Friday, September 3rd, 2010
Garages can fast become an area of your home where items just get thrown into simply because there’s no other place for them or they haven’t been organised properly. Sifting through these can be a real time investment purely because you may find bits and pieces that you forgot you even had! Here are some top storage solutions to keep your garage organised and stop it from becoming cluttered.
First of all you should divide your items into different sections depending on what you decide to keep, store or throw away which will help reduce the amount of items that you have to find a new home for and act as an incentive to clear out the junk.
Adding open or closed shelving to your garage will clear away many items such as small paint tins that get cluttered on the ground into a safer area. Which type of shelving you go for depends on what need to get out of the space as open shelves make it easier to find items and much easier to grab the ones you need. Closed shelving or cabinets may give your garage a cleaner look but can restrict lighting; you’ll also have to remember where you’ve stored items to make it work. Placing a label on the door listing the contents inside will make it easier for you to find what you’re looking for.
Bins are a useful garage storage solution for certain things such as sports equipment because footballs, rugby balls and cricket bats can be kept together without a great deal of effort. Small bins can group similar small items but avoid getting too many large bins for your garage as it will be easy to throw items in without organising them and will just build up with clutter.
For all those items that you don’t want to throw away but aren’t being used at the moment you can place these into self storage. To find out how you can benefit from self storage visit us in any of our stores or our Quote and Reserve online page to get started.
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Tags: armadillo self storage, big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, byss, clutter, de-clutter, declutter, garage, garage storage, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, storage, storage solution
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Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
We’ve teamed up with our friends at home magazine to give you top advice on personal storage solutions. Stay tuned as we’ll be bringing you more ideas to save space and declutter for all areas of your home……
Welcome to the second installment of at home’s ‘Get Some Space in Your Life’ series with some great advice from leading personal storage experts at Big Yellow Self Storage.
at home have already looked at space saving tips for your living room and we’re going to continue to bring you personal storage solutions about how to declutter in all areas of your home, including the bedroom, garden and ideas to maximise space to make working at home more successful. Planning the perfect space in the kitchen is like creating the perfect menu. You can create space by throwing out products that are out of date or no longer in use and keep the best ingredients to maintain the great look.
Three space saving tips for your kitchen
Organising Kitchen Cupboards
Kitchen cupboards can be a main area of frustration as jars can easily clutter and build up with every shopping trip. There are some easy ways to organise the clutter that spice jars, canned goods and other items create before they quickly multiply.
Transferring spices from there original packaging into small sized jars and labeling them by hand can free up a large amount of space and make them stackable. Keeping canned items in one cupboard area and assigning one shelf for each type can keep them organised and easy to reach. Any other space you create can be used to store pasta or boxes of food.
Clearing the Clutter Under the Sink
The area underneath your kitchen sink can quickly become cluttered and make it hard to find anything you need. Overtime the area is piled full of items such as cleaning products or washing detergent and every time you to try to pull a product out, five others fall out with it. Sorting under the sink can make it much easier to find items and have a completely de-cluttered area.
Get rid of any products that you don’t need, if it’s so old that you can’t even read the label or no longer use then don’t hesitate to throw them away. If you haven’t used a particular item in a while, then chances are you’re not going to use it again anytime soon. Hanging on to these products will just collect more clutter and take up more free space that could be used. For the items you decide to keep, sort them out by category to make them easy to find out them all later.
Organising Kitchen Drawers
Drawers are the messiest place in any kitchen with items simply getting chucked in. The answer to stop all your drawers from becoming overly cluttered is by making space for one drawer that can store a mixture of items. This can store scissors, various utensils, stamps and any other items that end up jumbled together. A single drawer used for these items can make the whole kitchen feel de-cluttered.
Dividing the drawer into different sections and assigning an item to each one will create space and make things easier to find. It’s also a great excuse to throw away any old, broken or unused items.
