Anyone used self-storage to help declutter a house?

[ClutteryClara]

We have way too much stuff cluttering up the house. As both my partner and I work long hours. we just find little time or energy to try and sell stuff. We seem to endlessly have charity bags lurking around making the house look messy and we take these to the charity shop eventually. My DP has realised that there is a self-storage place right by where he works. We've just been entertaining the idea of hiring a space there and putting all our crap in there.

We will photograph some of the saleable items with a view to Gumtreeing them or Ebaying them. We've got stuff like air-dryers, musical instruments, old toys (some collectable), loads of books/maps, shoes, ornaments. To organise ourselves to sell that stuff from home would just take up too much time and space. We thought if we had a place where all our saleable stuff was centralised and accessible it would a) clear more space in our house and b) be a simpler way to sell stuff. It would also mean that we wouldn't have strange people turning up at our house snooping in our garage! And if stuff doesn't sell and we don't use it in, say, 3 months our aim is just to give it away/bin it.

Wondering what people think of this idea - crazy? Waste of money? No idea how much this type of storage would cost -we were thinking of a space the size of a small Luton van. The emphasis would definitely be on getting rid of stuff rather than making money hence us even entertaining the idea of forking out cash on storage in the first instance Any thoughts on this? Has anyone done something similar or who have storage and an idea of cost?

We did it when we put our house on the market. Probably paid over the odds as it was around £200pm after initial discounted period for a room size of a shed. But we had 24/7 access and ground floor which we wanted as we were still using the stuff eg. camping stuff, musical equipment
I think in your case, as there's no end point, the danger is it will sit there forever sucking your money away.

Don't waste your money OP. Buy a copy of Marie Kondo's TLCMOT, buy a ton of bin bags and get cracking. It was life changing for me.

Surely the money you pay for the storage will be offset by minimal price items. Facebook what you can and start charity shopping stuff

You could fall into the trap of just moving your stuff around and paying for it too.

Just bite the bullet and donate the lot. You'll be lucky to break even on selling the stuff if you're paying for storage.

And I'd be willing to bet you'd fill up the space you create with more stuff unless you are very disciplined indeed.

Typed long message but it’s gone

Don’t do it just get rid.
I had huge declutter during last weeks snow. Filled mine and dh car with stuff.
Went to charity shop on Monday and it’s gone.
Honestly I felt so much better coming home this week.
I think all the stuff plus worry about it selling was getting me down.
Please just donate

That’s not decluttering, it’s simply moving it elsewhere.

Don't do it.
The business model works on the fact that it's a real faff to actually sort out the stuff, so people think they'll get actually unit for, say 3 months, and 15 months later they're still paying for it as they've not yet got the energy to go through it all...

I hear y'all! But It's so intoxicating the idea of just hiding stuff away. It's why the attic is full and impenetrable and it's why the garage is the same. The idea of cleansing the house and putting all that stuff somewhere else is seductive BUT if it just ends up as an expensive dustbin then there's no point is there?

I just think we have to be ruthless. The trouble is I am totally not a minimalist. I love collecting and displaying stuff so I have vintage tins, objects, photographs, old cameras and I like to display them - it makes me happy to see them. I totally do not subscribe to a minimalist house with coasters and everything show-housey and that's what scares me about the Kondo method. I had a total blitz about 10 years ago and ended up shredding lots of notebooks and diaries and I TOTALLY regret it now. Getting rid of a few shabby clothes and ornaments is no skin off my nose but I seriously doubt my judgement now I got it so wrong all those years ago.

I will return to this thread and section because I feel I have stuff to learn. Thanks for all your input!

We’ve done it when moving house. We decluttered to stage the house for sale. Finally emptied out the storage unit two years After moving into new place.

Once it is in storage you won’t do anything with it, you’ll just pay for not having to look at it.

I pay £120 a month for a space size of a garage in the midlands.

