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.
Earlier in the summer we unveiled the Big Think to search for students that are passionate about social networking, social media and web culture. Those taking part had to prove their enthusiasm for social media by submitting a catchy, funny or downright silly news headline which had to include the words “Big” and “Yellow” on our Big Yellow Self Storage page on Facebook. Many of the entries were topical as they mentioned the General Election that was happening at the time and the noisy Vuvuzelas in the World Cup.
Entrants were then encouraged to get as many ‘Likes’ or retweets on their entry as possible from their friends, family and complete strangers to get their hands on the prize. The winner would win an internship with the Big Yellow online communications team and the runners-up would receive an iPod Touch.
After a great deal of hard work, our winner with 223 ‘Likes’ was Nicholas Wellings whose entry was ‘BIG Bird from Sesame Street is BIG and YELLOW just like the BIG YELLOW Storage’.
We saw some really passionate individuals rise to the challenge and we thought it was a shame to pick just one bright spark. So, we were delighted to be able to offer a 2nd month-long internship!
Our 2nd Big Thinker winner was Anna Naylor with 174 ‘Likes’ whose entry was ‘Strangest proposition I have ever had; A YELLOW toothed BIG issue seller asked me if I would like to go out drinking with him, but only if he sold enough copies of the BIG issue that day’.
The internship is a fantastic opportunity for Nicholas and Anna to work and learn with our online communications team in London this summer. The scheme will offer them a detailed program focusing on how to effectively enhance brand presence online and through social media sites such as Facebook.
With well over 300 entries and 2,500 ‘Likes’ from both internship competitions, we would like to thank everyone who took part in Big Thinkers and we can’t wait for our fantastic winners Nicholas and Anna to get started later in the summer!
We recently unveiled the Big Think, a search for students passionate about social networks, social media and web culture. Entrants had to prove their gusto on Facebook and Twitter to craft attention grabbing headlines, whilst promoting themselves on the social web.
Designed for undergraduates and graduates alike and those interested in social media the internship is a fantastic opportunity for the winner to work and learn with our online communications team in London this summer. The internship scheme offers students a detailed program focusing on how to effectively enhance brand presence online and through social media sites such as Facebook.
To secure this prize, students had to enter by submitting a catchy, funny or downright silly news headline which had to include the words “Big” and “Yellow” on our Big Yellow Self Storage page on Facebook.
We saw many Big Thinkers with well over 250 entries for the internship, but the overall winner with 223 ‘Likes’ was Nicholas Wellings whose entry was ‘BIG Bird from Sesame Street is BIG and YELLOW just like the BIG YELLOW Storage’.
He’s currently finishing off his AS exams at Sixth Form College in Sheffield and is a budding actor after beginning to break in to TV and film by appearing in some BBC dramas. Nicholas also has a great techie side to him as he’s a web designer who’s created sites for local businesses.
We would like to thank everyone who took part in Big Thinkers and we can’t wait for Nicholas to get started later in the summer!
You can check out Nicholas’ recent interview with the Guardian Careers site about how he got involved in the Big Thinkers internship here.
We’ve seen some really passionate individuals rise to the challenge over the last couple of weeks, so it’s seems a shame to pick up just one bright spark. That’s why we’re we are delighted to be able to confirm that we’re able to offer a 2nd month-long internship to join our fantastic winner Nicholas Wellings and the rest of the team at Big Yellow Self Storage. The closing date is 2nd July so you better get a new entry in and as many ‘Likes’ as you can fast! http://bit.ly/dx2GKA
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.
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.
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.
Big Yellow Self Storage has been happy to give a helping hand to Read International, a fantastic charity and the UK’s one-stop-shop for book donations. They have crafted a hugely inspiring network of students who volunteer at 45 universities across Britain accepting any disused books from anyone and everyone and then ship these to Tanzania and Uganda. These much needed donations give kids in these countries the chance to benefit from books that their schools could never usually afford.
Over 564,000 books have been shipped to date, a great success for them! Because they’re so successful in their donation drives that they acquire a large amount of books before they’re all ready for shipping without having the facilities to store them all. This is where we have been able to help with the cause as we’ve donated space where Read International can house these, sort them and get them ready for shipping. We’re delighted to work with Read International and help them with their great achievements.
To find out how you can get active with READ International or donate books to the project please visit their Facebook group.
Recently our Norwich & Edinburgh branches helped Read International deliver a vast stock of books, view the images in our slide show below.
Do you have a favourite charity that you support? Let us know what yours is in the comment section below.
Did you know that the most creative – and often efficient – use of innovative self storage strategy can actually be found in airports all around the world? From bras filled with snakes to primates stored in trouser pockets, some people try sneaking plainly ridiculous things through customs using methods that are quite frankly bizarre.
Custom officials at Melbourne Airport in 2005 became suspicious when they heard ‘flipping noises’ coming from underneath a woman’s skirt. Suspecting something fishy was occurring, they lifted it up to discover that she was wearing an apron of plastic water-filled bags containing 51 live tropical fish. Another smuggler tried to enter New Mexico with 16 packages of cheese stashed in his truck tires. However, he was busted by a border control X-ray machine and his truck confiscated as he’d failed to declare the extra goods.
Most bizarrely though, a man tried to pass through Los Angeles airport with two pygmy slow loris monkeys stored in pockets on his trousers. The man, Robert Cusack, 49, was travelling from Thailand and had previously drawn attention to himself after four rare birds of paradise escaped from his suitcase and flew over the heads of officials.
We don’t store living plants or animals at Big Yellow Self Storage but you can use our self storage for anything else you’d like for as little as a week, month, year or as long as you want. We only ask for seven days notice when you want to leave. Visit our Quote and reserve online page to get started.
What do you think of the sneaky tactics above? Got any stories you’ve heard about recently. Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
The Big Yellow Self Storage Box-Man has just returned home from his 2010 UK university tour for a well earned rest. Box-Man and his team took to campuses across the country telling students all about the benefits of storing with Big Yellow this summer and its great 25% off storage offer which is available from bigyellow.co.uk/students
They’ve been travelling up and down the country visiting universities in Sheffield, Durham and Nottingham Trent to name a few. To celebrate the offer as a special treat, team Big Yellow is giving away a brand new Apple iPad. If that wasn’t enough, a Big Yellow Internship is up for grabs – a fantastic opportunity for any web savvy students!
Fancy getting involved? Test out your skills crafting a pun, which can be hotly topical but must include the words “Big” and “Yellow” by simply visiting facebook.com/bigyellow and like the page. The biggest thinker will be the entry with the most retweets and Facebook likes and they will gain some valuable CV boosting experience this summer with Big Yellow Self Storage’s online communications team in London. A few iPod Touch’s have been thrown in as well to help get your creative juices flowing.
Check out where Box-Man’s been travelling in our slideshow!
The Heriot Watt University Motorsports society is the sole Scottish team in the British Universities Karting championships and has been competing throughout the country. They have only been racing since October 2009 and are unable to gain affiliation to the University Sports Union.
The team has raced to success on the track in their first year as sponsorship from the Edinburgh branch of Big Yellow Self Storage has enabled them to attend race meets and raise their profile among the 4,500 students at Heriot Watt University.
The team has had success off the track as well. They picked up Best New Society and Best New President at the University Oscars in part for a finding sponsorship deal with Big Yellow.
The racers came in to do an official photo shoot at Big Yellow Edinburgh with ‘The Big Yellow Stig’ making a special guest appearance!
Big Yellow Self Storage provides secure do it yourself storage rooms for domestic and business customers for as long or as short a period as required. We provide space that’s easy to arrange, secure – and affordable.
