space Archives | Spaces & Places

When moving in with a friend or partner, you will be faced with a few responsibilities and realities that you are not used to, especially if you have lived with your parents the majority of your life.

For the most part – you will be filled with excitement and looking forward to this next chapter in your life, but to make your big move work, follow these tips and prepare yourself for what’s to come!

Add your own touch

When moving in to a new place, you have a blank canvas waiting for you to add a personal touch. With your new roommate, you can make decorating decisions together and decide how to create your dream home.

What’s your role?

When you move in together, one of the first things which should be on your to-do-list is figuring out who is responsible for which roles. Taking out the bins and household chores can cause arguments if you feel you are doing more than your roommate. Avoid an argument by deciding who does what and when the chores have to be completed.

Finances

There will be a few bills which have to be paid monthly and on time. Understanding how much each of you owe will avoid awkward/ touchy conversations further down the line.

Personality traits

When you live with somebody, you will learn a lot about them that you did not know before you moved in together. Whether they have a habit that irritates you, or you feel they are not pulling their weight, make sure to air these concerns. By talking and communicating you will prevent an argument brewing.

Space

You may end up with two of the same items, whether it be sofas, cutlery or chairs, having too many items can make your new place look cluttered and untidy.

Instead of using up your spare room or garage with these items, keep them safe and secure in a storage unit and use your new-found space to create something you both agree on – a spare bedroom, games room or a library are just a few inspirational ideas.

With 24/7 access to secure units throughout the North West, Spaces and Places make self-storage easy and affordable. Get in touch today.

Turn Your Empty Spare Room Into Your Favourite Space

That spare room upstairs has been calling your name for months. You know the one – currently home to last summer’s suitcases, boxes of Christmas decorations, and that exercise bike you promised yourself you’d use every day.

Most of us make the same mistake of treating our spare room like an expensive storage space. What if this unused area could become your favourite room in the house instead? Your forgotten space holds untapped possibilities that could solve daily problems and add genuine value to your home life.

Turn Weekend Hosting Into Something Special

Saturday night entertaining gets so much easier when you have your own drinks station. Display your favourite bottles on floating shelves, add comfortable bar stools where guests naturally gather, and conversations keep flowing without anyone trekking back to the kitchen every few minutes.

When you have enough room, a pool table or dart board turns ordinary evenings into proper entertainment. Friends start asking when you’re hosting again, and casual visits become memorable nights that stretch well past your usual bedtime.

Build the Reading Corner You’ve Always Wanted

Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves make your collection part of the room’s character rather than just storage, taking up space. Position a well-cushioned armchair near the window where afternoon light streams in naturally, giving you perfect reading conditions without harsh artificial lighting.

Keep a small side table within arm’s reach for your tea cup and reading glasses. Heavy curtains muffle household noise when family life gets particularly chaotic, turning this corner into your personal retreat. The thoughtful setup encourages more reading time because everything feels arranged for relaxation and focus.

Fix Your Clothing Storage Problems for Good

Overflowing bedroom wardrobes create daily stress when you’re rushing to find clean clothes for work. Converting your spare room into a proper dressing area gives you breathing space to organise everything sensibly, ending those frantic morning searches through stuffed drawers and chair-draped outfits.

Install hanging rails at different heights to accommodate everything from maxi dresses to cropped blazers. Shoe storage ends the usual pile-up by your front door, while proper handbag display keeps accessories visible and protected. Central drawer units handle smaller items such as bobbles, clips and ear rings that typically create clutter throughout your bedroom.

This setup makes your morning routine so much smoother. Outfit selection happens faster when you can see all options at once, and you’ll rediscover forgotten pieces buried in your wardrobe.

Skip the Gym and Work Out at Home

Rising gym membership costs and crowded changing rooms make home workouts increasingly attractive. Your spare room accommodates everything from basic equipment to larger machines, depending on your space and budget.

Resistance bands, yoga mats, and a selection of weights cover most workout needs without requiring loads of storage space. Wall-mounted mirrors help monitor your form during exercises, while good ventilation keeps the air fresh during intense sessions.

Home-based fitness removes common exercise barriers. You can start workouts in comfortable clothes, skip the commute entirely, and avoid queuing for popular equipment during busy periods. The convenience factor often makes the difference between consistent exercise and giving up.

Create a Proper Work-Life Balance at Home

Attempting to work productively from your kitchen table blurs the line between professional and personal time. A proper home office helps maintain work-life boundaries while improving your productivity during remote working days.

Position your desk near windows to reduce screen glare and maintain steady energy levels during long working sessions. Invest in ergonomic seating that supports hours at your computer – your posture and back pain will thank you later. Keep decorations minimal for video calls, but add personal touches that make spending entire days here feel pleasant rather than sterile.

Good cable management maintains a professional appearance, while adequate storage prevents important documents from mixing with household paperwork and disappearing when you need them most.

