Benefits of storage units. Where to start?!
Conventional wisdom says that we all want to stay in our own homes for as long as we can. Most parents would likely feel that way too. However, it’s just not always in their best interest to do so. So how do we talk with them about the realities of living alone in their home? Or, how can we convince them of moving to a care or assisted living facility.
When the time comes, downsizing for seniors can present a multitude of emotional and physical challenges. Sorting a household of possessions, and wading through a lifetime of memories, can be daunting for all concerned.
Aging care has some great advice to help you convince your parent to move to assisted living. As overwhelming as it may seem, downsizing can help. Especially to create a simple, safe and stress-free environment for your senior loved one. They will also be living in a new community that will provide the appropriate level of care they need. Not only that, it has wonderful amenities like assistance with gardening, healthy dining and housework. Not only that, there is daily fitness and physical therapy, and there’s also more opportunities for socialising.
When the time comes to move your parents out of their home, there may be a lot of their possessions that they won’t be able to take with them. My Storage can help you with this. Because self-storage is a great option for storing possessions for as long as its needed. We have a reliable team who can keep your possessions safe and secure, once they’re on our premises.
Below are some of the best situations where you can maximise the benefits of storage units.
Home staging
The older you are, the longer you’ve had to accumulate things. In the senior years, de-cluttering can feel less like you are getting rid of things you don’t 
need, and more like you are discarding the memories that go with them. However, getting rid of clutter will be far more beneficial than keeping it. Elderly assist in NZ can help you with this but I will discuss one reason why decluttering is a positive thing to do.
An unorganised and cluttered place has only a small chance of being sold on the market. When you decide to stay somewhere else rather than in your own home, then selling some of your stuff is necessary. However, if most of them have sentimental value to you, self-storage is a great option to use.
For seniors, parting with the items they’ve acquired over a lifetime can be incredibly difficult. Each belonging is a memory of time gone by, of things they’ve done or places they’ve been. Or, some items may remind them of those who are no longer with them.
Most seniors are also faced with the probability of much less storage space in their new residence. And making tough decisions about what items to part with while planning their move only adds to the difficulty of the situation.
Self-storage can help in a variety of way, including:
Downsizing
When seniors downsize to a smaller living space, it’s possible they’d like to designate some of their belongings to family or friends. However, these loved ones may not always have the storage space needed in their current homes. Especially for all those larger items like furniture or appliances.
Emergency Senior Relocation
Sometimes, due to emergency health issues, seniors need to be relocated quickly before any type of decisions about their belongings can be made. In these situations, family members may need to put their loved one’s home on the market for financial reasons too. Especially if the senior will not be returning home. Renting a self-storage unit to store belongings will help. Even if it’s until decisions can be made about where the items will go or until they can be sold in a garage sale. It can also help with home-staging, to help with
Security
Finally, seniors who rent self-storage units enjoy peace of mind that their belongings are in a secure environment. Cherished, delicate family 
heirlooms, furniture or antiques can be stored in a climate-controlled storage unit to keep them safe from damage. Plus, most self-storage facilities offer security features like computerized gate access, 24/7 camera monitoring and door alarms.
My Storage have a variety of sizes of storage units available at our location in Richmond, Nelson, for all your moving and household storage needs. Contact us today to learn more about the benefits of storage units.
For more advice on moving seniors into assisted living, here are some very helpful sites:
Aging Care https://www.agingcare.com/articles/moving-elderly-parents-from-home-to-senior-housing-136651.htm
LIfeStorageBlog explains some reasons why storage is a good option: https://www.lifestorage.com/blog/moving/downsizing-for-seniors/
