September 23 2024
Children grow up faster than the stuff they leave behind
One day you’re buying the cot. Then the toddler bed, the bunk bed, and suddenly the room that was full of primary colours and soft toys has a teenager in it who wants a desk, a door that actually shuts, and their own space. Children move through phases at a pace that their belongings simply don’t keep up with.
The result, in most family homes, is a familiar kind of chaos. Baby clothes in vacuum bags under the bed. Boxes of outgrown toys in the loft that nobody’s opened in four years. A childhood bedroom that’s been converted into something else but still quietly holds the remains of what it used to be. A shared room that works for now but is already starting to strain.
Self storage won’t reorganise your family life for you. But it does solve a specific problem that most families hit at some point, the moment when there are too many things, not enough space, and parting with any of it doesn’t feel like an option.
If you’re already at that point, find your nearest Ready Steady Store here. If you’re trying to work out whether storage is the right solution, read on.
The baby clothes problem – and why it’s harder than it looks
Storage for baby clothes is one of those subjects that sounds straightforward until you’re actually standing in front of three bin bags of tiny sleepsuits wondering what to do with them. Nobody tells you that the emotional weight of a baby grow can be completely disproportionate to its size.
The practical reality is that most families are in one of a few situations. There might be another baby on the way, and the clothes genuinely need to be kept in which case they need to be stored properly, not shoved into a damp corner of the garage where they’ll emerge smelling wrong and slightly damp. There might be a younger sibling who’ll get to them eventually. Or there might be no firm plan at all, and the clothes are being kept because getting rid of them feels too final, too much like closing a chapter that you’re not quite ready to close.
All of those are valid reasons to keep baby clothes. None of them requires the clothes to live in your bedroom or take up half the wardrobe. A clearly labelled box in a storage unit costs a fraction of the emotional energy spent working around it at home, and the clothes come out in exactly the condition they went in.
If you’re at the stage of deciding what to keep and what to pass on, the NCT has practical guidance on rehoming baby clothes from selling to donating to passing on within your network. That process becomes much easier once you’ve separated the things you’re definitely keeping from the things you’re willing to let go.
Keeping your child’s baby clothes doesn’t make you sentimental or disorganised. It makes you human. The solution isn’t to force a decision you’re not ready for, it’s to store them properly until you are.
Toys: the most democratic form of household chaos
Every parent knows this particular version of the problem. The toys that are outgrown but not quite unloved. The ones that cost a fortune and were used for three weeks. The ones that a younger sibling might eventually want or might not. The ones that your child claims they still want, and then never touches, but will absolutely notice if they disappear.
Toys accumulate because they arrive quickly birthdays, Christmas, holidays, grandparents who can’t visit empty-handed and leave slowly, because every departure involves a negotiation. The result is bedrooms that don’t function well as bedrooms, living rooms that have become playrooms by default, and a general sense that the toys are winning.
The most useful framing is this: there’s a difference between toys that are actively played with, toys that are being kept for a reason (sentimental value, a younger sibling, items worth selling), and toys that are simply there because nobody’s made a decision about them yet. Mumsnet’s decluttering boards are full of parents working through exactly this, and the consensus is usually the same involve the children where you can, be honest about what’s being used, and don’t keep things out of guilt alone.
For the things worth keeping – good quality toys that a younger child will use, items with genuine sentimental value, things being held for resale, storage gives you somewhere to put them that isn’t underfoot. A small unit or even a dedicated section of a shared unit keeps them out of the house without putting them out of reach.
For outgrown items in good condition, donation is worth considering before storage. The British Heart Foundation accepts toys and children’s clothing a straightforward way to pass things on to families who’ll use them.
“We did a proper sort-out of the kids’ room when our youngest started school. The toys worth keeping went into a unit, the rest went to charity. The room finally felt like a room again.”
Ready Steady Store customer
When rooms must change and the stuff that doesn’t have anywhere to go
Family homes go through phases, and the rooms in them must change accordingly. A nursery becomes a toddler’s room, then a child’s bedroom, then at some point a teenager appears and the whole thing needs to be rethought again. Siblings share rooms for years and then, at some point, one of them needs their own space and that means a reorganisation that ripples through the rest of the house.
The challenge isn’t usually the furniture or the layout; those decisions are relatively straightforward. The challenge is the accumulated contents of a room that’s been a child’s personal space for eight, ten, twelve years. The things they’ve grown out of but would be upset to find gone. The things you’ve saved because of what they represent, not what they are. The sports kit from a phase that ended. The books they loved at seven that feel wrong to get rid of even though nobody’s opened them since.
A room rearrangement without somewhere for all of this to go tends to end the same way it gets stuffed into the loft, the garage, or a cupboard somewhere and the problem is deferred rather than solved. A storage unit changes the equation. Everything that doesn’t belong in the newly arranged room has somewhere to go that isn’t just another corner of the house. The room gets properly sorted. The stuff is properly stored.
If you’re working out how much space you’d need for this kind of family storage, our Size Estimator tool is a useful starting point and our Customer Service Team are good at helping families work out the right unit size without overcommitting.
Shared homes – when adult children come back, or don’t quite leave
There’s a version of this problem that doesn’t get talked about as much but affects a significant number of families: adult children who have moved out but whose stuff hasn’t quite followed them. Or who’ve moved back temporarily for university holidays, between flats, during a relationship change and brought everything with them.
This isn’t a criticism of anyone. It’s just the reality of how people live now. The average age of a first-time buyer in the UK has risen steadily for years, which means adult children are living at home for longer, or returning more often. The family home that was starting to feel spacious again suddenly has a bedroom reassigned, and with it comes all the renegotiation of space that entails.
