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The question I find myself asking though is, where are all their things? Of course they will have cleaned the house from top to bottom and tidied up before the photographer arrived; but where are the things that you wish you had space to store away but can never find a home for? Perhaps they have a huge loft or ran round the house just throwing everything into the cupboard under the stairs or, as part of their efforts to create a wonderful home, did it dawn on them that storage might be the perfect solution?

Very few of us have large houses or flats so all of these thoughts naturally led to wondering what might we all put in storage if we had the opportunity. Readers might decide to store the books they can’t bear to part with but which are currently squeezed onto groaning book shelves. Parents planning on another baby could find a temporary home for the toys and books that older children have loved but no longer need. Couples moving in together might want to store the things they have two of and will need one day but not yet.

We would love to know what you would store if you had some storage. Let us know and we will create a Top 10 list and post the results in a few weeks time.

Safestore did a survey that showed over 50% of people regretted throwing away personal things simply to save space. There is nothing worse than regretting tossing out anything of sentimental value, whether it’s old clothes, photographs or family memorabilia.

Self storage rooms needn’t be places that you visit just once a year – they can be the extra cupboard or room that you don’t have at home that frees up space to make everyday life a bit more manageable.

There will always be things we can’t and shouldn’t let go of – a treasured item from the past, old photo albums or beloved retro clothes. Or you might be about to embark on a big renovation or decoration project. Whatever your storage needs, Safestore can make your life easier. You can store just a few boxes to whole rooms, for just a week or as long as you need.

Our staff at Safestore will be on hand to help make the whole experience effortless too – from advising on how much space you might need to helping you pack away your boxes and furniture so that you can access the things you need most often. And once everything is packed away, you can home, safe in the knowledge that they will look after your things as if they were their own.

Spring cleaning was a necessity in the days when homes were heated by coal fires as over the winter months it was inevitable that soot and dust would have found its way into the nooks, crannies and crevices of every home despite valiant efforts.

These days we might not have to worry so much about dirty homesbut, with the exception perhaps of the truly minimalist, most of us are pretty good at accumulating stuff, to the point where we probably struggle to identify what is precious and what is superfluous. Much loved toys should be kept but Happy Meal toys and party bag bits and bobs probably don’t fall into this category.

So the act of decluttering is about separating out the wheat from the chaff and then organising our things so we can live our lives in our homes in a way that is more harmonious. There are many reasons for decluttering, particularly if selling a house is an objective, but as an act it doesn’t have to involve throwing away or getting rid of things that we hold dear.

Storing things which are regularly used more efficiently in the home is one objective but there is a home from home for our things which we use less often. Christmas decorations, winter coats, jumpers and boots can all be entrusted to us at Safestore, where we will look after them as if they were our own until the nights begin to draw in and there’s a chill in the air once again.

The advert was created by some very clever people at WCRS, our advertising agency. They made an ad that showed something already well known to our customers – that Safestores the length and breadth  of the country are home to precious possessions which are being looked after somewhere safe for a very good reason. While not everything that people choose to store is necessarily as cherished as a beloved teddy bear, one thing we all know at Safestore is that behind the doors of our units there are important things which all have a story to tell. Which perhaps explains why ‘I Will Return’ has been viewed on YouTube over a million times.

HQ’s 70 staff did a variety of things to get into the spirit of the day. Lynsey, the lovely Marketing Assistant, organised The Great Safestore Bake Off which revealed some hidden talents at Safestore which would have impressed Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood ………perhaps.

Office Manager, Nigel came up with some fascinating quiz questions on the subject red. Did you know that entrepreneur Rachel Elnaugh, from Dragons’ Den originally founded Red Letter Days? Or that well known artist, Taylor Swift released an album called ‘Red’ in 2012?

As you can see Safestore staff came up trumps with a wide variety of treats ranging from cupcakes and brownies, to scones and the Easter classic, hot cross buns.

The first ever Red Nose Day was 25 years ago in 1988 and raised what seemed at the time an impressive £15 million. This year the total has already climbed past £75 million with every penny going towards helping poor and disadvantaged people in the UK and the world’s poorest countries.

Comic Relief has raised over £800 million since 1988, and funded 15,786 projects in the UK, as well as putting money to work in over 70 countries. 164,000 have received an education and Comic Relief has given out an amazing 1,275,000 mosquito nets. Anyone who watched this year’s TV coverage will know just what a difference a net can make, particularly to babies and very small children.

Twenty five years on, Comic Relief has helped millions of people by using the power of laughter and fun to raise money. Long may it continue!

SAFESTORE MOVING AND IMPROVING INDEX REVEALS:

• 50% of people renting believe they won’t ever own a home
• Inheritance is the best chance of getting on the property ladder, according to 42% of aspiring home-owners

Britain is becoming a nation of renters as a massive 50% of tenants believe they won’t own a property at any stage in their lifetime, according to the Safestore Moving and Improving Index. The UK-wide poll* also found that 42% of people wanting to get on the property ladder think that their best hope of being able to afford a home is to inherit money or a house itself.

