage might well take some of the sting out of who’s stuff gets used day to day. Moving in together can be a good time for a purge, however, so don’t keep stuff for the sake of it – a good rule of thumb is to keep the newest item so your crisp new cotton sheets vs their worn out Winnie-The-Pooh bedset from childhood is probably a no-brainer.

There’s lots of tough decisions to be made at a time of such great excitement and joy but self-storage can make things a lot easier.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

It’s probably not realistic to think that you’re going to lock the door to one place and immediately be able to walk into the next, particularly if you’re buying a property. Crossover times can get all sorts of complicated and, with the best will in the world, just may not align perfectly. A self-storage unit can be a lifesaver if you’ve got to get all of your earthly goods out of one address, but don’t have another to move them into yet. Cheaply and easily, and with a short-term contract, you can arrange to put everything safely in one place until you’ve got the key to your own front door together. 

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

It’s good advice to live somewhere and get to know it before making any final decisions on decoration or furniture allocation – particularly when there’s two sets of taste at play. It can be a good idea to stash things aside in self-storage while you make your decor decisions. Plus you mightn’t be fully sure if you actually need or want everything you both have straight away, so why not rent a safe self-storage unit to set items aside while you figure out exactly what you do and don’t want to keep? Nothing worse than finding out you could really do with that extra bed when you sold it just last week!

Store your items during your home transition, and it could save you making hasty decisions that you could regret. 

TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON …

Seasonal decorations, sporting equipment, winter clothes, summer clothes, gardening equipment, garden furniture, the barbeque – it makes sense to free up more space when there’s two of you sharing it and self storage is ideal for those not-all-year-round items. 

FINANCIAL SENSE

Instead of looking for a home that’s large enough to accommodate everything – and paying an absolute fortune for it – it can be a good call for the old bank balance to look for a smaller home and rent a self-storage unit as well. Self-storage rates are surprisingly affordable and contracts can be long or short term. Cheaper home, affordable storage – you do the maths!

SAFE AND SECURE

There’s no doubt that self-storage is a brilliant way to keep your belongings safe so that you can sleep easily at night in your new bedroom. Temperature-controlled units will keep them in super condition, and they’re all so easily accessible that  you and your new co-habitee will be able to get your stuff any time you like. Just make sure not to clip those padlock keys to a bridge in a big romantic gesture though, okay? 

TOGETHER FOREVER

Your choice of self-storage option will depend on both of your needs so put it on the agenda to chat about when you’re taking the steps to move in together. A little compromise, and a lot of storage space could be the step to blissful and harmonious co-habitation that you didn’t think you needed!

Happy Valentines Day, Lovebirds!

Unlock the freedom of extra space. Get in touch with Storage World today or get a quote online.