Give Your Creative Projects the Space They Deserve

Crafters, artists, and makers often battle workspace limitations that constantly interrupt their creative flow. Clearing the dining table before every family meal or hunting through various cupboards for supplies wastes precious time and breaks concentration.

Large work surfaces allow you to spread out patterns, sketches, or project components without feeling cramped. Organised storage systems keep materials sorted by type and project stage, so you spend time creating rather than searching for basic supplies.

Good task lighting prevents eye strain during detailed work sessions. Choose surfaces that can handle paint spatters and adhesive accidents without causing anxiety – complete focus on your projects rather than worrying about making a mess makes all the creative difference.

Clear Everything Out Before You Start

Before changing your space, deal with everything currently living there. Local self-storage facilities provide temporary homes for seasonal items, sports equipment, and memory boxes without forcing you to discard things you genuinely want to keep.

This method protects important belongings while creating the blank canvas your room’s new purpose requires. Many people discover they rarely miss stored items, making future decluttering decisions much easier when storage rental periods expire.

Small Steps Lead to Big Changes

Your spare room represents a genuine opportunity to improve daily routines, whether through better entertaining, fitness access, work productivity, or creative expression. The change adds functional value to your lifestyle while increasing your property’s appeal.

Taking that first step often feels overwhelming. This weekend, clear just one corner and sketch your ideal room layout. Small actions create momentum for the complete makeover you’ve been imagining, turning wasted space into your new favourite room.

When you tidy your spare room, instead of throwing all items away; place them in a Spaces and Places self-storage unit. This way, you can turn your spare room into something much more useful/enjoyable, while avoiding throwing away items you wish to keep.

Moving in with a partner can be an exciting time. You have taken the next stage in your relationship and have decided that right now is the perfect moment to move in together.

However, before you start to believe everything will run smoothly, prepare yourself for challenges you may face by reading on.

Two of Everything

If you currently both live by yourselves, you will have your own furniture, appliances and electronics. Deciding which items you will bring to your new place may cause a disagreement, and deciding what to do with the remaining items can be a stressful task.

Tip – Store items in storage until you find a buyer.

Different Visions/ Tastes

You most likely have different decorating visions and different tastes. Compromising is key if you want to live peacefully together and create a home which you both enjoy returning to after a long day at work!

Tip – Purchase new items together and create a home you both love.

Initial Clutter

On day one moving in, your new home will be filled with boxes. Place the boxes in the room which they belong and begin unloading. You may have underestimated the amount of space you have in your new home, resulting in your new place becoming cluttered and unappealing.

Tip – Decide which items you will not be needing at this moment in time, and keep them safe in storage until you need them again. Clothing is a great place to start. If it is winter, place all summer clothing in storage until the warm weather arrives and vice versa. This will allow a large amount of extra space in your wardrobe to appear.

Mayhem

If you are used to living alone, sharing space with somebody else may become difficult to begin with. Having complete control over your environment, inviting friends over without consulting anybody or a spur of the moment decision to redecorate are certain aspects you will not be able to do anymore.

Tip – Avoid an argument and make a conscious decision to talk through any changes or future plans with your partner.

Self storage becomes a lifesaver for two people moving in together. For items which you do not want to throw away and furniture you wish to sell at a future date, get in touch with a secure, convenient and trustworthy storage company; Spaces and Places.

Over Christmas, there’s no doubt you’ll have received an abundance of new items for your home that are currently sat waiting to be put away.

Many of us use January as a good excuse to have a relook at our lives, make important changes and try to better ourselves; both in terms of our health or our life objectives. Sometimes these life changes can seem a little daunting to say the least.

Our top tips to organising your home, room by room provides realistic changes that will have an immediate impact on your home life; saving you time and unnecessary stress.

Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart and soul of the house; a space for cooking, eating, entertaining and socialising. Keeping this area organised is essential for maximising the space.

1. Go through the cupboards and throw out anything that’s out of date
2. Buy storage containers to help organise your cupboards/ pantry
3. Have a look through your utensils and throw out anything that has been in the cupboards for years. If you haven’t used it in the last year, the chances are you won’t. If throwing things out doesn’t feel right, take it to a local charity shop.

Office

Has your office become a dumping ground for piles of paperwork? Is there an old printer sat in the corner gathering dust? A decluttered, and organised office can actually give you that motivational push you need to get on with any new projects, starting the year as you mean to go on. So why not:

1. Throw out any old unused office equipment
2. Go through any piles of paperwork, throwing and shredding any that you don’t need.
3. File all other documents in a filing cabinet ensuring any that you need access to are easy to find.

Garage

It’s common knowledge that very few garages are used for the storage of the car. Most people either renovate it to provide more living space, or use it as an area for storage or workshop. As a multipurpose space it’s essential that it’s well thought out and organised.

