Category: advice

Self storage is a valuable service that allows individuals to securely store their belongings away from their home or office. Whether you are moving house and need a temporary solution or wish to store important files over a long period of time, you can find a storage solution to suit. Some people consider self storage expensive, and there is no doubt that it may incur significant costs depending on what they are storing and how long for.

But when calculating the cost of self storage, the main consideration needs to be why you need it. Here at Cookes, our customers value the investment for protecting both your possessions and your peace of mind.

Safe storage

So, what do you get for your money in self storage? Well, firstly you get the peace of mind that your belongings are secure. Storing your stuff in the garage or at a friend’s house is all well and good, but can these locations offer 24hour security? Are they 100% damp free and unlikely to cause damage to delicate files or valuable heirlooms? At Cookes Storage Service, you receive a clean, dry, lockable space in which to securely store your belongings.

No two units are the same, and we treat every single one as if it held our own precious possessions. This is why Cookes provide state of the art security through out our site. With personal padlocks on all units, and 24hour CCTV surveillance, you can be sure that your stuff is secure when stored with us.

Flexible storage

Your storage needs can fluctuate month by month, year by year, so the idea that a one-size-fits-all contract can suffice is simply not feasible. Growing families and booming businesses will have constantly changing storage requirements. Rather than seeking to buy a property or premises that is ever increasing in size, simply invest in self storage that puts you in control. With solutions from as little as two weeks, we offer flexible storage contracts that can be increased or decreased in both size and duration at any time.

Simple storage

Unlike other storage companies, here at Cookes we prioritise simple pricing, so what you see is what you get.

We offer a huge range of storage units to suit every need. From 16sq.ft for to 270sq.ft. we have a space to suit you! The larger the storage need, be it in value or size, the higher the tariffs. However the longer you store with us, the lower the rates. Thanks to our simple pricing you don’t get any hidden surprises when it comes to settling your bill.

Want to know more? Drop us a line on 0121 250 5055 or get a free online quote today.

Moving house is a momentous occasion that we all face at some point in life, whether that is to head off to university or to leaving home to live with friends or partners. As exciting as it seems starting out, merging the possessions of two or more people can prove to be more than a little problematic. When faced with a choice of three sofas to sit on or duplicate dining sets, new cohabitants may feel pressed to part with their treasured possessions, so to avoid any awkward moments and make moving house hassle-free, simply use self-storage

Get Organised

It sounds so simple, but making a plan and getting organised early will help you immensely on your moving day. Keep a few essentials such a your kettle, mugs, tea bags and a spoon in a box on the front passenger seat of your moving vehicle (trust us you will thank us later!)

Have a system of what you need to move first and what can come later; bed first, bag of clothes you haven’t warm in a year… that can come last!

Give yourself space

Using self-storage simplifies a house move as it means that you don’t have to make any rash decisions about what to keep straight away. Perhaps more importantly, however, it gives you time to get a feel for the style that you want in your new pad, not to mention an idea on the best layout to maximise the space in your home.

Yes, you may be utterly convinced that your three-piece leather suite and chaise longue are perfect for parties, however if your goods are going to monopolise the room, then it is better to consider the home without them in it. Furthermore, you will avoid an unnecessary 22-point turn to get the furniture in through the front door.

Give yourself time

By storing your items in a secure self-storage unit, you remove the time constraints of trying to exchange and complete in a day whilst carting your worldly goods across the town. Few house sales complete at a weekend, meaning that you will need to take time off work to pack, ship and unpack your belongings within a very short time frame. By using flexible self-storage, you will be able to move in to your new home at a time and pace that is convenient to you.

Give yourself a good talking to

If there is one thing we all know, it is that as we travel along the journey called life we accumulate more than a few souvenirs along the way. Gathering together your belongings to move house can be a wake-up call as to just how much stuff you have, and now is the time to give yourself a good talking to about what needs to stay and what needs to go.

Rather than transfer all these items into your new abode or make any on the spot decisions that you later regret, use self-storage to filter these items gradually, and get rid of anything non-sentimental that hasn’t been used in 6 months.

This really simple lesson, saves many moving day tears! Your new home is going to be filled with new memories and sometimes, you just need that little bit of help to let go of items that you really don’t need anymore.

Enjoy the day

It is going to be hard work and there are most probably going to be some bumps along the way, but when you can sit back at the end of the day and look at your new home you will find that all those worries you have 6 months ago are totally irrelevant now!

For more help, head over to our page to see how we can help you with your move.

Happy moving Everyone!

Are you one of the many people supplementing their income by selling goods on Ebay and Amazon? Or would you like to be? Whilst starting off storing your goods at home is perfectly OK, more and more people are using self storage services for their home businesses. Why? Take a look at some of the benefits…

Claim back your living space!

If you’re currently storing your Ebay or Amazon goods at home, wouldn’t you love to claim back your living space? It can be hard to run a successful business if your surroundings are far from perfect. Although storing it home has very little financial costs associated with it, there are other, social, emotional and environmental costs and these can come at a heavy price. Why not consider using our self storage facilities? You’ll be pleasantly surprised at our prices and the feeling of getting the space back in your home is absolutely priceless.

