Our stuff was in storage for a year in NJ; so you have summer & cold winter. We had furniture; I also had large Rubbermade bins of fabric & patterns; kids toys plus clothing. I tried to put most of it in Rubbermade bins to help keep roaches; bugs & mice out. Everything did well. I bought various sized containers; the ones that are magazine sized are awesome for better books. Another way to do it would be to put cardboard boxes higher up.

With off season clothes; we kept those bins to the front of the unit so that we could get to it easy.

Awesome, Thank you!!! I forgot about my patterns and yarn! I was worried about some of my scrapbooking stuff, so hopefully that would do ok. those are like rubber, anyways.
Could you tell me which ones were " bought various sized containers; the ones that are magazine sized are awesome for better books"....I don't think I've seen those. As I do have some favorite books, but was hoping to put them on the bookshelves in each of the childrens bedrooms as just a few books and pack the rest. I never realized all the books they had til I started doing this. Not to mention toys!
Thanks again

You can always pay more for a climate controlled storage area.

It will be easier on ANY belongings you put there.

The "magazine size" says 15 quart- 15.25 x 12 x 6.25 the specific ones I have; I think I got from Lowes. There is also a taller version & another that's a little wider. Go to Walmart & Target & Lowes; see what they have & make note of prices & sizes. Then figure out how many you need.

I already had my fabric in the huge ones- of course I don't see tags on those; it's smaller then what I store bedding in which is 176 quart. I put all off season bedding in them. Then I have 58 quart for clothes; they're usually $5 at Walmart- Walmart also has one that's a few inches taller that I use for daughters hoodies.

Another useful cardboard box cost me about $10; it's heavier then the normal moving boxes & it's huge- probably 3ft high by 18 inches square. Those hold a lot if you don't want to buy plastic bins. I bought those from a local moving company.

I always store stuff in bins- Christmas; clothes; bedding; so it was worth it to me to buy them anyway because it's something I'll use. Same with the magazine sized one; I store all my old catalogs & magazines I want to save. I also keep painting supplies in the magazine sized one; great for brushes & rollers (not full sized roller handles). There are a million uses for them after you're done moving.

I stored our things for over a year. Everything was fine. I used boxes from liquor stores and found them the best for books and heavy items. We notified the liquor stores in the area and they would not cut the boxes and save them for us. I started collecting them 6 months before we began packing. They are strong and prevent you from over packing. Remember not to over-stuff as the boxes become too heavy to move around.

I used plastic space bags (BB&B) for fabric, sheets, pillows. You can stuff them and suck the air out with your vacuum.

I stacked things on top of furniture to keep them off the floor. Nothing got damaged.

Jane

We stored stuff when we sold our last house and have had stuff in storage now for almost a year. I wouldn't consider using anything other than climate controlled storage. We just mostly packed stuff in regular moving boxes. I do use this as an opportunity to get rid of clutter.