How to pack a storage unit so you can still find things

A storage unit fills up faster than anyone expects, and the thing you need in month three is always at the back. Ten minutes of planning on the loading bay saves an afternoon of digging later.

Before you load

Put pallets or a sheet of hardboard on the floor if you are storing soft furnishings or boxes of paper. Our floors are dry, but a raised base lets air move under the load. Sketch the unit on the back of an envelope: which wall the big pieces go against, where the aisle runs.

Heavy and rarely needed at the back

Wardrobes, bed frames, white goods and boxes of books go in first, against the back wall. Stand mattresses and sofas on their ends along the sides in covers. Keep the heaviest boxes low: nobody should be lifting 20 kilos down from head height.

An aisle down the middle

Leave a walkway from the door to the back wall, about 60 centimetres wide. It costs you a few square feet and means you can reach any box without unloading half the unit. If the estimator suggested a size with room to spare, this is what the spare room is for.

Labels facing out

Write the room and a short list of contents on two sides of every box, and turn the label to the aisle as you stack. Number the boxes and keep a list on your phone: box 14, kitchen, the good knives and the coffee grinder.

The last things in

Things you will want soon go in last, nearest the door: the tool box, the Christmas decorations if it is November, the paperwork you might need for the new house.