Peace of mind

Whether you sell high or low cost goods on Amazon or Ebay, if you’re storing them at home you may have thousands of pounds of stock tucked away. Are you confident that your current home security arrangements are sufficient? If you have older children, are you confident that they are locking the door each and every time they leave the house empty? The other matter to consider is insurance. Storing goods at home could even invalidate your home insurance if you’ve not declared the fact to your insurer. Why not give yourself peace of mind by ensuring your stock is safe at our storage facility? You’ll enjoy the highest levels of hi-tech security all for one low monthly price.

Access 24/7, 365 days per year

The key to a good Ebay business in particular is ensuring you have the highest feedback score possible. That can sometimes mean going the extra mile and getting orders ready into the early hours. With our self storage services, you have access 24/7, 365 days per year with your own PIN code. With staff on-site all the time and with our enhanced security and CCTV, you can work with your stock when you want and in complete safety.

Flexible storage

One of the great things about having an Ebay or Amazon business is the flexibility that it provides you with. If you’re wanting to expand your business, you’ll need more room for stock, and that’s easy to facilitate at our premises. Need less space? That’s easily done too. Worried about entering into long term contracts for storage? There’s no need to, you can store with us for as long or as little as you need to.

Get your stock delivered straight to our storage facility

One of the big benefits of using our self storage service for ebay businesses is that we’re happy to accept your stock deliveries on your behalf. If you work elsewhere or simply don’t have the time to wait around for stock deliveries, our professional warehouse staff will do it for you, leaving you to free to do other things. Once we’ve accepted and stored it, we’ll contact you to let you know it has arrived. Simple, easy and efficient.

If you’re interested in self storage for your online business, get in touch today by calling 0121 250 5055  or email info@cookesstorage.co.uk

It’s that time of the year to start spring cleaning, and it’s a task many of us dread.

There are plenty of great ways to reduce the effort though, so we thought we’d save you some time and scour the internet for the best in cleaning tips using some natural home ingredients.

Sparkling windows

You can buy all sorts of cleaners that work specifically on the glass in your house. Or you can save some pennies, and use a simple solution of 50% white vinegar and 50% water. Wipe with a newspaper or cloth for sparkling windows.

Picking up pet hair

We love the furry members of the family, but we’re less keen on the hair they leave on the furniture. There are a number of ways to pick hairs up, including a trusty lint roller, but our favourite is to simply use a pair of rubber gloves. Just run your hands over your sofa, and the friction will cause the hairs to stick to the gloves.

Cleaning limescale from taps

Limescale build up leaves a white deposit on your taps, in kettles and washing machines. Scrubbing it away can take a lot of time and elbow grease – but we’ve found a simple trick that takes all the effort away.

Limescale dissolves in a mild acid, such as the citric acid of a lemon. So, cut a lemon in half, wedge it gently onto the end of your tap and leave it for an hour or more to loosen and dissolve any deposits, while you move onto another chore.

Freshen up your mattress

You may think that one of the hardest things in the house to clean is your mattress, but it’s really one of the simplest. All you need is some bicarbonate of soda, and a sieve. Sieve the bicarb over the whole mattress, and leave for several hours. The soda will draw out any dirt, moisture and odours, without damaging the mattress. Finally, hoover up the powder thoroughly and you’ll be left with a fresh, clean smelling bed.

Microwave your lemons

Another top tip using the lovely lemon – squeeze some juice into water and put it in the microwave for a minute. The steam will loosen any food stuck to the inside for an easy wipe, while the lemon leaves it smelling lovely and clean.

Clean out your drains

Our drains can become blocked with hair and soap, but there is an easy way to clean it out and keep on top of any build up. Pour half a cup of bicarbonate of soda down the drain, followers by 1 cup of white vinegar, and leave it for 30 minutes. Then flush down some fresh clean water and you’ll have lovely clean drains.

Fresh and fragrant

Finally, leave your home smelling beautifully fresh with these simple tips. Add a few drops of fabric conditioner to a dry wipe and leave it behind your radiator. As it warms the fragrance will spread across your room. And there – a lovely, clean and fresh home, ready for the year ahead.

We hope that you enjoy these easy at home tips, and enjoy a fresher cleaner life. Happy cleaning!

The home business lifestyle sounds wonderful to so many of us. Flexibility to take a day off whenever we want, working from coffee shops or sitting in the glorious British sunshine and meeting with clients – it all sounds so perfect.

The reality is often quite different. Many small business owners find themselves working far longer hours, with the divide between work and home life blurred. You may have chosen to be your own boss for the flexibility, but it’s still important to set aside work when the family come home.

Many of us don’t have the space in the home to have a separate office. Even if you set aside a small space in the living room, or under the stairs, for your desk, your work often overflows into the family living areas. Boxes of stock, paperwork, filing cabinets, samples – whatever type of business you are in, there’s always some sort of clutter that gradually infiltrate throughout your home.

Working from home can affect your health.

