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Organizing a storage unit for a Home Stager - ME!

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Home Stager with a fresh space :: home staging & thoughtful organizing

Today, I spent the morning organizing my new storage unit.  I'm sharing it with another stager that I work with often so half of the space is hers.  I wanted to make sure that I could find my things easily. I've seen plenty of storage units belonging to stagers and we are notorious for de-staging a house and going with the dump and run when we get to our storage area.  Who wants to organize after de-staging?!?

I think I did this the right way by planning it out and placing things in bins and bags with labels.  I also took the opportunity to update my inventory list.  As a professional organizer, I know this worked out well, but as a stager, this will make a huge difference in how long it takes me to prep for a job.  I even labeled the shelves!  Most of my furniture items aren't here yet but there's the space in the middle which will accomodate them.

Here's the areas I created:

  • bedding including sets, blow up mattresses and cots
  • towels/bathroom accessories
  • kitchen/dining including linens
  • artwork (I need to create/build a better system for this)
  • accessories such as pottery pieces, vases and small decorative items
  • bins for marbles, stones, ribbons, wicker balls, etc.
  • large bins I use for transport
  • things that need repair or paint or are an upcoming art project
  • greenery/twigs/etc.
  • I used the top for small furniture pieces I don't use that often, and tall items like lamps empty storage unitmiddle of storage unit3rd storage unit shotfinal storage unitAll done!
Virginia Tatseos
Stage-Show-Sell - Bloomfield Township, MI

This seems to be a part of the business that's always demanding time and energy.  We get it organized and then bam it's a mess again.

hope yours stays organized.

Oct 10, 2008 05:11 PM
Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging
Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR
"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Yes this is a stager's dilemma -- every time we expand our storage space then we just seem to buy more accessories and need more space .... then the cycle starts all over again!  Glad you're finding a way to keep it all organized, that's a key component.  I'm working on mine right now as I have two stagings and two de-stagings this week -- yikes.

Oct 10, 2008 05:20 PM
Leslie Hoyt
Hello Home! - Greenville, SC
Hello Home!

Hi! I just de-staged a home today. Got home to put it in our Props Rooms (12X12) and thought: "Ugh! Where am I going to put this stuff, since we destaged two other homes this month (which is great since the home sold!) ?"

Then I hopped on Active Rain for advice and saw your blog.

Shelving! We need shelving- we are organized, but we have gotten to the point that we need several homes worth of items available at a time... All the props that fit, go in bins which get stacked and linens in bags or on hangers- but all the little items need shelves.

Thank you for showing pictures! I am off to Lowe's tomorrow....unless there's a new home to stage, so we can use some of these props...or I can spead the decor around our house! Hmmmmmmm...

Have fun staging and organizing!

~Leslie

 

Oct 16, 2008 10:09 AM
Wanda Richards
Shows Great Home Staging and Web Solutions - Roanoke, VA
Shows Great Home Staging

Hi Liz - this is a great post for me.  I just rented a 10 x 30 climate controlled space last weekend and I have been setting it up as time allowed this week.  I am putting shelving down one wall, so I will have 30 feet of shelving and the other wall I am putting some storage bins and storage units with drawers.  The back wall is for rugs and I have a large table for lamps.  The center is for furniture. 

Oct 16, 2008 10:28 AM
Liz Jenkins
a fresh space :: home staging & thoughtful organizing - Franklin, TN

Yeah - my stuff does get spread around my house quite a bit - but I try to keep it at the storage unit if I can.  The shelves fit perfectly - each one is 3' wide and the unit is 10' .  These photos shown actually use 6 units (these are from Lowe's) - we stacked them on top of each other and bolted them together to get the height.  The storage units are so tall that usually a lot of space is wasted which is why we went up with them.  If you go to my website - my blog has a little movie I made with a bunch more pictures of the process.  I was training a new organizer (and getting a bit of free help at the same time!) when I did this so it went a lot faster than it would have otherwise.  By setting it up this way, though, it does make it easier.   I highly recommend getting a label maker (I use the Brother P-Touch 1280) - it makes it so much easier to read the labels on all the bins.  Big Lots is a great place to get clear plastic Sterilite bins for cheap - by the way.  Thanks for the comments!

Oct 16, 2008 11:57 AM
Donna Schoby
Liberty Bank of Arkansas - Bentonville, AR

I just this week moved up to a larger unit. This is the second time in the last 4 months that I have had to move because I keep getting more stuff. I was smart to move each time when most everything was out. I have shelves...but I'm going to need more. Thanks for the tips, great timing that I can use this month.

Oct 16, 2008 12:21 PM
Cameron Robertson
Supercheap Self Storage Northern Beaches Facility - Sydney, AU

It is important to organize your storage unit as you would to your house. It encourages easy retrieval especially of things that you might need to use every other day. Treat it like a part of your house so that you will always bear in mind to keep things organized in a neat fashion even though the storage unit does not receive guests like how your house would. It is for your own good and to avoid wasted time searching for what you need.

Oct 29, 2016 02:19 PM