31 Days to Purge my Storage Unit

Saturday morning (really early 5:00 a.m.) we were woken up by horrible thunder and lightening storms...which normally would not have bothered me...in fact it would have lulled me back to sleep :}

HOWEVER...we had plans to empty some of the stuff out of our storage unit and rain was not a welcome part to the start of our day.  Thank goodness that it had all pretty much, cleared up by 11:30 when we headed on over to our unit.

Be prepared...because this space is FULL...and has been ever since we moved into the Love Shack over 18 months...ugh!

Even before we moved here in April 2009, we moved all of the contents in our apartment's storage area from Charlotte to a rented storage unit here in Raleigh in February.  The thought was: to reduce the stress of our "official house move" in April...yeah right!   Also added to this storage space were the oak bookshelves that we had in our apartment and that we had trouble selling.  So we had thoughts/dreams of storing them until we could possible add a sunroom/office space onto the back of the Love Shack.  But NOW, after living it for over 18 months we realize that adding on is just not in the cards.  MAINLYbecause we just don't feel like adding on more space to stuff more stuff into...capish?

So I have a really good friend who I knew would provide these with a really good home...what can I say...I get emotionally attached to my furniture ;}  I also knew that she would appreciate their quality and the much needed storage that these units would provide for her in the new space...here's a photo of how they use to look in our home:

Sorry for the fuzzy photo...it was from the real estate listing when we sold our house ;)

As you can see the storage is FILLED TO THE BRIM...and the first thing that we had to do was to TAKE EVERYTHING off of the oak bookcases so that they could be taken out of here ;}

But first things first...on the left hand side of the storage unit there is a KING size foot-board and rails standing in the corner that has to come out first so that my friend can also take that home.  It is the footboard to our king bed that we just did not have room for in the Love Shack.  We removed the foot-board and rails and added a bedrame (The Bed-riser ;) that lifts our bed for more storage underneath our entire bed (you can read all about it here in The {21} Purge)  I didn't want to just throw away a beautiful piece of solid wood furniture and had visions of making a daybed out of it WHENEVERwe added on that sunroom/office space.  So I was really excited when I shared this inspiration photowith my friend over coffee at Barnes & Noble one afternoon, and she was just as excited with the possibilities for this foot-board.

Using pallets as this blogger did in her DIY postis one great way to transform the foot-board and rails into a fantastic daybed...I can't wait to see what my friend does with it ;)

But first there is work to be done...so first we took EVERYTHING off the shelves...

...and placed it onto the rolling carts supplied by our storage facility...THANK YOU!

THEN we pushed the oak bookcases out into the hallway as well so that they could be loaded onto the moving truck.

So with the wall completely FREE, we moved the metal shelves that sat in the middle of the unit (and YES all those boxes that were stacked on them ;) over to the FREE wall.  And FINALLY we stacked all the stuff that was on the carts in the hallway BACK into the middle of the unit where it now sits until we have the energy to deal with it further ;)

My plan is to "deal with it" in October when The Nester is hosting her now annual 31 Days to Change challenge and when the weather will be so much more tolerable ;}  I feel that after successfully completing The {21} Purge last year, that I can take on ten more days and make this year The {31} Purge!  The Nester along with 7 other bloggers are hosting this year this year...and if you would like to be a part of 31 Days, all you have to do is decide on your topic and publish a post each day in October.   The hosts will have a few places for you to link up and introduce your topic on the first day of October~and they will tell you more about that as we get closer to October.   How about you...are you up to the challenge?

It sure is one fantastic way to get you motiviagte, and you still have plenty of time to pick your topic and to decide to join.  Be sure to let me know and I'll be there to support you all the way.

Fondly, Roberta

Comments

[Holly James]

This is great! I have a couple storage lockers in Toronto and I am just noticing how much it really costs me each month. I would love to get it down to one unit or even none. I don't need all that stuff if it's just sitting in a storage room somewhere, right? Thanks for sharing! http://www.migsonstorage.com

[Roberta]

We simply looked for climate controled units and UHaul facilities have always been reliable.

[jessesToons]

This is just what I've been looking for! I'm on the hunt for storage units Kearns UT that would be willing to hold my stuff while I'm on vacation. I just sold my contract so everything is a big mess, I need to get it figured out. Thanks for sharing! http://www.storagekingarthur.com/storage-units-west-valley-city-utah/

[Dexter]

Thanks for the post. I am searching for some storage units in Kearns UT. How did you find yours? Thanks.

[storage units]

Thanks for the posts, I'm curious to know if the storage unit that you went with was climate controlled?

[Ericka Muldowney]

Look at all the space the cabinets occupied when they were still there! But now that those are gone, you don't have to worry about transporting all your things at home to your storage unit. Just make sure that you always clean it every weekend so that your important documents or things wouldn't become old and dusty.

[Javier Magnus]

Good decision on giving away the book shelves, Roberta. I’m sure your friend is grateful for that gift. He will surely make good use of it at home. That would benefit you too, as you can now put some other stuff in your storage unit. Purging your storage unit can be quite a task, but I’m sure that you are up for the challenge. Good luck!

[Kristopher Gawron]

You're a good organizer! Those are a bunch, and you did it! How did you get such good organizing skills? It is something learned by experience, but somehow, there are people who say they're born with it. Hehe.

[Cortney Lyon]

I'm glad you posted about when the 21-Day Challenge will be this year, I always seem to have something I want to do for it, but always seem to miss it. The Storage room is looking better and I'm sure you guys feel alot better about clearing some of that stuff out now. If only we lived closer I would take some more of that stuff off your hands....oh well. Carl said last night that he thinks we've outgrown our little guest house, I think we just need a good clearing out again...it's easier to par down then to pack and move into a new space that's for sure.

[Best Office Furniture]

Excellent blog and great information to read....

[Denyse@Crazy Beautiful Life]

Good thing your "Good Friend" took those shelves off your hands and I'm sure she will do great things with them...lol...I love the daybed and this is going to be my inspiration...I just may do that 31 day challenge with you...it might be what I need to clean out my garage ;-)

[June Houck]

You go, Girl! You are the master. I have a huge set of boxes to deal with sitting outside my craft room. I need to somehow make time to deal with them. You are my inspiration!

[Bonnie]

wow Roberta! Looks like a big challenge!! I know you can do it, you are the Queen of organizing and purging!!