Storing Utensils
Utensils such as spatulas, ladles and whisks can be a major cause of clutter in the kitchen as they can get left on the counter or mixed up in a drawer. When items are mixed together, sharp objects can cause injury if you’re in a hurry and don’t look carefully when reaching inside. Keeping utensils organised and tidy is a great way to avoid accidents and make cooking a lot smoother. Storing these large utensils in a wide pot that matches the design of your kitchen will keep them organised and easy to reach.
Invest in a drawer that has different components for each type of silverware including forks, knives and spoons. This will keep your entire set of cutlery from becoming mixed with each other and make them easily accessible.
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Tags: at home, at home magazine, big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, byss, clutter, de-clutter, declutter, kitchen, kitchen storage, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, storage, storage solution, UK storage
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Friday, July 30th, 2010
Deciding how to store items in your home is a very important part of de-cluttering and getting organised. The following tips will help you make quick and valuable decisions which will help you organise all areas of your home.
Hallway – Sort through your collection of scarves, hats, coats and other items of clothing that take up space. You can keep the items that are used daily or weekly as any of the excess items can be moved into a nearby cupboard, donated to charity or put in a self storage room.
Living Room – Old books, DVDs and CDs are the usual culprits so lose the bits and pieces and only display your most prized possessions.
Kitchen – The main source of frustration in a kitchen is overstuffed cabinets and drawers filled with duplicate kitchenware, dishes that are used only on special occasions, mismatched containers and appliances that you no longer use. If you can’t bear to part with an item consider relocating it or putting the items in storage.
Closets – It’s time to be strong and clear out those items that haven’t been worn in the last year, no longer fit or are out of style.
Bathrooms – Throw away any items that have expired or those that are no longer in use. Items such as toothbrushes can be kept in holders to save space and keep them clean.
Office – Any paperwork that can be found on a website or email should be recycled. Filing systems can help you minimise the inflow of paperwork and help reduce your existing paperwork piles.
Kids Room – Teaching children the concept of ‘one in, one out’ can stop toys from becoming jumbled and cluttered on the floor.
Garage –When you clear space in your house, boxes of old clothing, sports equipment and extra furnishings usually end up in the garage and will never return inside your home. To create a vast amount of free space you can donate the items or keep them in self storage.
To find out how you can benefit from self storage, visit our Quote and reserve online page to get started.
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Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, boxes, business storage, clutter, collectibles, de-clutter, declutter, fine wine storage, furniture storage, music storage, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, storage, storage solution, student storage, UK storage, wine storage
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Friday, July 9th, 2010
We’re happy to announce that we have opened our new High Wycombe branch. The new store boasts some innovative eco conscious features to protect and enhance the local environment while providing great self storage facilities for our customers.
We’ve installed a Green roof and timber cladding on the outside of the building that backs onto the River Wye. Already, Mallard ducks have decided to make a home in our new back garden ecosystem.
The Green roof adds extra insulation to the top floor storage area and acts as protection from seasonal fluctuations in temperature and reduces heat reflection back into the atmosphere, which would have been reflected by 100% if it were metal. These contributions of green space ‘help reduce the urban heat island effect’ where some large urban areas may have average temperatures 1 degree centigrade above the surrounding countryside.
By retaining rainfall through the Green roof we can slow down the accumulation of water at ground level, further contributing to the cooling effects from evaporation and vastly reduce the risk of local flooding.
The river bank area around the store has been selectively cleared to give a variety of other plant species an opportunity to thrive and enhance bio-diversity in wildlife and habitat. Nesting boxes have been added to some mature trees and wood piles have been prepared to aid wildlife find habitat in the future.
We’ve also created a front façade to our store with a landscaped area featuring a row of Silver Birch saplings, a variety of shrubs and extensive lawn providing a natural buffer between the busy road an our reception parking area.
