Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
Spring cleaning can be a bit of a chore especially when after spending thirty minutes of your time moving furniture, you then have to clean it. Staying motivated is a task in itself; here are just some tips to keep you cleaning.
Before you even begin to pick up a mop and duster do two things. Plan what you’re going to clean and dedicate your time appropriately to different tasks, and then wash your face. It may sound silly but washing your face before you start cleaning will wake you up and ensure that you will maintain the motivation to finish the task you have set yourself.
Other tips include promising yourself a reward for when you finish, whether this is a bar of chocolate, a decent meal or a relaxing bath knowing that you have something to look forward to at the end of your day cleaning will encourage you to get to the end.
Music is another great way to stay on task when cleaning. A number of genres suit the task depending on whether you want ambience to instill a sense of calm or rock to keep you upbeat. Here are just a few suggestions of some good songs to clean to:
1) Dude Looks Like a Lady-Aerosmith
2) Blue Monday- New Order
3) Start Me Up- The Rolling Stones
4) Pump It- The Black Eyed Peas
5) I Feel Good- James Brown
If you’re looking to spring clean sometime soon and for more information about how self storage can help visit www.bigyellow.co.uk
Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, clean, clutter, declutter, motivation, spring clean, tips and tricks
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Monday, July 11th, 2011
Whether it’s things that you no longer need, can’t fit into or gifts you can’t return, online auctions are a great way to earn money from the comfort of your own home.
You can earn anything from a few pounds to hundreds of thousands, depending on how much you have to sell. Platinum power sellers on eBay for example, make sales of over £15,000 every month. To shift that much stock however, you would need a serious amount of personal storage space!
Vintage items and used designer brands in good condition are always in demand. Auction on eBay and you could have the money within a few days. It’s not only on eBay that you can sell your wares. If it has a bar code then Amazon is a good bet – especially books.
Another quick win would be to get cash back for your phone. If you’ve recently upgraded your mobile phone, sell it online or recycle it and get cash back. Iphones are valued highly, but can alternatively be put in storage and sold as vintage in a decade or so.
For more ideas on how storage can help your cash flow please visit www.bigyellow.co.uk
Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, cash, collectibles, Did you know?, ebay, eBay top seller, online auction, personal storage
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Friday, July 8th, 2011
It only seems like yesterday that your children left for their first term of the year for university, but it’s already that time again when they are bringing back all the clutter they initially took with them.
For those who have finished their degrees completely, most parents will be dreading the returning clutter, which may have doubled in size over the past three years with added University books, notes, sports equipment, DVDs and household items. When your family home is already short of space, this can be a frightening thought for most parents. If you are one of these parents, fret not, as Big Yellow Self Storage is here to help.
Big Yellow’s rooms are available in a range of sizes, access to which is available seven days a week. If you are unsure how long you will need self storage for, you can rent a room for as little as seven days, or as long as you may need.
It is even possible to down or upgrade your room size whenever required, so you could even rent a room whilst you sort out what to do with the clutter, and whether or not your children are set to go back to University in September, we have terms which are adept to anyone’s Self Storage needs.
If your children are worried about you having access to their belongings, you can reassure them with the fact that the space is locked with their own padlocks, so, if desired, only they have access to their prized possessions.
Big Yellow Self Storage realize that moving and packing can be one of the most stressful things to deal with, especially with young adults eager to hold on to memories of their University life. However, we are here to make the process as manageable as possible. We even deliver boxes to your home, ready for packing.
If you can identify with any of the above please visit www.bigyellow.co.uk to get a personalized quote and find out more about how you can use Self Storage units to eliminate your childs’ hoarding tendencies.
Tags: at home, big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, book storage, boxes, childhood memories, clutter, personal storage, self storage blog, student, student storage, tips and tricks
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Thursday, July 7th, 2011
One in four people are affected by allergies at some point in their life, and dust mites cause the most common allergy. Keeping your home clutter free with good personal storage is essential to improving your living environment and reducing allergies.
