3 Preparations You Can Make If You Foresee Family Members and Friends Accessing Your Storage Unit

15 November 2016
 Categories: Business, Articles


An easy solution to owning too many items is to simply rent out a self-storage unit. Renting out self-storage units for additional storage space has become increasingly popular over the years to the point where 10% of all U.S. households rely on their storage units to keep their home free of clutter. If you already anticipate that your family members and friends might be making quick stops at your storage unit to borrow items that you own but don't regularly need, here are three preparation tips you can try to make your storage unit more accessible to others.

Install Floor Mats at the Entrance and Provide Indoor Slippers to Keep the Unit Clean

It's easy to get storage units dirty quickly. Mud, dirt, and dust easily get trekked into the storage unit from outdoors. If you foresee high amounts of traffic to your self-storage unit without your presence, or if one of your family members or friends is particularly dirty, you can prevent your storage units from becoming a mess quickly by installing floor mats at the entrances. Request that all visitors use the floor mats to remove any dirt and dust that might be on their shoes first. You'll want to set up the entrance in a way that there's sufficient space for your visitors to clean their shoes before entering the main part of the unit.

If you want to be even more careful, you could really benefit from purchasing several indoor slippers for your unit. Request that visitors change into the slippers whenever they enter your unit so that they don't get any dirt or mud everywhere. If possible, keep several sizes of slippers to cater to different visitors.

Provide a Map of the Storage Unit and Its Contents at the Front

If you don't want your visitors scavenging around your unit looking for the items you've allowed them to borrow, streamline their time at your unit by providing them with a map of the storage unit and information about where everything is stored. You can keep a map at the front of the entrance. The map should basically provide a rough idea of where they should start looking. For example, the map might show that all of the kitchenware are stored at the rear left of the unit. This makes it easy for grandma to know where to begin looking for that large pot they need for cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

Laminate the map and stick it onto the wall. This way, the map won't go missing and won't be easily destroyed by accident. You can even keep several copies of the maps inside the unit just in case.

Use a Combination Lock So Keys Aren't Needed

If you trust the family members and friends that you allow into your unit without your presence, then you might want to consider using a combination lock to secure your unit rather than a lock and key. If you choose to use a lock and key, you will have to meet up with those wishing to access your unit ahead of time to give them the key. You'll also have to meet up with them after the event to pick your key up again. Depending on how often others are going to be accessing your unit, it could be easy for the key to get lost.

If you have healthy boundaries and relationships with the people who are going to be accessing your unit, a combination lock might be more convenient. Upon giving them the combination to the lock, you won't have to do a thing. The visitors can access the storage unit as they wish and whenever they wish to borrow and return your items.

Conclusion

If you'll only be storing unused items in your self-storage unit, you might not mind allowing others into your unit when you're not there, especially if they're simply going to be borrowing and returning items you're unlikely to use. In these circumstances, it's best to prepare and organize your unit in a way that will allow others to easily access and get to the items you've allowed them to borrow.

Talk to a company such as I-70 Self Storage for more information. 


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