A self-storage unit is a great way to keep cherished items without turning your home into a warehouse. We all have items that mean so much to us we can’t bear to part with them or items that we want to hang onto for the kids first apartment or dorm. But unless you are fond of climbing over them or really don’t want to use your garage for parking your car, they need to go someplace and a self-storage unit can be that place.
Once you know what you want to store and have selected a unit (there is a wonderful tool on Store Right’s home page to help you estimate the best for your needs), you’ll need to do a little prep work and planning to keep everything safe and protected.
First, clean the items to be stored with an appropriate cleaner. Stains will not be easier to clean after sitting for months or even years! Make sure to allow the pieces to dry thoroughly before storing because moisture can stain or damage your items.
Plan your space. Storage units can hold a lot and it is tempting to pack them to the rafters, but you need to allow for air circulation. This will help with condensation and to avoid odors. If you need to get at an item in your unit, you’ll be glad you have a little wiggle room in there.
Plastic is not necessarily your friend! While it may seem logical to cover everything in plastic to keep dust and moisture out, you may also be keeping condensation in and that equals keeping moisture in. Fragile items like framed pictures will be protected by bubble wrap, but Grandma’s antique sofa wrapped in a big plastic trap is not such a good idea. Use sheets, blankets, drop cloths or moving blankets to protect from dirt and dust.
With a little prep work and a little planning, your items will be safe and secure until you are ready for them again.
One of the great things about living in the Brooksville, FL area is the great weather and abundant local fresh fruits and vegetables!
Every year we celebrate the arrival of spring here with the Florida Blueberry Festival. This year’s Festival will be held Saturday April 11th and Sunday April 12th. There will be food, activities, and entertainment for everyone and, of course, blueberries!
Check out their webpage at www.FloridaBlueberryFestival.org for a list of performances, locations and activities. It looks to be an amazing weekend!
Spring De-cluttering Tips, courtesy of Home Storage Solutions…
If you’ve got lots of magazines in your home, and want to get rid of them, but don’t just want to chuck or recycle them, here are the top seven places to donate magazines you should consider.
1. Your Local Library
One of my favorite places to donate both books and magazines is to my local library. Even if the library does not need the magazines itself, for its patrons, many libraries hold a Friend of the Library Sale where they can sell your used magazines to help with their own fundraising.
Be warned, however, that not all libraries accept these magazine donations, so call ahead and inquire before you drop them all off at their doorstep. (The same goes for all the ideas listed below since not all areas and organizations have the same policies and procedures.)
2. Nursing Homes And Retirement Communities
Many elderly people are looking for items to entertain themselves, especially if it is difficult for them to move around. Therefore, they are often appreciative of new reading material, and also a friendly chat when you come to drop the magazines off.
3. Military Troops
Our country’s solidiers, especially those serving overseas, are often looking for fresh reading material too, and would appreciate your donated magazines.
Similary, veterans associations may be looking for reading material as well.
4. Women Or Family Shelters
Sitting back and reading a magazine can help you relax and take your mind off things, which is one of the reasons we all enjoy getting them. The same can be true of women and families in shelters who may appreciate something to take their mind off other matters for a while with an interesting article or two.
5. Doctor And Dentist Offices, Hospitals And Other Waiting Rooms
Any place that has a waiting room, where people are looking to pass the time, is an ideal place to donate magazines.
If you really want to have the recipients appreciate them, choose waiting rooms for businesses and organizations whose clients would enjoy the type of magazines you are donating. For example, if you’ve got car magazines donate them to the oil change business, or Guideposts (I love that magazine!) to your dentist office waiting room.
6. Preschools And Daycare Centers For Use In Crafts
My kids, when they were in preschool, used pictures from magazines all the time during arts and crafts. They would cut pictures out and glue them on just about any type of project the teachers could think of.
Schools, preschools and daycare centers are always on the look out for (family friendly) magazines they can use with their kids, to let them have some fun, and they’ll really appreciate the resource.
7. Swap Magazines With Your Friends And Family
This is actually my favorite suggestion, and actually can be used in combination with any of the other ones above, since the last person in the swap can then donate them to the places listed.
