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Big Yellow Self Storage Bike Challenge

Big Yellow Blogger — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 14:01:06 +0000

On the 19th of August at 7am four of our staff members will be taking on an amazing feat for charity. The Big Yellow Fellows (Mike FitzGerald (the team leader), Richard Shubrook, Paul Holmes and Luke McLaughlin) will, along with badminton coach Stephanie Cartwright, be riding 191 miles visting 34 Big Yellow Self Storage stores within the M25. All this is in aid of national charity Get The Kids Going!

Get Kids Going! works to enable disabled young people to get involved in all kinds of sports, anything from powerlifting to tennis. They’re currently preparing for the London paralympic games in 2012.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Jane Emmerson, loves the idea. “It’s absolutely fantastic to see what the Big Yellow Fellow boys are doing – they are certainly putting themselves to the test! We receive no funding from the Government or the Lottery and rely solely on donations from public so the money that Mike and the team raise will directly boost GB medal hopes at next year’s Paralympics helping to buy much needed equipment and sports grants.”

The Big Yellow Fellows endurance cycle is one of six Olympic events they’ll be recreating this year. This is all part of the Gold Challenge. This initiative challenges the public to take part in Olympic and Paralympic events to raise money for sports charities and promote sports among young people.

Good luck to everyone on the Big Yellow Fellows team!

If you’d like to get involved in the cause then you can visit their donation page. All contributions, no matter how small, will be greatly appreciated. (If they reach £1000 then Mike will be having a leg wax. Just a little extra incentive for you there).

All hands on deck: cleaning with kids

Big Yellow Blogger — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:03:20 +0000

Every parent has the same problem with young children getting sick of their toys, or simply growing out of them. The problem is that the house ends covered in toys rendered useless, and simply gathering dust. If this sounds familiar, and you cannot bear to just throw these expensive toys away then Big Yellow Self Storage are here to help.

We offer units in a range of sizes, starting from just ten square foot, so if you plan to have more children you can store these toys for them, instead of shelling out more money in the future. As well as saving you money, this can also help to reduce dust which clutter, such as toys, tends to gather.

Cleaning your home can become quite a chore when you have to do it on your own. Working with other people to clean and organise your home makes the bain of your life suddenly become a more manageable task, and with a few minutes of planning also a great family activity.

While children are on holiday for the summer, getting them to help with fun cleaning games, such as using sock puppets to make dusting fun. You could also incorporate cleaning into play by allocating time to create the sock puppets before the cleaning begins.

Racing is another engaging way to get family members on board. For this you will need to plan and prepare- set a task, establish your expectations and introduce any rewards and forfeits before the game begins so that everyone involved knows the rules and plays by them. A great example of this is to set the task of collecting 5 items from one room each and racing to be the first to put them back in their rightful place. Within 10 minutes the whole room will be clean. You could also incorporate relay style races and team races to vary the games week by week.

Musical cleaning is an excellent way to make chores entertaining and enjoyable. Create a circuit or running order of chores and establish individual starting points for each participant. Begin the music and explain that when the track changes you move on to the next chore.

A combined effort not only allows cleaning to be completed more quickly but it also means that you have combined two of what should be daily tasks into one. Keep checking back to our Big Yellow Blog for more tips and tricks on cleaning and de cluttering during the summer months. For self storage solutions that match all your needs, check out http://www.bigyellow.co.uk/personal.

Sock puppet via Pinprick on flickr

Tips and Tricks: Big Yellow Self Storage Could Help Clear Allergies

Big Yellow Blogger — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:44:29 +0000

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/

Six Months And You’re Out!

Big Yellow Blogger — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:05:31 +0000

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.

Clear Clutter When Moving In With Your Partner

Big Yellow Blogger — Mon, 23 May 2011 10:37:46 +0000

If you’re moving in with your partner for the first time it may be hard to find a space to fit all of your belongings from your previous homes.

Before you move in together you should go through your belongings and decide what you really want to keep, what can be donated and what can be stored until you find free space in your home. If both of you move all your belongings it can become overwhelming as there is maybe too much.

If you found it a struggle to find space in your previous home then you will need to make a sacrifice. Now that both of you have made a compromise and have gotten rid of your clutter, you can really start organising.

Any items that you want to sell or donate but want to keep can be kept in storage until your new home is organised and you find extra space or move into a bigger property.

To find out how you can benefit from self storage when moving in with your partner, visit www.bigyellow.co.uk to get started.

Tips & Tricks: How To Furnish And Decorate A Small Room

Big Yellow Blogger — Fri, 20 May 2011 15:11:59 +0000

Even if you’re constrained by the size of a room, there are some things you can do to make it appear bigger.

Mirrors are a great way of making a small room seem larger. Hanging a mirror on the door or using a large mirror on a wall is a good plan of action. Furniture should be placed at an angle in order to hide the box-like feel of certain rooms. You should also consider using fewer, but larger pieces of furniture and eliminating the things that you don’t need such as side tables.

