What are you in hiding in your closet?

May 16, 2006 5:33 AM

What's in your condo storage locker?

I bought a condo early this year and expect to move in sometime next fall (knock on wood) if things are on schedule. I paid the ransom for a parking spot, but not a storage locker because I figured it's just me, and I don't have THAT much stuff. Besides, if worse comes to worst, I could always store my stuff in my mom's basement.

With the warmer weather and the stock of patio furniture in stores though, I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I should get one. I will have a fairly large balcony (100+ sqft) and I'd probably get some chairs and a table for it when the time comes. But where would I store this stuff once the cold and snow arrives if I have no locker?

So, what do y'all keep in your condo storage lockers, if anything? Do you find it a useful piece of real estate to own?

posted by phoenixc to home & garden (11 comments total)

I keep boxes that I need to save (computer monitor, just in case I need to ship it back under warranty) and seasonal stuff like my air conditioner, a shovel for my car, holiday decorations, and wrapping paper. I have a super-tiny place and wouldn't want to store any of this in a closet.

As far as outdoor furniture is concerned, I leave my patio furniture out all year. Consider whether your balcony is sheltered enough from the weather to do this in your case. It can be nice to have a cup of tea outside on an unseasonably warm day in the winter!

Do you "buy" the storage locker or just rent them from the association? Renting would be a waste if you don't have an obvious use for them. Buying may make your unit more attractive for resale.
posted by Gable Oak at 6:08 AM on May 16, 2006

In my locker: home entertainment system boxes (which I can probably safely throw out, since I don't plan on moving again anytime soon); several boxes of books that don't fit on my shelves; a few hundred CDs (all ripped to a hard drive); half a dozen folding chairs for parties; old laptops and other discarded electronics that may be useful at some point in the future; fans and other non-wintery stuff (I have AC, but it has gone out before); and a bunch of those Rubbermaid totes that I used for moving and my friends borrow whenever they move.

In other words, stuff I probably should have thrown out except for the books, totes, chairs and CDs. I'll probably clean it out this summer.

I've actually kept my patio furniture outside over the winter, covered in plastic. We don't get much snow in Toronto, and my balcony has a little bit of shelter. My chairs have lasted for a few years without too much damage being done to them.

Toronto-specific mocking: you won't be moving in next fall. You know that and I know that. But good luck with it!
posted by flipper at 6:11 AM on May 16, 2006

yes. my condo locker is used for: out of season clothes (vintage building, unit is lacking in closet space); christmas swag (no car means it's hard to get it if it's stored at the AP's); my suitcases (see previous); extra wine. i passed on units in other buildings because they did not have fullsize storage lockers; the storage space is considerably more important to me than a parking space.

our condo association stores, installs and de-installs the window unit a/c, so i don't have to store it myself, but if i did, into the locker it would go!
posted by crush-onastick at 6:12 AM on May 16, 2006

Golf clubs, bike, any other sporting equipment, fishing rod/tackle. All of the boxes of old nostalgia crap (yearbooks, etc) that my mom won't store in her basement anymore. Buy some plastic patio furniture, it will survive the winter just fine. Give it a wipe down in the spring and you're laughin'.
posted by antifuse at 6:32 AM on May 16, 2006

I rent and the storage and garage were included in the (already cheap) deal and I live in an established household of four people of whom at least one has a packrat habit, so perhaps my answer is skewed slightly, but in my storage area I have:

The car-camping gear: Tent, a box of kitchen, sleeping equipment, camp stove, folding chairs, folding table, the big soft bag that ties to the roof rack.

The Amiga stuff: An Amiga 2000, an Amiga 500, a couple of composite monitors, two giant tubs of software, a box of parts.

The PC stuff: A giant tub of floppies, an extra giant box of CDs for games I don't play, a box of parts, a VGA monitor.

Console stuff: The Atari 2600, the Genesis, the Saturn, both NESes, all related software.

Miscellany: A giant tub of photographs, a couple of motorcycle helmets, a box of the kids' keepsake clothes, a box of the kids' keepsake books, four disassembled kitchen chairs, one of the portable radiators.

Sitting in the garage because it doesn't fit in the storage unit: A chair, a rocking chair, some garden decorations from when we lived in a SFH, the toolbox, the Makita, the box of extension cords/PC cabling/audio cabling, the full-size deli slicer, the razor scooters & helmets, a titanic jogging stroller, the rollerskates, the soccer gear.

In any case, even without a lot of this crap, I'd require some form of storage just for the camping kit. It's big and though only used a few times a year too expensive to treat as disposable. If you have any kind of sporting habit whatsoever, even a minimal one like camping, you're going to be glad of having storage space.
posted by majick at 7:13 AM on May 16, 2006

boxes and boxes of books. suitcases. skis. snowshoes. golf gear. a 8x10' rolled-up carpet that I am not currently using. patio furniture. fireplace tools. Like GableOak, boxes for my computer and tv that I could safely throw out.
posted by seawallrunner at 7:25 AM on May 16, 2006

Luggage, a few disassembled pieces of furniture we plan to use when we move to a larger space, out of season items (snow shovel now that we're out of snow season, etc), a puppet stage my father built for me when I was little that I'm saving for "when we have kids". A lot of crap that probably needs to be chucked, so I can move stuff from our overflowing closets up there.
posted by tastybrains at 8:13 AM on May 16, 2006

A really good desk with which I can't yet bear to part, but which will not fit in my current space. Christmas stuff that I don't want to trip over all year. That's about it.
posted by acoutu at 8:23 AM on May 16, 2006

I've owned a few condos now and have never had a locker. Golf clubs take up roughly the same space as a vacuum cleaner so they live happily together in the closet with the broom and mop. As everyone here has already said, patio furniture does fine through a Toronto winter.

We're not really collectors or accumulators so living without a locker works very well for us.

Building shelves (the wire do-it-yourself ones from the Home Depot, or something more robust and wooden) inside closets can really maximize storage space in your unit. Our luggage lives high up on a top shelf that we built just low enough from the ceiling inside the closet that it slides right in. Other things we need to keep but use infrequently are kept in labelled boxes (photo boxes are great for storing all kinds of things) along side the luggage.

We've also done built-in shelves in a couple of nooks. Inexpensive, out of the way, and generally attractive with books and the occasional basket to conceal collections of things (like spare candles or computer discs).

As a vaguely related aside, you might find good ideas at Apartment Therapy.
posted by ChuckLeChuck at 9:25 AM on May 16, 2006

Luggage, an inflatable bed for guests, boxes, boxes, boxes, some extra patio furniture, assorted crap, including a jamisen that I really should put on eBay one of these days.
posted by birdsquared at 10:14 PM on May 16, 2006

My first girlfriend. Parts of my second girlfriend.
posted by Dunwitty at 1:27 AM on May 17, 2006