Many of our customers have been storing their belongings in a storage unit at our Franklin location for years. Every month, they pay the bill, and every month, whatever's in there continues to exist in its own little time capsule on Murfreesboro Road. If you're reading this, you might be that person. Or you're thinking about becoming that person. Or maybe you decided that today's the day you're going to move out of your storage unit.Why Cleaning Out Your Storage Unit Isn’t Fun?Cleaning out a storage unit isn’t the most enjoyable experience. There's a reason you've been putting it off, and it's not just because you're lazy or busy.Storage units become dumping grounds after years of having one. You put stuff there because you couldn't deal with it at the time. Boxes from a divorce. Your ex-business partner has half of the inventory. That exercise equipment you never use. It's stuff that comes with emotions attached.And then there's the reality that going through a storage unit is physically uncomfortable. You're in an enclosed space, bending over boxes, getting dusty, discovering things you forgot existed, and making a thousand tiny decisions about whether to keep or toss each item.Steps To Take Before Getting StartedShowing up unprepared is the number one mistake that everyone makes. You open the unit, get overwhelmed, grab one box, and leave. Congratulations, you've accomplished nothing, and you still have to come back.Pick a day when you have actual time. You need at least half a day, probably a full day if it's been a while. I've seen people think they can knock this out in an hour. Those people are always wrong.Check the weather. If it's going to be 95 degrees or pouring rain, maybe pick a different day. You're going to be standing in a storage unit with the door open for hours. Comfort matters.Bring supplies. You need trash bags, boxes for donations, a dolly or hand cart if you have one, cleaning supplies, gloves, water, snacks, and maybe a friend who owes you a favor. Also, bring your phone charger because you'll be there a while, and you might need music to survive this.Create A System That WorksEveryone wants to think they'll be organized about this. They'll carefully sort everything into categories, make thoughtful decisions, and create a system. That's not what happens.What happens is that you get overwhelmed, start making random piles, lose track of what each pile is, and end up shoving things back into the unit because you can't handle any more decisions.Here's a better way. Three categories only: Keep, Donate/Sell, Trash. That's it. Don't create subcategories. Don't make it complicated. Every single item gets one of those three labels.The hard part is needing to make a decision quickly. Allow yourself ten seconds per item, or thirty seconds for the more complicated ones. If you can't decide in that time, it probably goes to donate. Spending five minutes staring at a broken lamp, trying to remember where you got it, isn't helping anyone.What People Find In Their Storage UnitThe good news is you'll probably find stuff you forgot about and are happy to rediscover. Gift cards with money on them. That tool you replaced because you thought it was lost. Photos you'd been looking for. Important documents you didn't realize you still had..Books, Clothes, and Other Common CategoriesBooks seem precious until you realize you're never going to read them again, and they're available at the library if you change your mind. Donate them. Keep the ones that matter, ditch the rest.Clothes that have been in storage for years are unlikely to return to your wardrobe. Fashion changes, bodies change, lives change. If you haven't worn it in three years and didn't even remember you owned it, you don't need it.Old electronics can sometimes be worthless. That desktop computer from 2010? Recycle it. Those tangled cables and cords for devices you no longer own? Trash. The phone chargers for phones that don't exist anymore? Recycle.Holiday decorations you forgot about are either something you're excited to rediscover or something you've clearly lived without just fine. Be honest about which category they fall into.Making Money vs. Getting It DoneEveryone thinks they're going to sell stuff and make back some of their storage costs. In reality, selling things takes time, energy, and patience. You have to photograph items, write listings, respond to messages, arrange pickup or shipping, and deal with people who waste your time.For some things, it's worth it. That piece of furniture that's actually valuable, the collectibles that people want, and the tools that are still in good shape. But the random stuff? Your time is worth more than the $3 you might get for that old painting.Donation is faster and emotionally easier. You feel good about it, it's out of your life immediately, and you get a tax deduction. Sometimes the path of least resistance is actually the right choice.When You Find Things That Aren't YoursThis happens more than you'd think. Somewhere along the way, someone else's stuff ended up in your unit. Your ex's belongings. Items that belonged to a deceased relative but should go to another family member. Business inventory that technically belongs to a former partner.You have a few options. You can contact the person and arrange for them to get their stuff. You can donate or dispose of it if enough time has passed and you've made a reasonable effort to return it. Or you can box it up, label it clearly, and deal with it later.What you can't do is let other people's stuff prevent you from cleaning out your unit. Set a deadline for them to pick it up, and if they don't, make a decision about what happens next.The Final PushYou're going to hit a wall somewhere around hour four, where you just cannot make another decision. Your brain is fried, you're sick of looking at stuff, and you're ready to just set the whole unit on fire and walk away.This is when you take a break. Go get lunch. Sit in your car with the air conditioning. Call a friend and complain about how hard this is. Then come back and push through.The last twenty percent of a cleanout is always the hardest because you're exhausted and you're down to the things you've been avoiding. But you're also so close to being done. Don't give up now.What to Do With What's LeftAfter all that sorting, you've got three piles to deal with. Let's be strategic about this.Trash can go straight to the dumpster. We've got one at StorPlace of Franklin, or you can haul it to the dump if there's a lot.Donations should go directly from your unit to your car to the donation center. Do not take them home first. That's how "donate" becomes "back in my garage for six months." Drop them off today while your car is loaded.The keep pile is what goes back in the unit if you're keeping it, or comes home with you if you're clearing out completely. If it's going back in the unit, organize it properly this time. Label boxes, use shelving, and make it accessible. Don't recreate the same mess you just cleaned up.Why We're Talking About ThisLook, we make money when people rent storage units. So you'd think I'd be encouraging you to keep yours forever. But honestly, watching people pay month after month for units full of stuff they don't want or need is depressing.Storage should make your life better, not be another source of stress and expense. If cleaning out your unit means you don't need it anymore, that's fine. If it means you're using it more intentionally, that's also fine. Either way, you're making an active choice instead of just letting things continue on autopilot.We're at 1138 Murfreesboro Rd in Franklin if you need to access your unit or if you want to talk about options. And if you show up with a truck full of stuff to donate and you're clearly in the middle of a big cleanout, we'll probably be silently cheering you on.Rent With StorPlace Self StorageYou've been putting this off because it's hard. It is hard. But it's also finite. You show up, you do the work, and then it's done. And that feeling of being done, that feeling is worth the uncomfortable afternoon it takes to get there.The storage unit will still be here tomorrow. It'll be here next month, too. The question is whether you want to keep paying for space you're not using well, or whether you want to actually deal with it and move on with your life.Whatever you decide, at least you're thinking about it now instead of just auto-paying and ignoring it for another year.
