Your friend's cousin's mate, who's called Dave...

As you may be aware there are many different types of storage. We’ve decided to give our blog readers a brief overview of all of the possible storage options available out there.

·         Container storage

This type of storage is usually in metal shipping containers. Often your storage unit/container is based in a secure outside compound so customers can drive beside their container and access their goods. Some companies may also deliver these containers to a customer’s business or home, where they can be filled and left on site or removed and stored by the storage company.

Advantages: A cheaper option of self storage.

Disadvantages: Due to their outside location and lack of insulation, these containers can suffer from frequent temperature fluctuations leading to the risk of damp throughout the year. Additionally, you may be charged considerable access fees to enter your container. Security is not as comprehensive as indoor, purpose built storage facilities.

Peter Griffin

·         Wooden Crate Storage

Usually this kind of storage is used by removal companies for storing clients’ furniture between moves or on a long term basis. The removal company will fill your crate with your belongings and take it to their warehouse where crates are usually stored above or next to each other.

Advantages: Another relatively cheaper option of storage; the crate may also be packed for you.

Disadvantages: You are most likely allowed quite restricted access to your crate, if access is even allowed at all. If you wish to access your crate or finish storing in your crate there is usually a hefty fee (usually around £50) for this as they have to move other crates to access yours. They are also usually in rural areas with restricted public access.

Petr Kratochvil

·         Lock-up Garage/Barn Storage

You’ve mentioned to your friends and family that you are looking into self storage for some extra space. Your friend’s cousin’s has a mate called Dave. Would you know it, he's got an empty barn which he says is available for you to store your belongings in.

Advantages:  It’s considerably cheaper than any other storage option.

Disadvantages: The barn has holes in the roof and it has flooded a couple of times. Plus, the ‘comprehensive’ security is a cockrel that sometimes cries when someone walks past. There’s no access fees but you need a sturdy 4x4, heavy duty wellingtons and a pretty powerful torch to get to your goods. When you finally get to them you soon discover you could wring water out of your precious childhood books and you need to buy a brand new sofa because it has grown a new life form on the arm rests.

Petr Kratochvil

·         Beehive Self Storage

We offer individual, private units in a secure, purpose built facility. The units are insulated in such a way to prevent steep temperature fluctuations that ensure they stay clean and dry without the risk of damp. Access is unlimited throughout our opening hours and there are no access fees or hidden charges.

Advantages:  

• Our units are clean, dry and secure. 
• Modern purpose built storage facilities.
• Well lit with automatic lighting - no need for a torch when you come and visit!
• We have professional, friendly and experienced staff to help you find a solution for your requirements. 
• We offer unlimited and free access to your unit. 
• There are no hidden charges – you only pay for the storage space you require. 
• There is  plenty of free parking at each of our sites
• Convenient loading bays, sack trucks and trolleys ensure your visit to your unit is as pleasant and straightforward as possible. 
• We offer competitive ‘New for Old’ insurance so if anything should happen to your goods you won’t have to pay to replace them. 
• We also offer the flexibility of moving to larger or smaller units if your storage needs change.
• Ideal for clients who want peace of mind that their valued belongings are clean, dry and safe whilst offering a personal service with a friendly smile. 

Disadvantages: We don’t offer 24/7 access and this is to ensure our security is never compromised, but do you really need to access your unit at 3am on a Sunday morning?

You can find our much, much more about Beehive Self Storage by clicking here

The Reality of Bereavement

Every storage story is different here at Beehive Self Storage. Each item put into storage is unique and some stories of why people need to store are happier than others. We experience storage stories ranging from new babies, weddings and exotic travel plans, to house moves due to flooding, house moves that have fallen through, relationship breakdowns and of course, family deaths.

Picture courtesy of Anna Langova

As much as we would like to always have people wishing to store goods due to happier reasons unfortunately we do have to regularly help people who require storage due to the loss of a loved one.