The light in a room also makes a lot of difference, and in general, the more lit a room is, the bigger it looks. Blinds are a better option than drapes in order to maximise the sunlight on offer, but if you have drapes, they should be hung as high as possible in order to give the room the appearance of being higher.

Painting a room can also offer solutions to making a room feel bigger. For example, painting a horizontal stripe around a room can trick the naked eye into thinking that the room is wider than it actually is. Painting the walls the same colour as the furnishings is another trick that makes the furniture seem to fade into the walls. Painting the room in lighter or softer colours is helpful, and certain colours such as creams or icy blues are bright and reflective, which will make a room seem larger. Consider painting the mouldings of the room in lighter colours than the walls, as doing this the walls appear to move outwards, which makes the room seem bigger.

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Big Yellow At The Business Start Up Show

Big Yellow Blogger — Wed, 18 May 2011 10:37:24 +0000

Big Yellow Self Storage will be attending the Business Start Up Show, the UK’s largest exhibition for developing and expanding companies, at ExCeL London on 19th & 20th May 2011. We will be there to offer any advice and talk face-to-face with those that require storage for their business.

There will be over 200 exhibitors, 140 seminars, free workshops, one-to-one advice sessions and a range of live interactive features. If you’re thinking about starting your own business or you’ve recently launched one, there will be information, advice and services needed to run a successful business.

Come and speak to Big Yellow if you’re planning to start up your own business and want to find out more about self storage.

Create a Relaxing Home Office

Big Yellow Blogger — Tue, 10 May 2011 10:19:31 +0000

If you’re working from a home office many things can cause a distraction such as paperwork that hasn’t been filed or a large amount of items around your desk. Here are some suggestions to make your home office a more productive place to work.

Simple things like changing your desktop picture to something calming and pleasing to look at will make spending a day in front of the screen less of a chore. It’s also a great way to compensate for an office that doesn’t necessarily boast a room with a view.

Place house plants around the room in order to not only look better but aid the circulation of oxygen through the office. Let there be light and take advantage of any outdoor space you may have.

Stay hydrated and ditch the sugar to avoid the sugar crash and boost your energy. Dehydration is a common cause for fatigue and weakness.

Working in a calming space will create a productive environment and will make your work much more productive and to a higher standard. It will only make going to work easier!

If you want to find out how you can use self storage to create a home office, visit www.bigyellow.co.uk/personal to find out more.

Did You Know You Could Be A Hoarder?

Big Yellow Blogger — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:32:54 +0000

Did you know that there is such a thing as Disposophobia? Becoming a hoarder and being reluctant to dispose of your items is now a recognised disorder. After recent exposure to the public through television shows such as Hoarders and Hoarders: Buried Alive, recognition of the condition and its symptoms has increased.

Also known as Hoarding Disorder, Disposophobia affects 1-2% of people in the UK which accounts for 2 to 3 houses per urban street. Extreme cases such as that of Edmund Trebus; who featured on the BBC’s Documentary Series ‘A Life of Grime’, cause victims of the disorder to allow hoarding and clutter to dominate their lives. Mr Trebus lived in one corner of the kitchen only accessible by ladders in his North London home along with his Jack Russell, whilst his collections of vacuum cleaners, old cameras, children’s toys and Elvis Presley Records resided in the rest of his four story house.

Has your cluttering gone to the extreme? Visit www.bigyellow.co.uk to find out more about how you can use self storage to clear your hoarding habits.

Create a Minimalist Home

Big Yellow Blogger — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 07:49:29 +0000

Becoming a minimalist at home can help you to reduce stress as there is much less clutter, mess and your home will be much easier to clean. Becoming a minimalist isn’t about giving up the things that you need, it’s about keeping only the essentials in your home to live comfortably.

It can help you save space, time and money because you won’t be spending on unnecessary items. Here are some top tips to help you become a minimalist at home.

The main element of becoming a minimalist is removing all of the items that you don’t need around your home. You will need to be ruthless and let go of the items that will cause clutter and mess. Start with your wardrobe as many people allow clothing to pile up in their closets and it can get even worse if nothing is done about it.

Your furniture in each room should serve a specific purpose and if you have any items that you don’t use, remove them. The less furniture you have the better! This doesn’t mean you need to be less comfortable, just make use of the furniture you have.

Go around the rooms in your house and check your belongings and ask yourself whether you could live without the items you find. If you say yes, then you can get rid of them or move them into one of our storage rooms if you can’t bring yourself to get rid of them permanently. Anything you find placed on floors other than furniture should be removed as you shouldn’t store anything on the floors of your home.

We often allow things to take up space in our cabinets and drawers but you should get rid of anything you don’t need. Make use of the space created by keeping items out of sight from around your home that you want to keep.

To have a minimalist home, everything will need to have its own place all of the time. If you’re not sure where something belongs then give it a home and make sure it returns here when you clean.

To find out how you can benefit from self storage to create a minimalist home, visit our Quote and Reserve Online page to get started.