Author: Anthony Adams
Did you start the year off with every intention of being organised, being on time, and finding a better hiding place for presents rather than the boot of your car? Every year, many of us will say ‘I will be more organised this Christmas’ but every year Christmas comes around with bang, and organisation is the last thing on own minds.
If there is anything this year has taught us, give yourself a break! As we are all in the same boat!
No late night shopping trips, no panic buying, no day trips trawling the shops. It will most likely just be you up late with a laptop and a cup of tea, however do not fear, this can work! We have a few helpful tips to make Christmas run as smooth as possible while still being totally enjoyable.
Make a list.
Who are you buying for? It may seem so simple but without warning you can end up buying something for your next-door neighbour’s dog. Stick to the list! It is key for the when starting to think about Christmas.
Set yourself a budget.
Being honest with how much you want to spend on each person gives you control along with keeping things sensible. It is so easy to spend online without realising the cost. Once you’ve bought an item write it down next to the persons name; it is a great visual reminder of what you have spent!
Order 6 different wrapping papers.
1 for each person you will be able to see at Christmas. This means you don’t have to worry about labels, simply wrap each person’s presents one at a time to know exactly who’s is who’s. (Do make a note of which wrapping paper you use for each person!)
Shop Small.
Instagram and Etsy are fantastic platforms for small businesses. Over lockdown, small businesses took full advantage of the time and ensured they had an online presence. For Aunty Sue, why not get her a nice handmade soy candle rather than a plant. Instead if socks for other half, why not get them a hand designed and printed memory book. Your little girl, why not get a handcrafted dolls house to finally house all her dolls.
Think outside the box.
This year has been a little tospy turvy to say the least, so maybe you could arrange to have your very own Santa’s grotto at home? What about making a family hamper that you all share on your 6 person Christmas day? Make handmade cards and post them to your elderly neighbours (they will appreciate this more than you think)
Arrange a virtual gathering!
We did this so amazingly in lockdown, with family movie nights, quiz nights and virtual social gatherings to stay connected whilst keeping our loved one safe. Christmas is about connecting with people so get organised and arrange a date and time where all the family tunes in to celebrate.
Get yourself a hiding place.
Under the bed, in the loft, in the cupboard or maybe even in the car! Wherever you have tried to hide presents; I am sure that you had a few slip ups! With your very own private present cupboard surely this would make life a little easier? STORAGE ROOMS! We have you covered, with storage rooms from just 16sqft to over 270sqft. We also accepted your deliveries so you don’t even have to bring them to us, they will be ready and waiting for you to hide away out of prying eyes! Head over to our locations page to find out a little more about our facility.
Following those simple tips and ideas might just make your 2020 Christmas that little bit easier!
Happy Christmas Everyone!!
A man in Banners Gate who started a small business from home eight years ago has recently secured a massive contract with Halfords Auto Centres, providing 450 branches around the UK with roller shutters, industrial doors, and door systems.
Currently employing 25 local people in a business worth more than £3.5 million, Paul Campbell (52), together with fellow director, Steve Bendon (55), and sons Ryan (23) and Thomas (20), now heads a group of complementary companies alongside the Wellingborough Door Company (WDC) including WDC Service Solutions, WDC Property Solutions and Architectural Glazing Services. The group works nationwide for blue chip operators including Holiday Inn, Screwfix, Bensons, Argos, and Tool Station.
Said Paul: “I branched out on my own in 2011, having been in the door access and security business since leaving school at 16. Working from home gave us a great start, but the catalyst to our exponential growth rests on our decision to rent office and stock space in a self storage unit in Maybrook Business Park. The move into Cookes Storage Service has given us the flexibility to scale up and, equally importantly, scale back according to the fluctuating needs of the business. It has proved to be one of the most astute and cost-effective business decisions we have made.”
WDC is not alone in recognising the commercial benefits of working from a self storage unit, as Rennie Schafer, chief executive of the Self Storage Association UK (SSA UK), explained: “There are currently almost 1 million businesses using self storage across the UK. Over 600,000 of these consider their self storage unit a crucial part of their enterprise. While some use self storage to store stock or archive materials, we are finding that more and more entrepreneurs and business owners are now choosing to run their entire operation from within their storage space creating local employment for their growing businesses.”
