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We love to collect things. Whether it’s nostalgia for a particular period of time, a habit carried on from childhood or purely as an investment for the future, people build up vast amounts of items.
The choice of what to collect is limitless. From rocks to coins, stamps to artwork, toys to shoes, a collection can be anything that catches your eye, and the most seemingly unusual thing can turn out to have great value to a fellow collector. Just last month, a collection of Pokemon cards was sold by a Midlands auction house for £25,000. If you are amassing a quantity of potential investments, it’s important you keep them stored and cared for in pristine condition.
Of course, we can’t all afford to build a large collection of diamonds or works of arts. But, if you do want to start a collection, here are some of the most popular choices.
Comic Books
Children have been reading and collecting comic books for generations, and the majority of them may not have much individual worth. However, when you do have one that’s rare, vintage or unique in some way, it’s value may be dependent on how well cared for it is. No coffee rings or torn pages please. Comic books are often stored in individual plastic covers and in watertight boxes, laid flat to avoid sagging and bending the spines.
Stamps
It may seem old fashioned, but stamp collecting remains a very popular pastime. An avid collector enjoys not just the stamps, but the history that comes with them. However, it’s important to care for them. We’ve all heard stories of very old stamps with minor printing issues selling for lots of money, but there are also horror stories of them losing value after being damaged. Stamps need to be carefully stored in dry, dark storage where they are safe from water and light damage.
Trading Cards
As with the previously mentioned Pokemon cards, trading cards can have immense value to collectors around the world. There are sets of cards for all interests, from cars to sporting heroes, comic characters to Disney. If you have favourite cards you like to look at regularly, you can place them in purpose built sleeves. For large collections, carefully organised storage boxes make a simple way to keep them tidy.
Wine
While most of us enjoy a glass of wine and appreciate a good bottle, some do take it to the next level and build a collection of valuable wines. When you want to start wine collecting, storage is one of the most important things. You can create a wine cellar in your own home by picking a spot that dark and cool most of the time, such as a cellar or cupboard. However, ideally it also needs to be kept at an even temperature if possible, and that’s difficult to do in our modern, centrally heated homes. If you are entering into collecting seriously, you may want to consider an indoor self-storage unit where temperatures fluctuate far less.
Rare Books
We do love a good story and have bookshelves full in our homes. But collecting valuable and rare books can be an exciting hobby, starting with the fun of hunting down a rare first edition. Your collection doesn’t have to start with a dusty and ancient text squirreled away in a second hand bookshop – a first edition Harry Potter is worth a considerable amount.
When your collection takes the step from simple hobby to expensive and valuable, or from a single shelf to filling a room, it may be time to consider a self-storage unit. With your own unit, specially designated space for your collection, you have all the room you need to store everything carefully – and expand it as much as you want to.
As every parent knows, keeping a child’s room tidy is a futile task. Toys for younger children seem to consist of hundreds of plastic pieces, which get smaller as your child gets bigger. Art supplies, books, soft toys – everything soon spreads across the room, and as they approach their teens you can add in clothes and accessories too.
However, there are some great storage solutions to help you keep things under control, as much as possible, no matter the size of your bedrooms.
Storage beds
Storage beds are a brilliant way of maximising on the space in your child’s bedroom. Mid-sleepers are slightly higher than a normal divan, with drawers and cupboards underneath. High-sleepers can be a great option for older children, with space for a desk and wardrobe.
Plenty of room for baskets
When your child loves small cars or little ponies you can soon build up a large collection. Providing your child with baskets gives them an easy way to tidy up quickly and keep things organised – they can carry the basket about while they play, and put it away easily.
Jars for small items
When you have a little artist in the family you’ll have crayons, paint brushes and pencils everywhere. Keep a selection of jam jars available as fantastic pot holders. They can also be a good place to keep small pieces of toys you tread on and just can’t place.
Don’t forget the shelves
Books, ornaments, the little craft projects they make at school – everything needs a home. Floating shelves are an easy way to utilise awkward and high wall spaces for a bit more storage.
Add a space for creativity
Children of all ages love to be creative – a corner of the room for an easel or a space for a desk. There’s room for artwork and homework, inventions and writing stories, and as they get older, a space for laptops.
Box shelf storage is very versatile
Box shelf storage has become very popular in recent years, not least as it’s very easily available in flat pack from local furniture providers. It can be adapted with doors, boxes and shelf dividers – and comes in a variety of colours to add personality to your room.
Remember something for the laundry
Kids can start learning to tidy up their own space at any age. Adding a fun laundry basket to their room helps to create habits of picking their dirty clothes off the floor – although actually hanging things up make take a little more incentive.
Drawers are not just for clothes
If you like to keep things out of sight, then a chest of drawers doesn’t just have to be for clothes. Consider placing a couple of units next to each other – with some drawers for t-shirts and others for board games. The perfect solution.
Adding storage to your child’s room might provide a home for everything they love. Sadly we cannot make sure they actually use it to keep things tidy though.
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.”
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?