Loading up a storage unit is not terribly difficult. But once you find yourself tackling this task, you will likely realize there's more to it than you thought. Keeping everything not only clean but organized as well requires some careful planning and action. The following tips should help you out.

Put everything in a box, in a bin, or under a cover.

When you show up to an empty and clean storage unit, it may be hard to picture dust being created there. And yet, dust will find a way of appearing over the years. To keep your items clean, you should make sure each item is either inside a box, inside a bin, or under a cover. Smaller items, of course, should be in boxes and bins. Larger items, like furniture and appliances, should be covered with sheets or plastic.

Make sure your labels face the front.

Hopefully, you are labeling your boxes. That's a good starting point for finding what you need. Beyond that, though, make sure your boxes are all positioned so that the labels face the front. This way, you can quickly glance down the stacks and find the boxes you need, rather than having to flip boxes around. Write directly on your boxes rather than writing on tape. Tape has a tendency to peel off with age, leaving boxes without labels later on.

Put breakables on the bottom stacks.

When stacking your boxes, try to put boxes that contain breakable items on the bottoms of stacks. If a box should come tumbling down the stack at some point, you don't want the items inside to break. Bubble wrap and tissue paper offer a lot of protection, but they won't completely prevent damage when something breakable falls from an 8-foot stack.

Leave room to access boxes.

Don't just pack as much as you possibly can, as tightly as you possibly can, into a storage unit. Remember, you do need to be able to access your things. Rent a storage unit that is large enough so you can leave some space around things, and position your things in a way that lets you access most of them without moving too many other items.

Organization and long-term cleanliness need to be top concerns as you load up any storage unit. Whether you plan to leave items in there for a few weeks, a few months, or a few years, you will really benefit from taking these steps to heart.

Contact a self-storage facility like North Star Mini Storage to learn more.