I had a little magazine swap going with several of my friends for a couple of years, before we all started discontinuing our subscriptions because we got too busy with kids, and it was a lot of fun.
I got to read several magazines I didn’t even subscribe to, and it was a great excuse for everyone to get together monthly and have a girls night, along with actually trading magazines.
Spring has sprung! At least it has here in Florida (apologizes to my family and friends back in Boston). It’s a great time of year and it just makes you want to start everything over fresh and new.
This is a great time to look at all the items in and around your home and decide what you really need at home.
Some items are an easy call. Do you really need boxes of Christmas decorations taking up space in your closet in July or would a storage unit be a better solution?
Other things are not so cut and dried. Are there things that you really like but don’t have room for right now? Again, a storage unit might be your best solution.
Then there’s the other stuff: resell it? donate it? trash it? or maybe re-purpose it?
The old coffee table and a can of chalkboard paint can have new life as a game table for the kids. An old TV armoire could become a pantry cabinet with the addition of a couple of shelves and a can of paint or stain. A quick Google search for re-purposing ideas will give you hundreds of ideas.
Re-purposing projects can be fun and save you money. And it will give new life to some of your old stuff.
Daylight savings time has been implemented in the United States since World War I. There currently is only one state in the continental US that does not use DST and that is Arizona.
The main reason the US implemented DTS was to save money and conserve on energy. It was not for the farmers benefits. That is a myth. As a matter of fact, the farmers were against the change in time because of the negative effects it had on the market crops and dairy farms.
There is very little evidence that Daylight Saving Time actually saves on energy and according to the National Bureau of Economic Research they show that there is an increase in electricity bills and a social costs because of increased pollution emission.
The National Geographic states “Changing our clocks twice a year doesn’t save us energy or money”
With all the controversy over the years regarding DTS, there is one thing we do know for certain and that is it can have tragic effects with our health and safety.
According to the Insurance Journal , fatal crashes increase by about 6 percent over the 6 days immediately following the spring transition, but did not occur in the fall transition because there was no loss of an hour.
Reuters has an article from March 29, 2014, that showed a study that there is an increase in heart attacks of 25% the Monday following the turn back of the clocks. There are other articles in Consumer Health Day, Live Science, and so on, that have the same supporting data.
While the debate continues on DTS, we all should do our research, get the facts and understand some of the life changing effects Daylight Saving Time can have on us.
Self Storage Managers are always expected to put the customer first and that is exactly what StoreRight Self Storage Managers do. That is why we have the best customer service in the field. It is believed that managers of Self Storage Facilities have easy jobs and they don’t need to be very bright. Well, I am here to tell you that is the most untruth you will ever hear about Self Storage employees. It is anything but easy and even though one doesn’t need to be a ” Rocket Scientist” to be a Self Storage Manager, a manager must be fairly smart to handle all the different hats we are expected to wear each and every day. Not to mention, that, Self Storage Managers are also expected to always have a smile for everyone ( even during bad days). An experienced, efficient, topSelf Storage Manager has the ability to do that, simply from practice. In addition to the everyday chores of a Self Storage Manager, emergencies and unexpected disruptions often occur. Keeping a clear head and knowing how to handle such things are a must for Self Storage Managers. One would think that would be enough pressure, but hold on, we also have the extra duties sometimes added by our employers of Self Storage Facilities. Sometimes, even they, think we do not have enough to do. It would be an asset to any Self Storage Facility if its owners totally did a Self Storage Managers job for just one week. As a Self Storage Manager, I am not asking for a pity party. Just for customers, bosses and others connected with Self Storage Facilities to realize Self Storage Managers are humans also and sometimes they need customers not to be so uptight and bosses not to be so non chalantly expectant. No one will know when a Self Storage Manager needs a smile or a friendly word or told they do a great job, so treat Self Storage Managers and everyone the way you would like to be treated and the world will be a much happier place. Bring your smiles to StoreRight Self Storage. StoreRight. Right Place. Right Price. We have BIG smiles waiting for you.
