How many times have you found yourself with an extra bed, desk or table? Perhaps you moved into a new place that it does not fit in, got married and are combining homes or whatever.
When it comes to furniture, the best option for your hard earned dollar is public storage. You specifically want to go with a self-storage option. These are the facilities you see that look like military barracks except they sometime are two stories.
So, we just load the furniture in a truck and haul it off the storage place, right? Nope. You only do this if you want to come back months later and find furniture that is dirty and falling apart.
Properly preparing and packing the furniture items is the only way to ensure they will be in good shape when you pick them up. This is true for just about any piece of furniture. The enemies are dust, dry air and time itself.
Picking a unit is your first important step. Think about how long you are going to use it. Now consider the change of the climate during that time. If temperatures are going to be high then low, you need to rent a climate controlled unit.
So we can finally put the furniture in storage, right? No, our first step is to buy plastic sheeting. We want to put it down across the entire floor. Why? We want to keep water from rising out of the concrete floor when temperatures rise.
Water is the enemy of most furniture. It will rust and rot out your pieces. Even if it is cold, water destroys furniture by getting up into it and then expanding when it freezes. Plastic sheets will keep water vapor away from your furniture.
Along this line of thought, it is best to take apart anything you can that has bolts or screws holding it together. They will rust if you are not careful. Stick them in a bag and tape them to the respective furniture.
Flat surfaces take a beating no matter how careful you are when storing things. Put a bed comforter over any table top to keep scratches from occurring. They also work well with headboards for your beds.
Storing large glass surfaces is also a touchy subject. From mirrors to glass table tops, cracking is a huge concern. Putting a big X made of masking tape actually helps prevent this. For delicate pieces, tape cardboard to each side for further protection.
Looking at the big picture, a basic strategy for storing stuff is to put the largest things in first towards the back. Furniture definitely falls into this category. If you have a lot of big pieces, take the time to think it out.
Sooner or later, you are going to have more stuff than you can keep. You can toss it or store it. With furniture, storing it makes sense and is pretty cost effective.
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