A common consequence of moving in together is the ‘two of everything’ conundrum. The decision to cohabit often results in a household bursting with duplicated electrical appliances, books, CDs, DVDs and furniture – and more kitchen paraphernalia than you can shake a breadstick at.

And even after a process of assimilation, the chances are that you’ll still be left with much that is surplus to requirements. So what happens next? Naturally, you can sell or give away those things that you’ll have no further use for, but for the rest, you’ll need a suitable storage solution.

With the right preparation you can store just about anything safely over a long period of time. Here are a few tips.

First of all, select a secure storage facility that is reputable, dry and easily accessible. Then decide how big a storage unit your belongings will require.

Flat pack furniture where possible. This will save space and prevent warping or undue stress being placed on any component. Keep the fixings in a small bag in a drawer or taped to the item. Protect wood with varnish and metal with oil or a rust protection product. Mattresses will store well in mattress bags sold in DIY stores – though check them regularly and change the bag once a year.

Clothes, handbags, purses, bed linen and shoes can all be stored in a wardrobe. This again makes best use of floor space and will accommodate clothes that need to hang and those that are best folded. Make sure any leather can breathe and prefer bubble wrap to tissue paper for anything that needs stuffing to retain its shape. Arranging clothes according to the seasons will make it easier to swap things around with your home wardrobe when the weather changes.

It’s better to use plenty of smaller storage boxes for books than just a few large ones. Books are heavy and difficult to move around in bulk. Lay them flat to protect their spines. You may also want to sort books according to subject or other criteria to make them easy to locate at a future date.

At Big Yellow Self Storage you can store items of all shapes & sizes, in rooms from 9 sq ft to 400 sq ft.