To book and reserve online at any of our stores visit us at http://www.bigyellow.co.uk/store/High_Wycombe
Reception opening hours
Monday to Friday: 8am – 6pm
Saturday: 9am – 6pm
Sunday: 10am – 2pm
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Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, boxes, byss, clutter, de-clutter, declutter, eco, furniture storage, High Wycombe, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog
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Friday, June 4th, 2010
As you prepare to move house, there’s inevitably going to be a lot of clothing, possessions and gadgets that you don’t need any more. While the most important things that you can’t quite part with – or simply don’t quite need to be a part of your new home immediately – can go into self storage, the sites below will help you get rid of the things you no longer want and make some money in the process!
eBay - the original and biggest auction site, sell anything here from cars to computers on your own terms.
Gumtree – started in March 2000 as a local London classified ads and community site, it is designed to connect people who are either planning to move, or had just arrived in the city, and needed help getting started with accommodation, employment and meeting new people. Now a much more comprehensive offering, it covers 60 countries and allows you to find or advertise everything from a nanny for your kids to a bargain for the living room.
Amazon – Amazon.co.uk includes a feature in which you can enter your own goods into its seller’s marketplace. This means that you can add your books, clothes or toys to its main directory, and while buyers are scrolling through the products, they can choose your item if the price is right.
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Tags: amazon, auction, big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, boxes, business storage, clutter, collectibles, de-clutter, declutter, ebay, furniture storage, gumtree, online, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, selling, sites, storage, storage solution, student storage, UK storage
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Monday, May 24th, 2010
Spring is coming to an end, and summer is just around the corner. At this time of year, many people have spent weeks cleaning the house, de-cluttering, storing away stuff for safe keeping – and are feeling that air of change. If you’re planning to sell your home, the sites below will provide advice and gets things moving from your own front room.
Tepilo – Sarah Beeny’s smarter way to buy, sell or let a property. Though some people will always prefer to use an estate agent, for those that like to take control of the sale/rental of a property, this site simplifies and explains the whole process – which is often perceived as something more complicated than it really is.
Globrix - In 2008, Globrix.com launched as a joint venture with News International, the media company behind The Times, The Sun and The News of the World. Since then, Globrix.com has quickly grown to become an award winning property search engine, listing more UK properties to buy or rent than any other property site.
Rightmove – Rightmove.co.uk is the UK’s number one property website, aiming to be the place for UK home movers to find details of all properties available to buy or rent. It’s a more convenient and effective way for people to find their next home, including: up-to-date property information, available for free, accessible 24 hours a day to anyone with web access and far more complete in terms of number of properties and depth of detail.
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Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, boxes, business storage, buying, clutter, collectibles, de-clutter, declutter, fine wine storage, furniture storage, Globrix, letting, lettings, personal storage, renting, rightmove, self storage, self storage blog, selling, storage, storage solution, student storage, tepilo, UK storage, wine storage
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Friday, May 21st, 2010
One of the most precious of childhood toys is the stuffed animal. It holds endless memories, attends countless tea parties and accompanies many kids everywhere they go. As such, when it’s time to put them away, a lot of attention needs to be paid to getting it right – whether it’s a short term or long term option.
First up – do you want to put them on display, or away for safe keeping? If it’s the former, you can use shelves to display the toys, bearing in mind that they’ll accumulate dust – so a boxed self storage room with doors might be a good option. Or, buy an easy to open toy box, though it’s important to consider safety when selecting furniture for a child’s room. Be sure that features such as height and weight are taken into consideration. You could also use a mesh laundry bag to keep toys off of the floor, or put smaller toys into the pockets of a shoe hanger for easy and visible storage.
If they’re being stored away from sight or in a self storage room, you can put unused stuffed animals in plastic bins with secure lids for easy storage in the attic or garage. If you purchase bins of the same size and shape, multiple bins may be stacked more efficiently and take up less space. Wrap antique bears or toys in acid-free tissue paper and store them in archival or acid-free boxes when not on display. Be careful not to over-stuff the boxes as this can matt or crush the fur.