Self storage is a practical solution here that works for both parties. For the adult child who’s between places, a unit gives them somewhere for their belongings that isn’t their parents’ spare room, they remain in control of their own things without imposing on someone else’s space. For the parents, the house functions the way they need it to without an indefinite houseguest’s worth of belongings in every corner.
It’s worth having the conversation directly rather than letting it become a source of friction. A storage unit for six months while someone gets sorted is a reasonable, manageable cost far less disruptive than the alternative.
Self storage isn’t just for moving house. For families navigating transitions including rooms changing, children growing, life shifting – it’s a practical tool that takes the pressure off everyone.
The sentimental stuff – the things that make the decisions hard
Somewhere in the middle of every kid’s room clear-out is a moment where the practical decisions stop and the emotional ones begin. The first pair of shoes. The drawings that came home from school every week for years and that you kept, every single one, even though you were never quite sure why. The toy that was their absolute favourite at three years old and that they’d be heartbroken to know you’d got rid of, even though they haven’t touched it in six years.
These things aren’t clutter. They’re a record of something. And the pressure to throw them away in the name of a tidy house is pressure worth resisting. You’re not obliged to minimise your family’s history to keep your home manageable.
What you are allowed to do is store it properly. A box of childhood keepsakes in a self storage unit isn’t hoarding; it’s the sensible middle ground between keeping everything underfoot and getting rid of things you’d regret losing. Label it well, store it carefully, and it’ll be there when you want to look through it. Which, at some point, you will.
For more on how to prepare sentimental and fragile items for storage including how to pack them properly so they come out in the same condition they went in our guide to storing sentimental items covers this in detail. And if you’re storing anything delicate, our guide to packing fragile items is worth reading before move-in day.
“I kept every piece of artwork my kids brought home from school for about ten years. Eventually we sorted through them together, kept the ones that meant the most, and put them in a proper box in storage. It felt right not like getting rid of them, more like looking after them properly.”
Ready Steady Store customer
Making it work: practical storage for families
If you’ve decided that self storage is the right answer for your family’s situation, here’s how to make it work well from the start rather than ending up with a unit that’s just a different version of the loft problem.
Be honest about what you’re actually storing and why
There’s a difference between things you’re keeping because you genuinely want them and things you’re keeping because you haven’t made a decision yet. The first category belongs in storage. The second category is what gets donated, sold, or disposed of before the unit is filled. Being clear about this before move-in day makes the unit more useful and avoids paying for storage on things that didn’t need to be kept.
Label everything properly, not just a vague word on the lid
‘Kids stuff’ on a box tells you nothing when you’re standing in a unit two years later trying to find the thing you actually need. ‘Ella age 3-4 clothes red box’ tells you exactly what’s in there without opening it. It takes thirty seconds longer and saves a disproportionate amount of frustration.
Keep an inventory
A simple list of what’s in the unit even just a note on your phone transforms how useful the unit is. You don’t need to remember what’s in there if you’ve written it down. And if the day comes when you’re deciding what to keep long-term and what to let go, an inventory makes that conversation much easier.
Choose the right size unit
For family storage a room’s worth of children’s belongings, some baby equipment, boxes of keepsakes a smaller unit is often enough. You don’t need a huge amount of space if things are packed well and the unit is organised properly from the start. Our Size Estimator takes the guesswork out of it.
Think about what you might need to access
If there are things in the unit you’ll want before you’re ready to clear it completely the next size of clothes for a growing child, the sports kit that comes back into use seasonally keep them near the front and accessible. Ready Steady Store’s extended hours access means you can get to the unit when you actually need something, not just during standard office hours.
FAQ: Quick answers
How should I store baby clothes to keep them in good condition?
Wash everything before it goes into storage even if it looks clean. Fold rather than hang where possible to avoid stretching. Use vacuum storage bags for bulk, but don’t compress anything delicate or anything with embroidery or embellishments. Label bags and boxes clearly by size and season. A cool, dry storage unit keeps them in far better condition than a loft or garage.
Is it worth storing outgrown toys or should I just donate them?
Both, honestly. Toys in good condition that a younger child will definitely use are worth storing properly. Toys in good condition that you’re less certain about are often better donated – the British Heart Foundation, local toy libraries, and charity shops will make use of them immediately. And toys that are broken or missing pieces should be disposed of responsibly rather than stored or donated.
How long can I keep a family storage unit?
As long as you need. Ready Steady Store is flexible with no fixed term and no penalty for finishing early when your situation changes. Find your nearest store to discuss what works for your timeline.
What size unit do I need for a child’s bedroom worth of things?
It depends on what’s going in, but for a single child’s room clothes, toys, some furniture and keepsakes, a 25 to 50 square foot unit is usually sufficient if things are packed well. Use our Size Estimator for a more accurate guide or call our Customer Service Team.
Can I store prams, cots and larger baby equipment?
Yes, larger baby equipment is one of the most common things families store. Prams, cots, high chairs, bouncers and travel equipment all store well in self storage units. Disassemble where you can and make the most of the space, and check that anything fabric is clean and dry before it goes in.
Making space for the next chapter
Family life doesn’t stay still, and neither does the stuff that comes with it. Children grow, rooms change, situations shift and somewhere in all of that, there’s always more stuff than there is obvious space for. Self storage isn’t a permanent solution to that, but it’s a genuinely useful one: a place for the things that matter, that aren’t needed right now, that you’re not ready to part with, or that simply don’t have a home in your current setup.
Ready Steady Store has friendly teams at stores across the UK, flexibility that work for family timescales, and units sized for everything from a box of baby clothes to a full room clearance. Find your nearest store and get a quote today or call us free on 0800 321 3211.