Cookes Storage Service is the latest business initiative from parent company Cookes Furniture. Retailing in the area for more than 70 years, Cookes first ventured into the self storage industry at the end of 2015, creating 97 units in a former furniture warehouse. Since then, demand has outstripped supply and the company has steadily increased its initial 7000 sq ft offer to more than 26, 589 sq ft.
Said Andrew Davies, director of Cookes Storage Service: “Nationwide, it is estimated that up to half of the 45 million sq ft self storage provision is used by businesses, creating new jobs, boosting the local economy, and underpinning future investment potential. Self storage facilities are increasingly becoming hubs for business incubation and expansion, alongside their more traditional use as secure places to store personal belongings.”
The Cookes Storage Service opening hours over the Christmas period are as follows:
- 23rd December: 9am to 5pm
- 24th December: 10am to 2pm
- 25th December: CLOSED
- 26th December: CLOSED
- 27th – 31st December: 10am to 4pm
- 1st January: CLOSED
- 2nd January: Normal Operating Hours
If you require access outside of these operating hours please give us a call on 0121 285 5197 or email info@cookesstorage.co.uk.
Have you ever wondered how secure your home is? With rising concerns over burglaries, homeowners need to be a little more savvy in taking care these days. The police say that homes with no security measures are five times more likely to be targeted than those with some simple security in place security.
At Cookes we take security very seriously – each locker is individually alarmed, with PIN code entry on the entrance and 24 hour CCTV. However, we know that keeping your home secure without feeling you are under lock and key, can be a little more involved.
The point, it seems, is not to make your home a Fortress of Impenetrability, but to make of a Domicile of Difficulty – that is to say, make it look like so much hard work to get in, that the thieves go for an easier target.
Home Security From the outside
Go outside, and look at your home compared to others on the street.
- Have you got ladders lying in the grass or tools in view? Valuable tools can attract a thief to your house, while leaving hammers, ladders and other items around may be providing easy access to an opportunist thief.
- While you are out, even in the garden, have you left doors and windows open? Or, is the shed or garage visible and open from the road – particularly of note if your garage has a connecting (hopefully locked) door into your home?
- Do you have a visible alarm box? Even a dummy box can act as a deterrent, so consider placing one high up on your home.
- Install security lighting and movement sensors on the outside of the house.
- Have you got secure fencing and a locked gate? Everything that slows a thief down in getting into and away from your home will encourage them to move elsewhere.
Home Security From the inside
An unoccupied home is more appealing than one where confrontation could happen. So, make your home look occupied, even when you are out.
- Put some lamps and a radio on timers inside. That way, even while you are out the lights and noise are on at home.
- Close your curtains. Nothing says empty house more than open curtains throughout the night.
- Check your doors and windows. Are they all locked securely?
- Thieves have been known to access homes using the door key, by hooking it through a letterbox. Make sure you don’t leave keys in the door or within easy reach.
- Better yet, keep all keys out of sight. Thieves may not be after the contents of your home – not if you have an expensive car sitting on the driveway. Most homeowners place keys in a drawer or on a hook nearest the door – so make it harder for thieves by moving things about.
While you are in, and when you go out
Sadly, you can’t always prevent a very determined thief. However, you can do more to ensure that there is nothing inviting them to your home. We also recommend that you keep valuables locked away in a hidden home safe.
Please don’t advertise that you are away on social media. Telling everyone you are away for a week not only makes your home vulnerable, it could invalidate your home insurance.
However, do tell your neighbours. They can watch over your home, and collect any parcels left out on the doorstep, making it clear that the house is under a watchful eye.
If you plan to leave your home unattended for any length of time, such as going abroad, you might want to consider putting anything valuable into storage. Cookes Storage Service can provide secure storage.
There are a few things we British find synonymous with spring – lighter evenings, lambs running through the fields, the drenching of an April shower – and of course, the spring clean.
There is nothing more satisfying than a thorough spring clean – it’s a time when we open wide the windows, letting the warm sunshine and fresh air blow away the dregs of the winter; when we delve deep into cupboards and sort through the unnecessary clutter; when we chase spiders and cobwebs out and put a shine on all the woodwork.
The spring clean is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years – possibly even to ancient Egyptian times if Wikipedia is to be believed! However, modern day living has brought with it some unique challenges.
It’s a fact that in today’s consumer lifestyle we have more stuff – more clothes, more sports gear, more gym equipment, more hobbies, more possessions and so on. It’s also true that modern homes are getting more compact and – as anyone who has been house hunting recently can attest – are seriously lacking in storage.
