Over the years, many of us have collected our music in various forms. It’s a safe bet to say that nearly every home has vinyl albums and CDs stashed away somewhere. While some argue that these formats are superior to digitized music, nobody can argue that they oftentimes take up too much room. If you love your music, but don’t have space in your place for bulky jewel cases or heavy LPs, what can you do? Easy…convert your music to digital files and store the original formats safely away in the nearest Lock Up Self Storage facility.

Here are some tips on how to keep your music available to you while safely storing away the original formats:

• COMPACT DISCS: If you haven’t already, you should upload all of your CDs onto your computer. This way, you can have your whole music catalog at your fingertips and load your iPod up with your favorite tunes. Once you’ve done that, you could get rid of all the CDs, but maybe one day they’ll be looked at as “vintage” collectibles like vinyl albums are nowadays. So, instead of selling them off at a garage sale or sending them to the landfill, pack them away in boxes and put them in a Lock Up Self Storage unit. By doing this, you’ll ensure that even if your computer up and dies, you’ll still have your music. It’s ideal to keep CDs in their jewel cases to protect them and to preserve the album art. But, if you want to reduce the storage space needed for your music or you have a lot of CDs that have lost or broken cases, get a CD album. These albums have sleeves that will protect your discs, provide a space to put the cover art and they’re an easy way to peruse your collection. Store CD albums on their edge so that the CDs are not subject to undue weight which may crack them.
• VINYL LPs: While it’s always fun to listen to an old record on a record player, it’s not always feasible to have a large collection of albums because of how much space they take up. Like CDs, you can put your vinyl collection onto your computer. Album converters are record players that plug into your computer, so that you can convert your albums into digital files. Records have recently become very collectible items, especially when they’re rare or in excellent condition, so it makes sense to store your albums away for safekeeping. The Lock Up Self Storage climate controlled units are a great solution for avid music collectors or professional DJs who love vinyl. Your records will be protected from heat and humidity. When you move your vinyl into a Lock Up Self Storage unit, be sure to use a sturdy storage shelf. You can fit about 68 records stored vertically per foot of shelving. This ends up being about 30 pounds per linear foot, so your shelving must be able to hold heavy weights or your pristine record collection could end up on the floor in bits and pieces. Never store your records in a stack as this will warp and possibly crack them rendering them useless. You want to store them upright and vertical, like books, making sure to not let them lean at an angle.

Do you have any suggestions for storing your music collection? Share them here!

The digital age has transformed the ways that we create, view and store our photographs. Nearly extinct are the days of actually loading film into a camera and having the photos developed. But, for those of us lucky enough to know the magic of film, what do you do with all those shoeboxes that are filled with actual, real printed photographs of weddings, vacations, or cute babies in baths? If you find that you can’t part with these precious moments captured on film but simply don’t have room to store them or want to make sure they are stored properly to ensure longevity, you should consider placing them in a climate controlled storage unit at your nearest Lock Up Self Storage facility.

The ideal conditions for photographs are mild temperatures and moderate humidity. Excessive heat and cold can destroy paper. The Lock Up Self Storage facility’s climate controlled units maintain a relatively steady temperature using heating and air conditioning provided by commercial HVAC systems inside of finished buildings, away from the harsh elements. This provides a safe location to store all of your photographs. Now that you have the right conditions to store your photos, you need to make sure that they are packed properly so as to prevent fading, cracking or staining. Here are some tips.

• Paper Storage Materials – Old shoeboxes and the envelopes that came with your developed photos are unsafe storage materials because they contain high levels of lignins, a naturally occurring chemical found in wood which is detrimental to printed photos over time. Lignans will turn paper brown and brittle, causing photographic memories to deteriorate. If you want to ensure archival quality storage for important photos, be sure any method you choose passes the PAT and ANSI IT9.2 tests of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). These test whether or not paper or plastic storage materials will stain or fade photos. To ensure the safety of snapshots you’re storing, simply use high quality paper enclosures labeled as non-acidic and lignin-free.
• Plastic Storage Materials – If you’re going to organize certain photos into albums or place in sleeves for storage, avoid pages made of PVC which has a strong odor and can create acids that fade photographs and can even cause the image to stick to the PVC, permanently ruining your photo. Instead, opt for pages or enclosures made of Mylar D or Mellinex516.
• Negatives and Slides – If your negatives or slides are dirty be sure to clean them before you put them into archival safe storage boxes. Also, store any negatives or slides that may have mold on them safely away from your other slides and negatives. Mold is a living organism and will spread if given the opportunity.
• Photo Boxes vs Albums – Both methods are acceptable, it simply depends on how you want to view certain pictures. Boxes are great for storing large quantities of snapshots. Always try to organize photo boxes by date, or if needed, by special occasions to make them easier to sort through. Photo albums are a great way to organize very unique shots that tell stories about your life. The photos you value most deserve a special place to be stored. Be sure to clearly label the boxes and albums so you can find them in your storage unit.
• Digital Photos – A Lock Up Self Storage unit is a smart place to keep a back up CD or DVD of all your digital photographs as well. If your computer crashes, you’ll be thankful that The Lock Up has them safe and sound. Another good idea for very special photos such as images of great-great family members is to take high resolution scans of them and add these to your digital photo back up disk. Many of these old photos have not been stored properly in the past and despite your best efforts to rectify their storage situation, they may have suffered too much damage, making them simply too fragile to last forever. A digital file of these images will preserve them even after the paper decays.

Do you have any other photo storing tips to share? Let us know!

With warm summer months ahead of us, many people are placing their homes on the market for sale. There’s a lot of prep work that goes into getting a home market ready. One of the cardinal rules for all sellers is to make sure that the home has been de-cluttered and de-personalized. You want potential buyers to feel like the house is spacious and to be able to envision the house as their home; this is difficult to do when every room is packed with furniture and there are framed pictures of your family lining the walls. But, what does a seller do if they haven’t yet secured another location to live? The answer: rent a self storage unit at the nearest Lock Up Self Storage facility and get to work.

The first thing you should do is systematically go through your home and pack up all personal items that you do not need to have every day. This means anything that is a reflection of you such as books, records, cds, photos, knick knacks, and family heirlooms. You’ll need to do this when you move anyway, so this gives you a jumpstart. Next, pack up any remaining clutter from desks, vanities, dressers, cabinets and closets. Remember, you don’t want to just store this stuff in closets; you want potential buyers to look into well organized closets with only your bare essentials so they can envision their own clothes hanging neatly and their own shoes lined up in a row. Clear kitchen and bathroom counters to make these rooms seem more spacious. Be sure to take leaves out of dining room tables so that there’s more space.

Once you have all the little things out of the way, you then want to assess each room and decide on what pieces of furniture are not necessary. You want to stage each room so that potential buyers know immediately what the purpose of the room is. For example, leave the desk in the office, the sofa and coffee table in the living room and the dining table in the dining room. Remove any extra furniture such as side tables, buffets or bookcases that block doorways or hamper movement around the room in any way. Remember, you’re not trying to show a neat version of how you lived in this house; you’re trying to give an impression of what’s possible to the new owner.

Real estate is about selling space. By packing up personal clutter and moving unnecessary furniture into a Lock Up Self Storage facility, you will show potential buyers how much space your home has and sell your home for what it’s really worth.

The Lock Up Self Storage has units big enough to store all of the furniture and knick knacks from your home. Be sure to call the Lock Up Self Storage facility nearest you to find out what size best fits your needs. Call 1-866-327-LOCK.