Moving Solutions: How to Know When to Store or Move Excess Stuff!

Entry #313, October 27, 2010

Today, I’m talking about moving your belongings and when is it worthwhile to store them at a storage facility, rather than move them.  The reasons not to move them could be numerous – furniture is too big, move is temporary, inherited furniture that isn’t your decor style, etc…

Over the past 10 years, this subject has been near and dear to me. I had a relative that relocated from one state to another and chose to pay for a storage unit. With hopes to retrieve the belongings in a few months, easily turned into 5 years and they spent $100.00 a month for 5 years. You do the math, $6,0000 and the contents of the storage unit were not worth more than $500.00!

Should you move it? Store it or Sell it?

I found this great article on Unclutterer – a reader asks if she should move her inherited furniture. Read on, the answer may surprise you!

I am moving across the country (probably just for a few years), and would like to take just the essentials. However, I have three large pieces of antique furniture bequeathed by my grandmother that I can definitely see wanting to have in a more permanent house when I move back in the future. So… what do I do with them for the next few years? (Or am I deluding myself — will I ever want them?)

Lisa, your question brings up a number of different issues, so bear with me while I take a few twists and turns to get to a definitive answer.

To start, you seem more uncertain about life than you do about a few pieces of furniture. You use the phrase “probably just for a few years,” which speaks volumes about why this decision is difficult for you. Stop thinking about a possible future, and focus on right now. Are you moving across country? Yes. Do you want to take this furniture with you? No.

Since you don’t want to move the furniture across country, you need to decide what to do with it. Is there someone else in your family who could use the furniture now? What would the repercussions be in your family if you sold the furniture to an antique dealer and used the money to set up your new home on the other coast? If someone would be upset that you sold the furniture, are they willing to take it off your hands? (If not, don’t allow yourself to be guilted into keeping it.)

Do the math… should you take it with you?

Maybe you love the furniture, and are considering storing it in self-storage? The reality is that you would likely pay $100 a month to put the three pieces of furniture into a storage locker. If you stay on the other coast for three years, then you’ll have spent at least $3,600 in rent for unused furniture. Would you pay that amount to buy this furniture if you saw it in a store? Could you even insure the furniture for that amount? The possibility also exists that you’ll love the other coast and decide to stay out there permanently. If this happens, then you’ll either continue to pay to store the furniture or you’ll have to pay to have it shipped across country. Whatever way you look at it, using a public storage facility will cost you … and it will probably cost you stress and worry in addition to the price tag.

The future is uncertain, but the present isn’t. If I were you, I’d give the pieces to someone in the family who wants them more than you do. You can admire the furniture every time you visit that family member, and know that it is being useful. And, remember, it’s just furniture, it’s not your grandmother.

For more moving tips on Stagetecture, click here.