Choose wooden floors and boxes – Children with eczema are particularly vulnerable to dust mites. 80% of asthma sufferers react to them too. Try keeping bedrooms tidy, just putting things away is a start. Toys should be stored away to stop them getting dusty. Storage in good quality, sturdy boxes that are made from recycled material will help keep toys in good condition. Replacing carpets with hard wood flooring can make rooms easier to keep clean and also reduce allergies.
Keep toys away from the mattress -Your bed is the main dust mite zone. The average mattress contains over100,000 dust mites. The warm, moist environment is haven for the mites who can lay up to 50 eggs every three weeks. Wash bed linen at 60 degrees and tumble dry soft toys before putting them in storage away from the bed.
Embrace a minimalist house – By keeping furnishings to a minimum, you reduce the number of surfaces dust mites can land on. Visit bigyellow.co.uk/personal for help in storing old furniture or items you just can’t throw away. Avoid stacks of newspapers or books in open cupboards as these attract the dust. Using a static duster can also help by picking up dust while you clean.
Store old clothes away – Excess clothing in the bedroom can be a real dust trap. Only keep the clothes that you wear regularly and store the rest in zip locked bags. In this way, you can refresh your wardrobe seasonally, reduce clutter in your home, and help control the prevalence of dust mites. Personal self storage at Big Yellow can help for short and long term storage to suit your individual needs.
You can buy good quality storage boxes for all your needs online from the Big Yellow Box Shop at https://www.bigyellow.co.uk/boxshop/ 
Tags: allergies, allergy, big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, clean, clothes, clutter, declutter, storage solution, tips and tricks, toys, UK storage
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Monday, July 4th, 2011
The rise of the eBay auction site has been incredible. Set up in the 1980s, today eBay has over 100 million users, both buying and selling, and the opportunities to make money keep on growing. To become a successful eBay entrepreneur however takes coordination, planning and a lot of storage space. Platinum sellers can make sales of up to £15,000 per month – that’s a lot of material to turn around and store in your living room!
Maintain stock control – as a first time eBay seller, don’t feel overwhelmed if your product range gets out of control. Anyone can end up simply surrounded by ‘stuff’. After de-cluttering your own home and selling unwanted goods online, friends and family may start to offload their items to you as well. Personal storage can help if you are suddenly faced with wardrobes full of clothing, piles of books and CDs, together with the odd lamp or two. Decide which items you want to sell, and stick to them.
Develop a niche – used designer items, especially shoes and bags, are guaranteed sales on eBay. Selling quirky items such as decorative teaspoons, Victorian walking sticks, or even giant French chandeliers, can set you up as a specialist seller with a niche market. Visit car boot sales and charity shops to help source your products. Once you have developed your online ‘shop’, you can store bulky items in a self-storage room at Big Yellow, leaving your house or business free from clutter. Self-storage rooms are accessible seven days a week, so there will be no delay in sending items out to winning bidders.
Use trade sellers to maximize profits –the best source for your merchandise after exhausting your own unwanted items and charity shops will come from the wholesale market place. Here you can buy in bulk at a lower cost, sell for a bigger profit margin, and thus really boost your income. When dealing with large quantities however, storage will become a priority. Avoid overcrowding your home and visit bigyellow.co.uk/business for ways to help with this.
Divide and sort stock – once you have a range of items to sell, you will need to organise your stock so it can be stored safely and found easily when needed. Using different coloured or odd sized boxes could help distinguish where different items are kept. Visit bigyellow.co.uk/boxshop to see our full range of storage boxes. When you need to clear out your inventory and re assess your possessions, put sale items into dust and water-proof boxes or temporary storage for a few months before starting again.
Use good quality recycled boxes to store clothing – children’s clothes and vintage items are some of the best sellers on eBay. However, clothing can become very dusty and tends to absorb smells easily. Big Yellow self-storage rooms are guaranteed to be free from cigarette smoke, damp, and pet smells.
