Self Storage News

Typically the process of moving all of your stuff into storage can be a little bit on the stressful side. From packing all of your things to arranging your Uhaul like a game of tetris to unloading all of your heavy items. There is no denying the stress factor that accompanies a day of moving. Which is why we at American Self Storage would like to lighten up that bitter feeling you have towards all things storage with a little bit of humor. Below is some of our favorite funny images of storage. 

There are tons of ways to hide your valuables around the house! We've complied a list of 6 unique ways to make these storage spots both natural looking and easy to access for the people who know what they are looking for. Most of these ideas are simple to implement and extremely effective when it comes to hiding things from plain sight!

1. Library storage bin – make this out of a few pieces of wood and book spines gives an extra space to either store more books or hidden treasures

Chances are, once you have FINALLY finished moving you will want to get rid of all the evidence that may bring back some horrid memories of lugging furniture, sorting out silverware, and organizing your book collection. But, we have a better idea for you. Why not take your moving boxes and transform them into something more? Here are the 5 fun ideas we found this week for re-using your moving boxes. There is a little something for the whole family! 

1. Rockstar guitar - give your kids that guitar they have always wanted. Maybe start a family band?

Remember when you first stepped into a college dorm and realized how little space there ACTUALLY is? The bed practically takes up half the storage space already! Here are 6 items I WISHED I had in college.

American Self Storage in Phoenix, Arizona has expanded their business by offering customers the option of a climate controlled storage unit. Since those at American Self Storage pride themselves on being the number one storage resource in Phoenix, AZ they found it necessary to listen to what their customers had to say. Offering climate controlled storage units allows customers to feel at ease when placing their valuables in an enclosed space. 

Below is a list of questions customers should ask themselves before deciding on climate controlled units.

Let us thank you for serving our country with a military discount.

As a Vietnam Veteran who served as a Combat Commander Officer with the U.S. Marine Corps, American Self Storage owner, Dennis Peterson has always run his businesses with the American heroes in mind. At American Self Storage, it is our mission to honor every man or woman who has dedicated any part of their lives to serving their country. The business itself is called 'American' self storage to represent the loyalty and dedication the company has to our country as well as those serving it. In addition, every American Self Storage location has either a flag or an image of a flag proudly displayed for all to see - go check for yourself!

To show our gratitude to all of those who have served or are currently serving, we offer exclusive military discounts. As of 2010, roughly 1.5 million Americans have actively served in either the Coast Guard, Navy, Marine Corps, Army, or Air Force with another 800,000 in the reserves. With so many men and women facing difficult conditions to defend and aide our country, how could we not give a simple 'thank you' with a military discount? If you have served in any sector of the military or are currently serving, please take our military discounts as a thank you for what you do.

Please inquire about our military discount offerings at your nearest American Self Storage location.

Everyone knows that very specific mix of feelings that accompany the angst of moving. A mix of dread, excitement, sadness, and happiness all wrapped in one full moving truck. You know the feeling. It paints the faces of many as you drive by the once vacant houses and see the family of four transforming an empty house into their home.

If you are similar to me, you regularly drive by various people moving into or out of houses and think to yourself what is their story? Where are they moving? Why are they moving? To ease your curiostiy let me fill you in on a few moving statistics that will help you put a story to the faces...

Approximately 37.5 million Americans move per year, that is 3,125,000 Americans a month, which is over 100,000 a day! No wonder there are so many moving trucks in the world. 14.7% are moving from the west coast, 8.3% from the east coast, 11.8% from up north and 13.6% from the south. Of these families 70% are moving within the US, 20% are moving to a different county within the same state and 10% are moving to a differnt state. 43.7% move because of housing reasons, 30.3% because of family, 16.4% for a job, and 9.5% for unspecified reasons. 

I hope all of this statistical information helped curb your curiousity and gave you a story to put to the many moving faces! All of this information was found by the U.S. census and changing every year. 

When we decided that we wanted to move from our large home into an apartment, we knew that we would need to find a way to store all of the excess possessions that we planned to keep. There was no way that the small allotted apartment storage area would be able to accommodate everything. We discussed our options and decided that we would rent a self storage unit from a nearby facility. Then we came across another hurdle. We had no idea how much space we should get in order to easily accommodate everything yet not make it difficult for us to get out something like our bikes when the weather was nice enough to go riding.

I called several of the self storage facilities in the area and for some reason I was quoted several different storage unit sizes when I had given each of them the same general list of items that we would need to store. We were confused because we did not want to rent something that would turn out to be too small to fit everything. We also did not want to end up paying extra for a self storage unit that was going to have a lot of empty space after we moved all of our excess possessions into it. 

When our children first went away to college, they did not have very many personal belongings to move to their dorm rooms. We managed to pack everything into one load when they went off to their respective colleges. However, as the school year progressed, they found that they were missing some of the convenience things that we have at home such as bookcases and ample dresser space. With their own money, they started to purchase furniture and other things that they missed.

Unfortunately, neither of their dormitories allows the students to reside there through the entire calendar year. In fact, all of the students have to vacate the premises and have all of their belongings moved out within a few weeks of the final exams. We were told that this is due to the fact that during the summer months they do routine maintenance on the buildings, such as touching up the paint in the rooms, and obviously that is easier to manage if the entire building is vacated so that the painters can go from one room to the next without interruption.