Renovating your home can be exciting, but living through the work is often a different story. Furniture has to be moved, rooms become unusable and dust seems to find its way into almost everything.

If you are having a kitchen replaced, building an extension or carrying out a larger refurbishment, short-term storage can give you the space you need until the work is finished.

Rather than shifting furniture and boxes from one room to another throughout the project, you can move the things you do not need into storage and bring them back once your home is ready.

Why Use Storage During a Renovation?

Even a relatively small renovation can quickly reduce the amount of usable space in your home.

Builders may need clear access through hallways and rooms, while tools and building materials also need somewhere to go. Keeping unnecessary furniture in the property can make the job more difficult and increase the chance of items being damaged.

Using Gallaghers’ Tyneside storage services during the renovation can help you:

• Keep furniture away from dust, paint and building debris
• Create more room for builders and tradespeople to work
• Reduce clutter in the parts of the house you are still using
• Avoid repeatedly moving heavy furniture between rooms
• Store belongings until individual rooms are ready again

This can be particularly useful when several rooms are being renovated at once.

What Should You Put Into Storage?

You do not necessarily need to empty the whole house.

Start with the rooms directly affected by the building work and anything that might obstruct access. Large pieces such as sofas, dining tables, cabinets, beds and wardrobes are often worth removing because they are difficult to continually move around.

You may also want to store:

• Boxes of books and ornaments
• Pictures, mirrors and decorative items
• Seasonal belongings
• Electrical equipment that will not be needed
• Spare furniture
• Contents from cupboards or shelving that needs to be removed

Keep everyday essentials with you, particularly documents, medicines, clothes, toiletries and anything you are likely to need at short notice.

If you are packing items yourself, Gallaghers also has some useful moving and packing tips covering box sizes, labelling and preparing larger furniture.

Protect Furniture From Renovation Dust and Damage

Covering furniture with dust sheets can work if you are decorating a single room for a few days. For major building work, however, leaving everything in the property can become impractical.

Fine dust created by plastering, sanding and other building work can travel surprisingly far. Furniture can also become vulnerable to accidental knocks when tradespeople are carrying tools and materials through the property.

Moving valuable or bulky belongings away from the work area removes that problem altogether.

Containerised Storage Can Reduce Handling

Gallaghers offers containerised storage as one option for customers who need temporary space.

Rather than repeatedly unloading and reloading your belongings, items can be loaded into a storage container at your property before the container is taken away for storage.

Once loaded and sealed, the container can remain stored until your belongings are required again.

Reducing the number of times furniture and boxes have to be handled is particularly useful during a renovation, when you may simply want everything removed before work starts and returned when the property is ready.

Gallaghers also offers traditional storage rooms and shipping-container storage, so the most appropriate option will depend on what you need to store and how much space you require.

Plan Your Storage Before the Builders Arrive

Do not leave clearing the house until the morning building work starts.

Ideally, decide what needs to be removed a week or two beforehand. Work through the property room by room and separate belongings into three groups:

Keep accessible: Things you will need throughout the renovation.

Put into storage: Furniture, boxes and belongings you will not need until the work is complete.

Declutter: Items you no longer want and can donate, sell or dispose of rather than paying to store them.

Label stored boxes clearly as you pack them. If your renovation is being completed in stages, consider grouping belongings by room so they can be returned gradually as each area is finished.

What If Your Renovation Takes Longer Than Expected?

Building projects do not always run exactly to schedule.

Unexpected repairs, delayed materials or additional work can extend a renovation beyond the original completion date. That makes temporary storage particularly useful because your belongings can remain out of the way while the additional work is completed rather than having to be brought back into an unfinished property.

When arranging storage, explain the nature of your renovation and expected timescale so the most suitable option can be discussed.

Short-Term Renovation Storage in Newcastle and Tyneside

Gallaghers of Newcastle provides storage for customers who are between homes, short of space or renovating their property.

Their storage options include containerised storage, traditional storage rooms and shipping-container storage around the Newcastle area, with the removals team able to help with moving belongings into and out of storage.

For larger renovation projects, combining removal and storage can also save you from arranging separate transport for bulky furniture.

Need Storage While You Renovate?

If you are planning building work and need somewhere to keep furniture or household belongings temporarily, speak to Gallaghers about the available storage options.

Tell the team what you need to store and roughly how long your renovation is expected to take, and they can discuss the most suitable approach.

Get a free quote from Gallaghers or call the team on 0191 266 1864 to discuss short-term storage for your renovation.