What size storage unit do I need?

Nobody wants to be the person standing in a half-empty unit doing the maths on what that wasted space is costing them every month. And nobody wants to be back a week later booking a second one because they ran out of room. Getting the size right the first time mostly comes down to being honest with yourself about how much you've actually got.

A rough size guide

Treat these as a starting point, not gospel, because how you pack changes everything.

• 1.5 m² (a locker), a few boxes, a bike, the Christmas decorations, some seasonal gear.
• 3 m², a studio or a small one-bedder without the big furniture.
• 6 m², a comfortable one or two-bedroom place, lounge and white goods included.
• 9 m², a full two to three-bedroom house.
• 12 m² and up, a large family home, or a home plus the contents of a garage and shed.

You're paying for the space, so use the height

This is the bit people miss. Units are priced by floor area, but you fill them by volume, and most have a decent ceiling on them. Same-sized sturdy boxes stack flat and let you build up the back wall safely, so you fit far more in than the square-metre figure suggests. Cheap mismatched boxes that buckle under a bit of weight are a false economy in here.

Leave yourself a path

If there's any chance you'll need something before you empty the unit, don't pack it solid to the door. Leave a narrow walkway to the back wall and put the likely suspects, documents, tools, a couple of kitchen things, up the front. A unit you can't get into is cheaper per box and miserable every single visit.

Stuck between two sizes? Size up

Nine times out of ten the bigger unit wins once you tally up a second trip, a second contract, or a wasted afternoon repacking everything tighter. If the facility lets you, go and walk the unit before you sign anything. Standing in the actual space tells you more than any tidy little diagram on a website.