Building A Successful Resort

Posted on: 26 February 2015

If you are in the process of moving your belongings into a self storage unit for temporary storage, then you are probably worried about the possibility of theft. While storage unit theft does happen, you should be reassured by knowing that most storage facilities take a lot of care to do everything they can to keep thieves from gaining access to your property.

In addition, there are some very basic "camouflage" techniques that you can use in order to deter thieves from sealing your valuable items if they happen to gain access.

Intentionally Wrong Box Labels

If you are a thief looking to grab some quick valuables after removing the lock from someone's storage locker, are you going to grab the box that is labeled "laundry supplies"? What about "Christmas tree"? Of course not. So, you should use this natural human behavior to your advantage when you place items into your own storage unit!

As you are packing your boxes, number each box and label it with a marker. However, don't be too honest on the contents label on the box, save this information for your own paper list.

For example:

• Box 1 - Label on box "bathroom towels" while the actual contents of the box are valuable glass vases
• Box 2 - Label on box "cat box and cat food" while the actual contents of the box is your valuable china

The goal is to misrepresent your items to casual observers, while at the same time you have an accurate listing of which items are really located in what box. If you want to label your valuables as "fragile" instead simply add a random letter on your boxes. For example, for the breakables above, you might label the boxes 1D and 2Q. Only you and your movers will know what the letters mean.

Hiding Items

There are obviously some items that you can't place into a box and give it an incorrect label. When this is the case, then you should use hiding techniques to your advantage. For example, you should place all valuable items towards the back of your unit. The simple reason is that it will take a lot of effort to get there for a thief. Since they are trying to work quickly, they won't disturb the back of your unit to see what is located there.

If you have a large piece of art, place it flat against a wall and place a large piece of furniture against it. On the top and sides of the furniture, place boxes and other items so it isn't immediately obvious that there is art behind the furniture piece.

Blocking the View from the Door

Finally, you should take a moment to block the view of your items from the door. This will keep any lurking people from seeing what is inside your unit when you open it up to retrieve an item.

To block the view you can:

• place items into simple boxes and stack the boxes as high as possible near the doorway
• place mattresses near the middle of the unit
• place blankets or sheets over boxes and stored items

Your goal should be that when the unit is opened, nothing is immediately visible that has any value. While you may want to impress others with your home, your storage unit should look like you own nothing of interest to anyone but you. This will be a big deterrent for potential thieves.

Conclusion

In order to add another layer of security to your mini storage unit, you should always take the time to cover and camouflage your items. If you need additional help on how to best secure your mini storage unit, then you should speak with the manager at your local storage unit company.

For more information, check out companies such as All American Mini Storage.