You can find all manner of packing supplies at Big Yellow Self Storage to help keep your items in top condition when storing from plastic boxes to tissue paper. Visit our Box Shop online to view the range.
Have a handy tip to ensure precious keepsakes stand the test of time? Let us know your suggestions in the comments area below.
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Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, boxes, business storage, childhood memories, children, clutter, collectibles, de-clutter, declutter, fine wine storage, furniture storage, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, storage, storage solution, toys, UK storage, wine storage
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Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
Did you know that the magpie – like all crows – does not have a musical voice and instead uses shiny objects stored in its nest to attract a mate? As with so many aspects of evolution – its reputation for stealing things is actually a feature of selection within its species.
Magpies collect and display objects with reflective surfaces in an attempt to find a partner, as the bird with the most objects of highest quality gets the strongest mate.
The birds will reputedly steal jewellery, silver and metals, earning them the name ‘The Thieving Magpie’. Rossini wrote an opera of this name (La Gazza Ladra). It concerns a French servant-girl who is accused of theft. She is tried, found guilty and executed. Later, the true culprit is revealed: a magpie. In remorse, the town organises an annual ‘Mass of the Magpies’ to pray for her soul. The title The Thieving Magpie was later used by progressive rock band Marillion for one of their albums.
We don’t condone stealing at Big Yellow Self Storage. If you’d like to store your valuables for safe keeping we provide 24 hour digital CCTV and every self storage room has its own alarm for you own peace of mind. We also have coded electronic gates, perimeter security fencing, smoke detectors and fire alarms to protect your things. All corridors are well lit, and all floors have an emergency phone just in case you need us. Visit our Quote and reserve online page to find out how you can benefit from self storage.
Do you think our friend the magpie has a bad reputation? Or is it a symbol of something else? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
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Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, boxes, business storage, clutter, collectibles, crows, de-clutter, declutter, fine wine storage, furniture storage, magpie, music storage, personal storage, secure storage, self storage, self storage blog, storage, storage solution, student storage, UK storage, wine storage
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Monday, April 19th, 2010
Armadillo Self Storage Sheffield Parkway was delighted to aid St. Luke’s Hospice with their storage needs recently. Every day, St. Luke’s offers excellent specialist care to its patients. Staffing at the hospice has become vitally important to the patients and their families as without the excellent individual care that they provide, St. Luke’s wouldn’t be so unique and valuable. We’ve donated storage space worth £2,000 to a very deserving cause which has been providing care to thousands of seriously ill people within their community since 1971. St. Luke’s we salute you!
Visit Friends of St Luke’s for further information on volunteering, fundraising or making a donation to this amazing charity!
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Tags: armadillo self storage, big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, boxes, business storage, clutter, de-clutter, declutter, furniture storage, parkway, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, sheffield, St. Luke’s Hospice, storage, storage solution, student storage, UK storage, wine storage
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Friday, April 16th, 2010
50 staff nationwide from Armadillo Self Storage and Big Yellow Self Storage stores will be setting off to rampage down to the sunny Brighton seafront. No, we’re not off on a beach holiday. Jimmy Gibson (our CEO) and the aptly named ‘The Big Yellow Armadillos’ cycling team will be donning helmets and tackling the London to Brighton bike ride on Sunday 24th June raising funds for Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation.
What’s happening on the day?
It’s a 08:30am start from the Balham store on Sunday 24th June and then a short cycle over to the starting line at Clapham Common where the team will set off on the 54 mile cycle ride south to the finish line on Madeira Drive in a sea of yellow jerseys! We’ll be arriving at around 14:30 / 15:30 at the Brighton store for some much needed refreshments. In the area? Supporters are more than welcome to join us for the festivities!
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Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, bike, boxes, brighton, business storage, clutter, de-clutter, declutter, furniture storage, london, personal storage, ride, self storage, self storage blog, storage, storage solution, student storage, UK storage
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