When most people move a large amount of there possessions to a storage unit, it often ends up being a large pile of boxes and other items. Unfortunately, when they return to look for a particular item that they have stored, they have no idea where to begin looking in the huge mess. They end up wasting most of a day or even longer searching for that item. You can avoid this problem with a little bit of extra work and a bit of planning before the move. Then, finding something in your storage unit will be a breeze.

Before you take that first load of previously boxed up items to the storage facility, you need to be sure you have some idea of what is inside. It only takes a few minutes to quickly peek and get a general idea of the contents. Once you know what types of things are in the box, you should close it back up and use a permanent marker to label the outside of the box. The label should be short and easy to understand by other people besides yourself in case you are not the one retrieving things from storage. It is recommended that you label the box on the top and at least one of the sides so that it can still be read it even if it is stacked among other boxes. If you are still in the process of packing things into boxes, be sure to label them appropriately before closing them. In addition, you should be sure that the boxes are sturdy and securely closed so that the items do not end up falling everywhere when the box is moved.

Now that you have all of your boxes packed and labeled, it will be simpler to find things in your storage unit. However, to make it even easier, you should arrange the boxes and other items in an orderly fashion. Those boxes that you think you will need to access should be placed closer to the door and on top of the ones that you will not be likely to open anytime soon. Also, instead of packing the room from wall to wall, it is a good idea to leave a path between the rows of stacked boxes so that you can more easily see the labels on every box in the room. This will come in handy in case you do need to get something from one of the boxes that you were not planning to open for a long time.