I need to tell you something, and I’m not selling it to you gently. I’ve messed this up so badly myself that it’s almost funny. Almost.
A few years back, I was moving out of an apartment in a hurry. My solution? Rent the first storage unit I found online. I grabbed every trash bag, every half-packed box, every “I’ll deal with this later” item from my closets and my floor, and I hurled it all into a 5×5 space. Done. Problem solved.
For a year, I paid $89 a month. That’s… let me do the math I avoided for twelve months… over a thousand dollars. When my lease was up and I finally had to face the music, I unlocked that unit. The smell hit me first—this stale, dusty, forgotten smell. And then I saw it: a tomb of my own bad decisions. There were bags of clothes I meant to donate but never did (they smelled weird). There was a lamp with no shade. There were textbooks from a class I dropped in 2014. I found a single rollerblade. One.
I paid a thousand bucks to store a single rollerblade and some guilt.
So, if you take nothing else from this, take this: A storage unit is not a magic closet. It’s a temporary holding zone for things you have already decided are worth keeping. The deciding part? That’s the messy, hard, human work you have to do in your living room first.
Start With the “Oh, That’s Where That Went” Pile
Forget the whole house. That’s too big. It’ll paralyze you. Today, I want you to do one thing. Go to the room that’s bothering you the most. Stand in the doorway. Now, look for the thing that’s been bugging you the longest. Is it that stack of papers on the dining table? The heap of shoes by the door? The “miscellaneous” drawer that hasn’t closed since 2019?
Pick that one spot. Just that. Set a timer for 25 minutes. Not an hour—25 minutes. You can do anything for 25 minutes.
Now, take everything out. Put it on the floor. All of it. And sort it into three piles, but we’re going to name them honestly:
- “I Actually Use This” (The good scissors. Your favorite mug. The dog’s leash.)
- “Why Do I Even Have This?” (Expired coupons. A charger for a phone you don’t own. That free water bottle from a conference.)
- “This Hurts My Feelings” (The gift you never liked. The project you never finished. The jeans that haven’t fit since before the pandemic.)
Be ruthless with Pile #2. A garbage bag goes right next to it. Be kind but firm with Pile #3. This is the hard stuff. For this pile, ask: “Is the memory in the thing, or in me?” You can keep the memory and let the thing go. Take a picture of it if you need to. Then let it go.
The “Maybe” Box Trick That Actually Works
You’ll have some “maybes.” Of course you will. We all do. Here’s my rule: get one small box. A shoebox is perfect. That’s your Maybe Box. When you come across something you genuinely cannot decide on, it goes in the Maybe Box. When the box is full, it’s full. No second box.
Tape it shut. Write today’s date on it. Put it in the back of your closet. If you haven’t gone digging for something inside it in six months, you don’t open it. You take the whole box to the donation center. You don’t look inside. You just go. This works because it respects your uncertainty but also has a deadline.
Packing for Storage Should Feel Like a Tetris Win
Once you’ve whittled everything down to the true “keepers”—the Christmas decorations you love, your ski gear, your grandma’s solid wood side table—then you pack for storage. And you do it smart.
- Use uniform boxes. I get the small, heavy-duty ones from the hardware store. They stack. They won’t collapse. Your back will thank you.
- Label with a vengeance. Don’t write “Kitchen.” Write “Pots & Pans, Thanksgiving Platter, Rolling Pin.” Be so specific it feels silly. Future You, who is looking for the turkey platter at 4 PM on Thanksgiving, will weep with gratitude.
- Take a photo of the inside of the box before you seal it. Save it in a “Storage” album on your phone. Now you have a visual inventory.
- Make a dumb little map. When you load the unit, draw what goes where. “Left wall: Xmas stuff. Back wall: Furniture.” Tape it to the inside of your kitchen cabinet. This is maybe the most genius thing I do.
And Then, When You’re Ready…
When all that’s left is the good stuff, the useful stuff, the stuff that earns its keep—that’s when you find a good storage partner. That’s where a place like Accent Self Storage comes in. You’ll know exactly what size you need because you did the work. You’re not panicking. You’re just looking for a clean, dry, safe spot for the things you care about. You want a place with real people who answer the phone, with good lighting, with locks that make you feel secure. That’s what we’re here for—to be the helpful, easy, secure next step after you’ve done the real work.
The Real Point of All This
This isn’t about becoming a minimalist. It’s about becoming intentional. It’s about your money and your peace of mind. It’s about opening a storage unit and feeling organized, not ashamed. It’s about saving that $89 a month for something that isn’t a single, lonely rollerblade.
You can do this. Start with the 25 minutes. Right after you finish reading this. Just 25 minutes. See how it feels.
Then come tell me about it. I’m rooting for you.
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