Overlapping home and work life so much can seriously affect stress levels and affect your health and wellbeing. You are more likely to pick up calls and emails outside of your work hours. Even when you put your work down, it’s visible in the home, causing your mind to dwell on and worry about work issues.

Stress can lead to time off work, making mistakes, depression and anxiety. Not only do these affect your business, but impact on your personal life and family as well. The more you worry about your work, the harder it will become to focus and get it done.

Tips for improving your work life balance

Set work hours

You may have chosen to work from home so that you can juggle your family commitments better – particularly coping with childcare. It’s still a good idea to set work hours, and manage the family’s expectations by clearly outlining the time you will finish and be free to focus on them.

Get dressed

Your initial image of working from home might be sitting at your laptop in bed, or answering calls in your pyjamas. Getting washed and dressed, ready for the work day, will actually make you feel more focused and productive.

Create a work space

Set aside a desk or table where you can sit and work everyday – preferably out of sight, or with your back to piles of housework and mess that can distract you. Working from home provides plenty of opportunity for procrastination – leaving you frustrated that the work hasn’t been completed.

Consider storage

Paperwork, emails and telephone calls can be managed with limited space. But if you do find boxes of stock filling your corridors, then consider self storage. With a little organisation you can manage the office from home, with regular time set aside to visit your storage unit for packaging and posting trips. It’s also a good place to keep old records that must be kept but aren’t needed on a daily basis, leaving you more room in your home.

Get out and about

Becoming lonely and isolated is another effect of working from home that can cause low moods. Try attending local networking meetings. Not only will you meet other solo workers in the same position and perhaps boost your business with great contacts – it’s good for your mood as well.

Although we can’t organise your work life for you, our storage units are perfect for helping small businesses grow. If you would like to talk about cost effective space, call us on 0121 250 5055 or email 
info@cookesstorage.co.uk

Even the most organised of households will need to de-clutter once in a while, whether it be once a year or every couple of months. Everybody builds up a collection of things that they don’t need; from clothes that don’t fit any more to unopened birthday presents. If you want to de-clutter your home then here are our top 10 solutions to make it easier, quicker and less of a chore.

1. Do I really need it?
This is a question that needs to be asked for every single item you pick up, whilst de-cluttering. Do I really need to keep those cinema tickets from last year? Do I really need to hold onto that dress that I only wore once? It can be easy to convince ourselves we need to keep something, but asking yourself this question should help you think twice.

2. Make some extra cash
This is a great de-cluttering tip that everyone should use; sell the things you don’t need! If you’ve got a pile of old clothes, shoes, DVDs, books, pretty much anything you don’t want to keep any more, then sell it! You can use online auction sites such as eBay or organise a Sunday morning trip to a car boot fair. The extra cash can be put towards better storage solutions or just a treat for the family.

3. Put it into storage
Sometimes there are things that we don’t necessarily need to keep hold of right now, but we don’t want to get rid of them altogether. If this is the case then it may be worth considering putting those things into storage. Boxes of books, family heirlooms, pieces of furniture and even baby clothes can be put into storage for a time when you will need them again.

4. Double Purpose Furniture
As you have started to get rid of the things you don’t need, it’s important to find a place for the things that you do need. Double purpose furniture is a great way to de-clutter, without having to find somewhere for storage boxes to go. You can use old trunks for decorative purposes and to hide the clutter, or a window seat that lifts to reveal a secret storage compartment.

5. Vacuum Storage Bags
These clever inventions are perfect for keeping seasonal clothes out of the way, without taking up too much space. Simply pile in the clothes you want to keep, but aren’t going to wear for a few months, then zip it up and attach the hoover to the air hole. The vacuum will suck out all of the air, making a compact bag that can be stored away.

6. Bespoke Storage
If you’re serious about de-cluttering then why not have some bespoke furniture made? Everything from bookcases to chests can be made by a carpenter to suit your home, style and the amount of clutter you have to hide!

7. One Room at a Time
The problem many of us will have when de-cluttering is that we just get overwhelmed by the amount of work to do. We’ll try to get it all done in one day or we’ll get distracted halfway through one room by finding clutter in another. If you want a clutter free home without the stress, then make sure you only tackle one room at a time.

8. Avoid Distractions
It’s so difficult, when getting rid of clutter, not to go through it all and get distracted. You may stumble across an old diary or photo album that you just want to go through and reminisce. Distracting yourself with these things is only going to prolong the process, so put them in a pile away from the rest and have a look through once you’ve finished de-cluttering.

9. Memories Box
You’re bound to discover a lot of things along the way, that just simply don’t have a place in the house. These tend to be sentimental objects such as old photographs, event tickets and birth or marriage certificates. Create a memory box to store all these things in, so that they don’t get lost or damaged.

10. Get Everyone Involved
Finally, make sure you get everyone involved when you start to de-clutter the house; the children and the partner included! By doing this not only will it take less time, but it will be easier for everyone to learn the new organisation systems you have in place. Hopefully then, it will be much simpler for everyone to keep clutter free. Hopefully!

We’ve covered 10 of our favourite de-cluttering solutions for the home, although there are plenty more. What do you find to be the best way to keep a clutter free house?