1. Use a slat wall to hang and organise smaller accessories.
2. Install a set of old school lockers and assign one to each member of your family.
3. Create extra space and store bikes vertically.

By following these simple changes, your stress levels will be reduced and you’ll find that you have more time to enjoy the things you love to do.

If you find that once your home is reorganised you’re still struggling for space, why not think about self a self-storage unit. Get in touch with Spaces and Places and start 2017 on a positive note!

A new baby is on the way, and with the excitement and happiness comes feelings of stress and doubt that you will not be prepared for when him or her enter the world.

A baby changes the way you live and you very quickly need to learn to compromise on space in your home. Even though babies themselves are small and take up little room, all their belongings and supplies seem to take over the house! In order to make the arrival of your new baby as stress-free as possible, read our tips on how to start making room for a nursery.

Think small

If you are expecting your first baby, you will be tempted to purchase everything and anything, however all you need in the baby’s room is necessities such as a cot, changing table, dresser and a rocking chair. In order to save money in the long run, invest in furniture that the baby can grow into. You can purchase cots that transform into a bed or a multi use dresser that can expand or retract depending on how much space you need. By only placing a few items in the nursery, you suddenly have a clutter-free and relaxing bedroom.

Space

The question you will be asking yourself is; where should I put the nursery? If you do not have a spare room, you will have to convert one of the rooms in your home into a room for your baby. Remember, your nursery does not have to be the biggest room in your home, you just simply have to make the most out of the space you have.

Organisation

When a baby arrives, your world gets turned upside down. Your sleeping routine, your social life and your work life become affected, which is why it is important to stay organised. When your baby wakes up crying in the night, instead of running around trying to find everything, you will be able to feed and change the baby in one spot if you are organised. Also, during the day when your baby is napping, you will be able to relax as well instead of spending these precious quiet moments cleaning.

Instead of throwing away items and avoid cluttering your home, self storage becomes a necessity for growing families. Spaces and Places are located around the North West and you are able to access the units 24/7, which becomes extremely important with a new born and your new sleeping patterns!

In Britain, we have the smallest homes in Europe. Within the last few years, more people are choosing to downsize from a large space into a smaller home with the hope of living a more financially free and simplistic lifestyle.

Money can be the source of many problems homeowners face, especially since almost one third of Brits live pay check to pay check. A smaller home allows you to spend your extra money on items you would not be able to afford before; ranging from holidays abroad to a new piece of clothing rather than rent!

With a smaller house you have to adapt to living in a home with less space than you are used to. Items in your home will have to become functional as well as decorative in order for you to avoid clutter taking over. By using hidden storage spaces under your bed or on your walls, you will be able to keep the majority of your items and if you are organised and use storage space correctly, your home will appear larger than it actually is.

For items that will no longer fit in your home, you have two options; store or sell. If you can not bear to part ways with certain items or you will need the items in the future, then a storage unit is the best option. A storage unit allows you to keep your items in a safe and secure place that you have access to 24/7.

If you choose to sell your items, make sure if you are selling online, you take photos of the items with an appropriate background – this will ensure you sell items for the correct price and not under price! One of Spaces and Places customers uses a storage unit to sell items from. This allows the customer to keep items too big to store in their house in a safe place until they sell. If you are inspired, click the link to see how a storage unit was turned into a ‘fake’ home to sell furniture.

If you are struggling to find space in your home for items, call Spaces and Places and your items will be kept in a reliable, safe and secure unit that you can access 24/7.

Making the most out of a small space can be difficult and time consuming. Instead of spending thousands of pounds renovating your house, save yourself money by following these five space maximising tips.

Extend your kitchen

Instead of having a separate table in your dining room, why not increase the length of your kitchen table? This allows you to use your dining room area for a different purpose.

Floor to ceiling bookshelves

A floor to ceiling bookshelf not only gives you more space to store items, it also creates an illusion that your ceiling appears higher while elongating the look of the small space vertically.

Glass walls

Instead of using wood or cement to separate each room, a see-through glass wall will make your house look more spacious and appear larger. By having glass walls in your house, you suddenly have a win-win solution to your space issue, as the glass not only enhances the small area, but they are also visually appealing!

Install mirrors

Mirrors are also key when increasing small spaces as they are able to create an illusion that the room is double the size, resulting in each room appearing significantly larger.

Storage unit

When you move into a smaller home, finding space for all your belongings is a problem for many. Overtime, the problem can worsen, as you continue to purchase items even though you are lacking space. A storage unit solves all your problems. You can begin by storing moving boxes in the unit until you have decorated each room to your satisfaction. Once each room is decorated, you can start unloading a box at a time until all your beloved possessions are in place.

If space is a reoccurring issue in your home, then it may be time to consider storing your seasonal items in a storage unit. This will significantly increase your wardrobe space as well as leaving extra space in your garage.

Spaces and Places offer 24/7 access with high levels of security. Get in touch and start making your house a clean and tidy home.