I am an organised kind of person and keep my clothes/nick nacks under control without much trouble apart from my growing collection of wallets, which I have photographed and done nothing with.... I keep a plastic box in the bedroom and whenever I find something that can be got rid of, it goes into the box - and then when full - to the charity shop. I find that more constructive than having a big blitz.

Having said that, I keep the old diaries, notebooks, cinema tickets from the Return to Oz, weddng invites, random clippings.... etc, in a separate, small (13 litre) box that lives in the top of the wardrobe.

If you have items that you enjoy looking at - display them! Rotate if you have a lot of them .
If you have sentimental items that are not bulky, stick them in a box for safe storage.
If you have stuff for ebay/gumtree, also stick them in a box and put them online on on a piece by piece basis - or groupings - if that makes more sense for the type of item. I am big believer in slowly but surely

But I wouldn't be paying to store items - out of sight, out of mind, will end up an expensive way of doing things.

There is no reason your home should be a sterlile show venue, but at the same time it is nice to have some freedom from the army of bits 'n' bobs.

Yes. But it gets very expensive and you HAVE to sort it eventually.
So it can work as a part of a decluttering programme, but the risk is that it will be out of sight, out of mind.

Don't do it. It will be throwing good money down the drain xxx

I think you’re just delaying the problem.

Put aside a couple of long weekends. Get rid of kids. Sort the house using the Marie Kondo way. Have a car boot or sell immediately or charity shop. Be severe.

The trick is not to get rid of stuff that brings you joy. You can still have a massive clear out and keep the joyful things.

If there are things you don’t want or need, get rid of them! Storing is just postponing the problem.

We rented a storage unit to store out of season clothes and extra furniture when selling our home. It worked well because it was stuff we still wanted and would use in our new home.

Storing stuff you don’t want sounds like a waste of money and time.

You don't need to get rid of stuff you want to keep. But you were talking about storing things to sell. Just get rid of those things?

I could have written that post! In the same boat with clutter and bursting out of our house!

Either book a Charity collection on a certain day to come and take all the stuff - that sets a deadline and gets you going sorting stuff
Or
Do the same for a boot fair or yard sale

I'm not a huge believer of Marie Kindi, I love interesting colourful houses which tell a story about the people who live there but she does say some interesting stuff about getting rid of stuff which you no longer need, about items serving their purpose and gave joy, time to let somebody else have some joy.

If you did get some storage, could you photo send pack things up ready to post and then just retrieve them when they sold?

Actually, good point about the cost of storage unless you know you have very valuable stuff!

I keep stuff for my business in a storage (it's on the same farm as daughter's horse) and is very cheap for the area, so I stash extra 'home' stuff in there if say we're decorating, from time to time. I'd say a shed-type space is £360+ vat / year. So do shop around, I used to pay £500/month for my business space in a posher storage, it's the same for 3 months where I am now.

Avoid putting stuff in storage if you possibly can. It's like New Years resolutions. You start off full of good intentions but it doesn't last. Before you know it it has been there a lot longer than ever intended.

I think there are some people who work as eBay assistants and can sell stuff for you if it has enough value - worth a go?

I don't think storage is the solution - it's just moving the problem to a different place. One which will also cost you more money.

How about asking a good friend for advice? Without seeing your house and understanding more about the kind of 'clutter' you have, it's hard to know what to suggest. Maybe a friend could help confirm your judgement about what you can get rid of and what you really love and therefore has to stay.

I say this because a friend of mine asked me for help - she couldn't see what needed to go, and yet she felt suffocated by stuff. When I helped her go through things, she realised she had 10 plastic crates of kids craft materials!! She had picked them up over the last few years at second hand sales, charity shops etc. Spread around the house it didn't seem like that much. When we put it into boxes it was unbelievable!
(Note: I am not a minimalist person - I could do with someone coming to my house too!! It's just sometimes easier to see another persons clutter with fresh eyes...)