Storing stock at Big Yellow gives you the flexibility to store as little or as much as you need from as little as £6 per week. With staff that are happy to accept deliveries for you and no complicated long term contracts, Big Yellow Self Storage may be the ideal place to store your eBay items.
For more information about how Big Yellow can help your eBay business visit www.bigyellow.co.uk/business for a personal quotation.
Tags: at home, big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, business storage, Charity, Did you know?, ebay, eBay top seller, profit, self storage blog, stock
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Monday, June 27th, 2011
There are lots of ways in which Big Yellow Self Storage could help your business, as you might need somewhere to store goods on a temporary or semi-permanent basis. All businesses go through periods of change and reorganization. The current state of the economy is not helping and it has been a hard couple of years for many companies. Take a look at these ideas about how self storage could help your business:-
Free up space for new equipment – When you need space for new furniture or equipment such as a photocopier or drinks machine, you may find yourself visiting Big Yellow. Businesses, like homes, inevitably accumulate an excess of clutter over time, from boxes of papers to redundant tools. For things that you simply cannot throw away, or that you have to keep for a period of time, self storage can help. By storing goods on a short or long term basis, your equipment and valuables are kept safe and your business kept clear.
De-clutter and improve working conditions – Maintaining a tidy and clutter free office is difficult, especially when space is tight. By improving the organisation of your office storage, you can reduce dust, improve working conditions and increase productivity. Having a minimalist office can also instill a sense of calm. Utilise every inch of a room, especially areas that are slightly out of the way. You can find a range of boxes and vacuum bags to store products online at https://www.bigyellow.co.uk/boxshop/.
Storage for decoration and renovation- If an office or business needs to be decorated, it needn’t cause a major upheaval. Short term self storage rooms are available at Big Yellow. Goods and furniture can be stored in rooms from 10 sq ft to 500 sq ft or more. The best part is that you only pay for what you need. Everything in the rooms is accessible seven days a week between 8am to 6pm. You can even extend access hours for a small fee.
Seasonal variations in requirements – For many companies, seasonal variations in goods can cause problems. Christmas and Easter are busy times for any business working in the gift or chocolate markets for example. For expanding cottage industries, keeping up with demand or maintaining stocks of gift boxes around the festival period may well cause issues with storage.
Self-storage rooms at Big Yellow could provide an ideal solution, have a look at the website and get a personalized quote direct at http://www.bigyellow.co.uk/business/
Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, boxes, business storage, de-clutter, decoration and renovation, seasonal variation, self storage blog, space
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Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
Kirsty from Big Yellow Self Storage together with Trina and Kirstie from our Armadillo Stores watched UK medal hopefuls in action during a tour of the English Institute of Sport (EIS) in Sheffield.
The impressive lottery funded facility is big enough to cater for a wide variety of sports and features state of the art equipment. As well as being a tremendous asset for elite athletes, the Institute works on projects to bring sport into the community.
There were several presentations from the organizers of Team 2012, which gave an insight into the funding operation. The goal is to raise £25 million and £14 million has already been raised. The money raised will help fund equipment for over 1200 athletes across 47 sports.
Our Big Yellow and Armadillo staff were told about two key projects the Institute is promoting: table tennis and boxing. The Institute is funding a table tennis coach from world leaders China. Kirsty from Big Yellow got to see the coach in action and even play a game against medal hopeful Kelly Sibley.
Inside the boxing halls, they saw Natasha Jonas, reigning European champion, together with Luke Campbell and Anthony Ogogo practicing their style and technique. Boxing is a very well funded and popular sport. As part of the outreach project, mobile boxing rings are being used in communities with impressive results.
The day was a fantastic insight into the development of English sporting talent and a great way of seeing the Big Yellow sponsorship of Team 2012 in action. To find out more about our medal hopefuls and work at the Institute please visit their website.