Relatives are often left to manage the personal effects of the deceased person, which can be the most emotional and traumatic part of all. Items may have priceless sentimental value to each individual relative and it can be difficult to determine what items to keep and what items to sell or donate, particularly when you may have the pressure of a notice period or selling the property.

It can be an extremely emotional and stressful time for relatives, therefore more and more people are considering using self storage in these circumstances. Usually, customers who have lost a loved one use a storage unit to use as a space to gradually sort and determine what items they would like to keep in their own homes, sell, donate, dispose of or keep in storage on a timescale that suits them.

Picture courtesy of Anne Lowe

At Beehive Self Storage, we don’t have any long term contractual agreements. We simply have a four week minimum term and we ask for just two weeks notice to leave your unit. You can have peace of mind knowing that the priceless possessions you have inherited are safe and secure in our clean and dry individual units. At each of our branches, our experienced and friendly team members are happy to support you to find the storage solution that would suit your requirements from our Mini Stores to our largest units. We also stock a variety of packing materials and furniture covers to help you sort and protect your loved one’s belongings.

Starting today is Dying Matters Awareness Week, which raises awareness of talking and making arrangements for the end of life before it is too late.  So perhaps take time this week to discuss with your loved one’s what belongings they would wish to be kept after they have passed away.

The Dying Matters Coalition is working to encourage people to talk about their wishes towards the end of their lives, including where they want to die and their funeral plans with friends, family and loved ones. Dying Matters

May has arrived.

Finally, May is here! The showers have begun, just as you’ve finished cutting the grass it reappears at the same height, the trees are beginning to sprout green in familiar places and we’ve even spotted a few of our favourite bumblebees around the Beehive. 

Summer is on it's way and so is wedding season. Yes, the season of big hats, dad dancing, drunk uncles and indecent grooms being tied to lampposts is looming.

Currently, the average period in which couples spend planning their wedding is more than twelve months. Furthermore, many brides are choosing a DIY approach to their wedding such as making their own centrepieces, place names, favours or even their own dress. Your spare room will most likely turn into an Aladdin’s Cave of wedding merchandise; filled to the brim with invitations, envelopes, lace tape, fairy lights, mason jars and giant cocktail glass centrepieces. The spare room is now officially renamed the ‘Wedding Room’. Your fiancé then decides to invite his parents to stay for the weekend just weeks before the big day, in your ‘Wedding Room’…enter Bridezilla.

Unsurprisingly, many brides face a bit of a dilemma in where they should store all of their wedding collectables. Particularly, some brides may ask, where should I store my wedding dress? For example, your husband-to-be rooting through the spare room wardrobe only to find the one thing he should never discover – your wedding dress. 

We have a solution. Rather than using your spare room to store all of your goods, perhaps a private, clean and dry storage unit could solve the problem? You also control who has access to your unit as only you have a key, so you can have peace of mind knowing that no nosey grooms will stumble upon your dress. We also stock wardrobe boxes and white acid free tissue paper to protect your dress. Additionally, our facilities are ideal for those who are purchasing their own wine or beer for their evening reception as our insulated buildings maintain a steady temperature with minimal temperature fluctuations. It is suggested that you shouldn’t store your wine in sunlight or at a temperature higher than 21˚C as this can cause the wine to age more quickly than usual so particularly in the summer months avoid storing your wine at home. 

Self storage can also work very well for couples who ask their guests to them buy gifts. Gifts can start being delivered to your home up to a month before the wedding so ensure they are safe and dry in a storage unit. We also offer unlimited and free access to our storage facilities within our office hours so you can keep the gifts in the unit whilst you are away on honeymoon and collect them when you are ready and slowly integrate them into your home.

Finally, perhaps one thing to avoid is storing the groom himself in the storage unit. After buying the contents of an abandoned storage unit for just $20 at auction in 1999, a Californian woman discovered that amongst her newly acquired wedding pictures and champagne glasses lay the body of a groom. The bride was later charged with murder. Obviously, we don’t suggest storing the body of your future husband in our or any storage units!