In times gone by we would have just heaved all of that extra clutter up into the attic space. But who has attic space anymore? That’s already been converted into an extra bedroom.
The rest would be squashed into the garage, carefully stacked and balanced to avoid the car. Except – we don’t really keep cars in the garage anymore, if you even have a garage, because it’s already been adapted into an extended kitchen.
Self Storage Heroes
That’s where your local self-storage heroes leap to your rescue. Indoor self-storage is a rapidly growing industry in the UK, as we discover the advantages to having additional storage units to keep all of our less used, bulkier possessions.
As you root through the cupboards and prepare for the beautiful months of sunshine ahead, sort all of your thick winter clothing into boxes. This will leave more space in the wardrobe for your summer wear – with air to let the fabrics breath.
You’ll soon discover piles of memorabilia – the children’s school reports and certificates, medals and trophies, that they no longer want to display, but you can’t bear to bin.
Not to mention the stack of exercise equipment – stepping machines, thigh trainers, weights and running machines – that you currently use as a rather expensive clothes dryer.
It’s time to take all of your “I’ll use it one day” belongings and place them in self-storage. There’s no need to pay for unused space – there are a choice of storage unit sizes so you only rent what you need.
Everything is packed away, safe, dry and secure, until you need it. Your self-storage hero from Cookes Storage will even come and collect it for you, so there’s no excuse not to get that clutter cleared.
And as you put the final polish on the shelves and rub the last smear from the windows, you can relax in your spacious, freshly cleaned home, ready to enjoy the rest of spring.
What is the secret to marital bliss? It’s a question as old as – well, marriage. We all hear plenty of advice from well-intentioned family and friends on the lead up to the wedding – ‘Don’t go to sleep angry’ or ‘Make a list for household chores’.
One of the common themes to marital advice is about giving each other space. Just because you’re in a relationship, you don’t have to be together 24×7. If you happen to have a home with his and her bathrooms, separate wardrobes and a personal office each, you likely have all the space you need.
If not, you might want to make your own. It’s a concept as old as time. As the family grows and children take over the spare bedroom, the husband retreats to his garage or the garden shed. The idea of turning the garage into your man-cave or building a home office in the garden is not a new one, but it’s certainly growing in popularity – there’s even a Shed of the Year competition.
Clearing the way for a bolt-hole of your own
If you or your partner are hoping to turn the garage or shed into a bolt hole – there’s just one dilemma. What will you do with all of the clutter that’s already in there?
Just think about the average garden store – you can imagine the piles of paint pots and brushes, rollers and painting trays waiting for their next use. There’ll be an assortment of tools – hammers, screwdrivers, saws, pots of screws and spare planking, for that ‘I’ll sort the shelves out one day’ job, and the car jack, spanner set and spare tires – just in case.
Piled on top of the ‘I’ll try and grow my own this year’ flower pots and seedling trays, blocking access to the garden essentials – wheelbarrows, rakes, hedge trimmers and fork – will be all of the clutter that’s found its way from the house. Picture frames, dining chairs, grandmother’s china, carefully protected in plastic boxes, and a spare bedframe – things that are too good to get rid of, or that we might need one day, or the children will want when they have a home of their own – but that we don’t need right this minute.
As many long suffering husbands will know, you can clear a space in amongst the family detritus. But by the time you have planned where you’ll position the accompaniments to your new bolt-hole, someone else will have discovered that the garage magically made some room – and filled it with another pile off-loaded from the house.
The self-storage solution
So, you need a new shed, or a second garage perhaps. Somewhere to store the spare furniture, the seasonal gear and the specialist equipment needed for occasional use. But who has a garden large enough to cram in more buildings – and what’s to stop the overflow spreading into that new space?
The solution, of course, is self-storage. You can rent a space that fits to the size you need – no paying for unneeded floor – and expand as your family does, over time. Grandmother’s china will be secure in a dry, locked storage space, out of your way until it’s needed and you are left with an empty garage and plenty of room to design your man-cave.
Are you a hobbyist, or looking for your own workshop? Perhaps you want to turn your shed into an art studio, or actually use it as a traditional potting shed. Whether it’s a home office, a games room or your very own garden pub, there’s just one more dilemma – how will you keep the kids out?