How To Pack Up Your Dorm Room For A Storage Unit
If you live far away from your family, chances are good that, when you go home for the summer, your parents are going to ask you to get a self-storage unit (from an outlet such as Allsafe & Storaway Self Storage) for the summer, rather than drive all the way to pick you up. This way, you can take all of your necessities in a suitcase or two and fly home. However, taking all of the items that you have accumulated for two semesters or more and trying to get them into a storage unit can seem like an overwhelming task. Here are some tips for getting you started on packing up your dorm room for a storage unit.
1. Pack Up Winter Clothes First
You are going to want to start packing up your dorm room as soon as possible. The first thing that you can safely pack are the clothes that you're not going to need again until November or December. These clothes could include your winter coats, your scarves, your extra pairs of jeans, most of your sweatpants, and anything else that you wouldn't consider wearing in 90 degree weather. When packing up your winter clothes, separate them in different boxes with outerwear in one box and sweaters and other clothes that you wear indoors in another box. Make sure that you label both boxes clearly. This will make getting everything you need immediately out of the storage unit immediately much easier.
2. Make a Donation Pile
Get a few large, black trash bags and start putting in items that you don't want anymore but don't want to go to waste. Doing this will allow you to minimize the amount of useless stuff that you keep without contributing to a landfill. Your college should have many different areas where you can donate clothes, old school supplies, and other items.
3. Schedule a Truck Early and Pack it Correctly
The easiest way to make sure that moving your stuff from your dorm room to a storage unit goes smoothly is to rent a truck that you can drive for an hour or two. Many other people are going to have the same idea, so make sure that you schedule a truck to be rented as early as possible so that you aren't stuck with a truck that is far larger than you actually need. On the day that you are packing your truck, make sure that you pack everything that you might need to get out of the storage unit at the beginning of the summer in the back of the truck. Put it in the truck first. This means that anything you won't need for months will get taken out of the truck first and put in the back of the storage unit.
For more information, talk to your storage unit. They might be able to provide you with packing materials and assistance.