How to pack a storage unit and still reach it
Stand the big things up. A three-seat sofa lying flat takes about 22 square feet of floor. Stood on its end, it takes about 9. A queen mattress takes 33 square feet flat and under 7 on its side. Those two moves alone give back about 40 square feet. That is more than half the usable floor in a 10 × 10 unit once you keep an aisle.
Then pack from the back wall forward. Put the things you will never need before moving day at the back. Put the things you might want by the door.
Why does the floor run out before the space does?
A unit is 8 feet tall in most facilities. A 10 × 10 holds 800 cubic feet. But nobody fills a unit to the ceiling with a sofa lying flat. Furniture uses the floor and leaves the air above it empty.
So the job is to turn floor into height. Anything that can stand on end, or take a stack of boxes on top, should.
When I rented a unit, I had room to spare. Planning the floor first is how you avoid paying for a size you do not need.
What can stand on end?
Here is what the usual pieces take, using the sizes the storage unit size calculator starts from:
| Item | Lying flat | Stood up | Floor saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three-seat sofa, 84 × 38 × 34 in | 22 sq ft | 9 sq ft, on its end | 13 sq ft |
| Queen mattress, 60 × 80 × 12 in | 33 sq ft | 7 sq ft, on its side | 26 sq ft |
| Dining table, 72 × 36 in | 18 sq ft | a strip along the wall, legs off | most of it |
A sofa on its end is 84 inches tall. Under an 8 foot ceiling that leaves 12 inches to spare. Measure yours first, and measure to the lowest thing up there. In some units that is a sprinkler pipe or a light, not the ceiling.
Take the legs off the table and stand the top against a wall. Put the bolts in a bag and tape the bag to the underside of the top. Public Storage’s packing guide says the same about table legs and fixings.
What goes where?
At the back: the mattresses on their sides, the table top, the bed frame in pieces, and anything you will not open until moving day. These are the big flat things. Lean them against the back wall, or along a side wall if the unit is deep.
In the middle: the sofa on end and the dressers. A fridge or washer goes here too. Public Storage tells you to leave a fridge or freezer door slightly open, so it can air out.
Along the aisle: stacks of boxes. Put heavy boxes at the bottom and light ones on top. Use one or two box sizes, not six. Same-size boxes stack straight, and a straight stack does not lean onto the aisle.
By the door: whatever you might need back. Tools, seasonal clothes, the box of papers you will want in March.
How wide should the aisle be?
Wide enough to walk in with a box in your hands. The planner starts at 30 inches. If you only need to reach in from the door, you can go narrower and keep the aisle short.
An aisle up the middle lets you reach both sides. In a 5 foot wide unit that does not work, because 30 inches is half the width. Put the aisle along one wall instead and pack the other side.
Label every box on the side that faces the aisle, not just the top. Once a box is under three more, the top label is gone.
What does not help?
Filling it wall to wall. It saves you a size of unit, and then the one thing you need is at the back behind the sofa. If you will open the unit during the rental, keep the aisle.
Stacking boxes on the sofa seat. A seat cushion is not a shelf. The boxes lean, and the weight sits on the cushion for months.
Sealed plastic bags. Public Storage’s guide warns against them. A sealed bag keeps any damp in, right against the thing you wrapped. Wrap furniture in a cloth or a moving blanket instead.
Do you need anything on the floor?
Public Storage’s guide suggests pallets on the floor before you load. Units usually have a bare concrete floor. Pallets keep the bottom box and the sofa legs off it, and they let air move underneath.
Plan it before the truck comes
The planner draws the unit to scale and keeps the aisle clear. It does not model stacking. To plan a stack, add it as one item with the height of the whole pile. Four medium boxes stacked up make an item 18 × 18 × 64 inches.
Add your things, press Pack it again, and see how much floor you have left. If you are not sure the sofa will get through the unit door, the furniture through a door planner tries every way of turning it.