Using Storage When Moving House: A Practical Guide

Most moves do not run door to door in a single clean day. Completion dates slip out of sync, the new place needs work before you can live in it, or you are downsizing and there is simply more furniture than the next house will hold. Storage is what bridges that gap. This guide covers when it makes sense, what to put in (and what to keep with you), what to leave out, how to pack so things survive a few weeks or a few months, and how to load the unit so you can still reach what you need.

When storage makes sense during a move

Storage earns its keep whenever your move-out date and your move-in date do not line up. Four situations come up again and again.

• A gap between completion dates. Your sale completes on one date and your purchase on another, so your belongings need somewhere to live for the days or weeks in between. This is the most common reason people in a chain reach for storage.
• Downsizing. The new home is smaller and not everything fits. Putting the overflow into storage buys you time to decide what to sell, give away, or keep, rather than forcing those calls in a single frantic afternoon.
• Renovating before move-in. If the new place needs flooring, decorating, or building work, storing your furniture keeps it out of the dust and out of the trades' way until the rooms are ready.
• Decluttering to sell. A house shows better with less in it. Moving bulky furniture and boxes into storage while your old home is on the market makes rooms feel larger and lets buyers picture themselves there.

If any of those fit your move, storage is worth pricing in early. We provide storage as part of our removals service across Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire, including Gillingham, so it can sit inside one plan rather than being a separate scramble.

What to put in storage (and what to keep with you)

The simple rule: store what you will not need until you are properly settled, and keep with you anything you will reach for in the first few days. Sorting your belongings into those two piles before move day saves a lot of digging later.

Things that store well

• Sofas, beds, wardrobes, and other large furniture you will not use until you are in
• Out-of-season clothing and bedding
• Books, ornaments, and decorative items
• Spare crockery, glassware, and kitchen equipment beyond a basic set
• Garden furniture and tools, once cleaned and dried
• Anything tied to a room that is not ready yet, such as the spare-room or office contents

Things to keep out of the move-day load

Pack a separate box, or a couple of bags, that travel with you and never go into the unit. Keep them by the front door on the day so they are the last thing loaded and the first thing unloaded.

• A few days of clothes and toiletries for everyone in the household
• Phone and laptop chargers, plus any cables you use daily
• Medication and basic first-aid items
• Keys, paperwork, and anything you would not want sitting in a box for weeks
• A kettle, mugs, and a basic kit for the first morning
• Children's and pets' essentials, so the people who cope least well with upheaval are looked after first

What you should not put into storage

Some things simply do not belong in a storage unit, whether for safety, because they will spoil, or because you will need them sooner than you think. As general good practice, keep these out:

• Food and anything perishable. Tinned and dry food attracts pests, and anything fresh or frozen will spoil. Run down the freezer before you move and clear the cupboards.
• Plants and any living thing. Plants need light and water, so they cannot survive in a sealed unit. Pets, of course, travel with you.
• Flammable or hazardous liquids. Petrol, gas canisters, paint, white spirit, and similar items are a fire risk and are not suitable for storage. Dispose of them properly or carry them separately if they are genuinely needed.
• Important documents you will need. Passports, birth certificates, financial paperwork, and anything tied to the house purchase should stay with you, not in a box you cannot easily reach.

Restricted-items lists vary between storage providers, so treat the points above as a sensible starting point rather than the final word. We confirm exactly what can and cannot go into storage when we put your quote together, so there are no surprises on the day.

How to pack so it survives storage

Packing for storage is a little more demanding than packing for a same-day move, because your belongings sit boxed and stacked for longer. Solid boxes and proper wrapping are what stop damage building up over weeks. A handful of habits make the difference.

• Use sturdy boxes, not tired supermarket ones. Boxes at the bottom of a stack carry real weight, and a collapsing box takes everything above it down with it.
• Wrap fragiles in packing paper. Glasses, crockery, and ornaments should each be wrapped, with paper padding the gaps so nothing shifts. Pack them upright and do not overfill the box.
• Disassemble large furniture. Take beds, tables, and flat-pack units apart where you can. They store flatter and travel more safely. Bag and tape the screws and fittings to the piece they belong to.
• Label every box by room and contents. A box marked KITCHEN: glasses and pans is far easier to find than one marked miscellaneous, especially when it has been in storage for a month.
• Fill boxes properly but do not overload them. A part-full box crushes under weight; an overloaded one is hard to lift safely. Heavier items such as books go in smaller boxes.

For a full room-by-room method, our guide to packing room by room walks through the order to work in and how to handle each space. If you would rather not pack at all, our packing service can take that off your plate entirely.

Loading and access: getting the order right

How you load the unit matters as much as how you pack. Load it badly and you will be hauling half your belongings onto the floor every time you need one box. A little planning keeps the unit usable for the whole time your things are in it.

• Heavy and solid items go in first, towards the back. Wardrobes, sofas, white goods, and bookshelves form a stable base and free up the front for the things you will actually reach for.
• Build upwards carefully. Stack heavier boxes low and lighter ones on top, so nothing fragile carries weight it should not.
• Put early-access items at the front. Anything you might need before the move is finished, such as seasonal clothing, tools, or a particular box, belongs near the door where you can get to it without unpacking the whole unit.
• Leave a walkway. Resist the urge to fill every inch. A clear path down the middle means you can reach the back without dismantling the front, and it makes loading and unloading far safer.
• Cover what needs covering. Shrink-wrap or cover upholstered furniture and mattresses to keep dust off while they sit.

Storage as part of one removal

You can arrange storage separately from your removal, but it usually means handling two suppliers, two sets of dates, and your belongings being loaded and unloaded more times than they need to be. Every extra handling is another chance for something to get knocked or lost.

The simpler route is one company that handles the move, the storage, and the redelivery. Your belongings are collected once, held, then brought to the new home when you are ready, by people who already packed and loaded them. We run house removals and storage together for exactly this reason, so the whole move stays under one plan and one point of contact. What this looks like for your move, and what it costs, depends on how much you are storing and for how long, so the best next step is a quote.

Get a fixed quote

Costs for storage during a move come down to volume and time: how much you need to store and how long you need it for. Rather than guess, tell us what you are moving and the dates you are working with, and we will give you a clear, fixed price with the storage built in. We aim to get every quote back to you within the hour.

Get a fixed quote within the hour, with storage built into your move.