Lack of deposit and the inability to get a mortgage are cited as the main reasons stopping those that don’t currently own a home getting on the property ladder, according to 29% and 17% of respondents respectively.

Peter Gowers, Chief Executive Officer at Safestore commented: “At a time when people are continuing to struggle to make their first step onto the property ladder, we are seeing more and more people moving into rented accommodation. The Safestore Moving and Improving Index shows the extent to which a large proportion of the British population is resigning itself to never owning their own home and believing that their best hope of ownership is through inheritance.

“An increasing number of people renting see self storage as an extra room to store important possessions, which they may not have the space for in their homes.”

The difficulties for people getting on the property ladder is not going unnoticed in the rental sector with 50% of tenants reporting a landlords’ market where demand in their area is high and properties are scarce. 32% of tenants say they move home ‘regularly’ or ‘quite often’ (i.e. rarely staying in a rental property for more than a year or moving every few years respectively), the stress of moving is taking its toll on those that rent.

39% of tenants say the most stressful element of moving between rented properties is the moving process itself (e.g. packing possessions and moving boxes) whilst 17% say the most stressful element of moving is a lack of available and suitable properties.

Those aged 55 and over and those aged 35 to 44 who currently aspire to own a home are most reliant on inheritance to get on the property ladder, according to 57% and 55% of respondents respectively.

Key regional points of interest in the Safestore Moving and Improving Index are:

• 17% of people in London think selling a property is a good idea at the moment in comparison to just 3% of people in the North East.
• 8% of people in London say they are ‘optimistic’ about the housing market at present in comparison to only 1% of people in Wales.
• 15% of people in London say they will move in the next six months in comparison to only 5% of people in the North West.

For further enquiries please contact:

Hudson Sandler
Nick Lyon / Kirsty Leighton / Lucy Clark
Telephone: 020 7796 4133
safestore@hudsonsandler.com

Editors’ Notes:

Key comparisons with the last Safestore Moving and Improving Index in November 2011:

• 5% of respondents in May 2012 felt optimistic about the state of the housing market. The Safestore Moving and Improving Index in November 2011 found that 4% of people were ‘optimistic’.
• In the May 2012 survey, 82% strongly agreed / agreed that ‘renovating or improving a property in some way is better than selling up’ versus the November 2011 figure of 74%.
• The May 2012 survey revealed that 9% strongly agreed/ agreed that selling a property is a good idea at the moment, in November 2011 the survey found that this was 8%.

Information on survey

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 2058 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 9- 11th May 2012.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).

Total sample size for the 2011 survey was 2058 and fieldwork was undertaken between 18th – 20th November 2011 and 28th – 29th November 2011

Information on Safestore

Safestore is the UK’s largest self storage company with 98 stores across the country and two business centres, plus a further 24 stores in Paris. The company provides secure, cost-effective self-storage facilities, an increasingly attractive solution to the growing storage needs of both business and household customers.

Stores are staffed by a highly trained teams and accessible seven days a week. Services include free van hire, four weeks free storage for new customers, Tesco Clubcard token acceptance and a DHL service point to send parcels worldwide. For business customers, there are larger storage rooms with wider aisles and doors available together with a goods holding facility. Safestore has formed a partnership with Scope.

For more information, please see get in touch.

Before you call you parents and tell them you have a massive pile of stuff that they need to find space for in their spare room while you swan off for a few months or for a whole year, give self storage a thought as a cost effective alternative. At Safestore Self Storage we are student storage experts and have everything you need to enable you to go off and do your own thing knowing that your possessions will be safe, secure and protected while you are away. Whether it’s short term or long term self storage you need, we can help. Store your belongings from just a week in a storage space perfectly suited to your requirements. We also have a wide range of packing materials available as well as transport options should you be stuck for getting your prized possessions and course work from your halls of residence to us.

At Safestore Self Storage we currently have some fantastic student storage offers available which will make storing your items even more cost effective. We currently have the 20:20 offer where if you pay in advance for your storage you will get 20% off your self storage rental as well as 20% off the price of packing materials such as cardboard boxes. We also don’t charge a deposit on any of our student storage and offer our lowest price guarantee. The end of term is nearly here so visit us for more details.

In these modern times, a spring clean no longer consists of cleaning the house from top to bottom and cleaning inside cupboards. Everybody owns so many possessions that you need a mass of storage space in order to house them all. Rather than putting them all in your loft, basement or that cupboard that you will be petrified of opening for the next six months in case you are attacked by items bursting out as soon as you turn the handle, why not put them into Safestore self storage. Self storage offers a fantastic alternative to the problem of where to put all of your spring clean items.

The benefits of moving your unneeded items into self storage are considerable. Self storage not only frees up a huge amount of room in your home but it ensures that your possessions will be safe and protected during storage. As we have over 90 stores nationwide there is sure to be one near to you which means that your stored items will be easily accessible. You will have access to them during our opening times 7 days a week and some of our self storage facilities also have 24 hour a day access.

You can rent self storage space for any period from one week onwards and we have a wide range of room sizes available. Use our size estimator to give you a better idea of the amount of room you need and then find details of the Safestore facility nearest to you by using our store locator.