Tags: armadillo self storage, big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, Boxing, business storage, Charity, Olympics, Paralympics, self storage, self storage blog, Table Tennis, Team 2012, UK storage
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Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
We’re proud to have achieved a position in The Sunday Times Green List, which awards the top 60 UK companies who act in the most environmentally responsible manner.
The “Best Green Companies” listing, now in its fourth year, has become the standard against which companies can measure their environmental performance and they must also demonstrate that their employees are engaged and committed to protecting the environment.
Big Yellow was the only self storage company to appear in the list as we’ve always operated in a responsible way by investing in green buildings and operations. Over one third of our stores have onsite renewable technology such as solar panel roofs which has increased our renewable energy generation by 11.5% in the past year alone.
Other ‘green’ initiatives such as motion sensor lighting, rain water harvesting and green roof insulation also feature in some Big Yellow stores, helping us reduce our carbon emissions.
Most of the packing material we sell is made from a high recycled content and we encourage staff and customers to recycle wherever possible.
Big Yellow will continue to introduce and promote green initiatives throughout its stores as we are deeply committed to acting responsibly in 2011 and beyond.
Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, byss, Environmental responsibility, green, recycle, recycling, self storage, self storage blog, Self Storage UK, UK storage
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Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
It’s now that time of the year, when you begin to realise that those January Sale purchases were unnecessary and you need to decide what needs to go. Using self storage is a useful solution for those items you don’t want to throw away but you can’t find a home for. In order to help you decide what should stay and what should go, follow this simple rule – six months and you’re out!
This golden rule can be used when managing other areas of the home, whether you’re updating your wardrobe, clearing the garage, emptying the garden shed or even moving your office. However, getting rid of some objects may be harder than you imagined and thankfully for those things that really have to stay there are other options. Consider storing items in a secure environment away from the home or multi-functional furniture that may provide not only storage compartments for those precious items but also additional seating.
The majority of our unused items tend to get stored on the unreachable shelves or in the dark corners of the house we steer clear of, knowing what mess lies there. It is these areas that should be targeted first when de-cluttering your home and organising your life. Ask yourself, when was the last time you used the item? If it has been longer than six months then the chances are you won’t be needing it any time soon.
Tackle the clutter in a systematic way, working from one room to the next and keep high traffic areas of your home clear of clutter. This ensures that you will be able to monitor your progress and if a break is needed, you can come back to the same point. It is advised that in order to successfully complete the task of de-cluttering your home, a full day is taken but with busy lives getting busier and time getting shorter, this is not always an option.
To find out how you can benefit from self storage, visit our Quote and Reserve Online page to get started.
Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, business storage, byss, clutter, de-clutter, declutter, home, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, Self Storage UK, storage, storage solution
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Monday, June 13th, 2011
De-cluttering your home should not just be a one off occurance. Being able to welcome visitors into a tidy home fulfills a home-owners sense of pride and allows visitors, both planned and spontaneous to enter into a calm and social sanctuary.
Regularly completing simple tasks such as sorting through mail, wiping services and making your bed as well as hoovering and dusting on a weekly basis enables you to keep on top of the clutter eliminating the need for a one day a year hardcore clear out.
The most important area to tackle when preparing your home for spontaneous visitors is the bathroom. The next is the lounge, vacuuming will make a dramatic improvement on the appearance of your home.
Wipe your kitchen surfaces, discarding any crumbs you may have picked up into the sink and rinse. Don’t spoil your hard work by wiping them onto the floor. Finally, pile up any papers or magazines in one pile. Although they may not be in their rightful home, piling them up will make it look as though they’ve been there for years.
These simple ideas can be completed within half an hour’s notice but making time to do these few things before you leave the house in the morning will allow you to return home to a stress-free environment with whatever company you may chose.
Tags: at home, big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, business storage, byss, clean, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, Self Storage UK, tips and tricks
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