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How to Use Self Storage to Make Room for Guests

Jon Fesmire | December 11, 2019 @ 7:40 AM

Whether for the holidays or an extended visit, if you plan to have guests stay overnight in your home, you’re going to need to make room for them.

If you live in a big house with an extra bedroom or two, this is probably no problem. However, if you live in a smaller place, it will take some rearranging. Here’s how self storage can help:

Declutter First

Before your guests arrive, take some time to declutter your home. Go through all of your rooms and closets and find things you don’t need at home. Some items, like off-season clothes and sports equipment, can go in storage. Others can be sold, donated, or recycled.

Pick the Space

Where will your guests stay? Perhaps you have a craft room. If so, put your crafting table and supplies in storage for the duration of the stay. Or, do you have a workout room? Put equipment like your treadmill in storage.

If your guests are going to sleep in your living room, you’ll need to ensure there’s space there, too. Consider putting the coffee table and anything else taking up too much space in storage. Do you have an online shop and lots of stock? Yes, that can go in storage for now, too.

Mattress Options

If you have a couch that turns into a bed, great! You have a bed for one of your guests or a couple. You may also have a futon or a comfortable reclining chair guests could sleep on. If you don’t have any of these, or you need more, air mattresses work great. There are also a variety of fold-up mattresses on the market that can work. Make sure you have size-appropriate sheets and blankets as well.

Closets

One good thing to do for your guests is to provide an empty closet, preferably in whatever room they’re staying in.

You could simply put most of what’s in that closet in storage. Alternately, you could go through other closets, put items from them in storage, and move items from the guest closet to the others. Either way, you’ll be providing room for your guests to keep their hats, coats, and luggage.

Kitchen

If your guests have special dietary needs, make room in your refrigerator and pantry for their food. No, we don’t recommend putting any of your food in storage. Instead, eat what you can before they arrive to make room.

During the Holidays

The most common time to have guests stay over for a few days is during the winter holidays. One way to ensure there’s extra space—at least until Christmas Eve—is to keep your wrapped gifts in storage. You can then bring them out the day before everyone opens them. If your holiday includes Santa Claus coming, this can work very well. Bring the gifts home but keep them in your trunk, then bring them into the house in the middle of the night.

Climate Control

If you live somewhere that gets very hot or cold, or where it is very humid or very dry, we encourage you to rent a self storage unit with climate control. This will keep the temperature and humidity within safe levels for your belongings and costs about 30 percent more per month than a standard unit.

Now, best of luck hosting your guests! It’s bound to bring both joy and stress. You’ll be happy when they arrive and you’ll have fun with them, but you’ll also be relieved to get back to your normal life when they go. Just remember that self storage is there to help you manage your space.

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