Spring Cleaning Reinvented

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Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning Reinvented

Ah, spring — the season of renewal and rejuvenation. As nature awakens from its winter slumber, so
does our desire to refresh our living spaces. At Medicine Hat Storage, we understand the importance
of refreshing your living space and it all starts with Strategic Decluttering. After all it’s so much easier to
clean away the cobwebs if there isn’t a lot of stuff in the way. Let’s explore some innovative ways to
make cleaning easier and maximize your living space with the help of self-storage solutions.

Seasonal Rotation:
Maximize your living space by rotating seasonal items in and out of a self-storage unit. Discover the
convenience of storing winter sports gear, holiday decorations, and bulky winter clothing during the
warmer months. Then when things cool down in the fall you can swap these items out and put your
summer sporting gear into the unit. This makes for effortlessly seasonal changes at home.

Creating Functional Spaces:
Need a home office, a playroom, or a workout space? Reclaim and live in every square inch of your
home and discover how storing rarely used items, such as off-season recreational equipment or
clothing, can open up new possibilities for organizing and decorating your home.

Renovating

Couple checking out plans

Home Renovation Solutions:
Are you planning a home renovation project? Self storage offers the ideal solution for safeguarding your
belongings during construction. Explore the peace of mind that comes with knowing your furniture,
electronics, and valuables are secure and protected in self-storage until your renovations are complete.
This April, embrace a clutter-free lifestyle by incorporating self-storage into your long-term organization
strategy. Discover how self-storage units provide a convenient solution for storing seasonal decorations,
sentimental keepsakes, and items with future use potential. With flexible rental options, you can enjoy
peace of mind knowing your belongings are safe and accessible whenever you need them.
Say goodbye to clutter and hello to a more organized and spacious home with Medicine Hat Storage.

  • Are you cleaning due to a move and change in location? Don’t forget we have self storage offices in Lacombe and Drayton Valley

Should You Store It?

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Can you store it?

Should You Store It?

Whether your storage is in a basement, an attic, a garage or a storage unit don’t fill it with things you don’t really want or need. While we’re not going to tackle cleaning out your storage here (a topic for another day), ask yourself these questions before packing things away.

1) Do you need it? This sounds like a simple enough question, but how each of us answers this is highly individual. If you are making an effort to cut back on clutter, try to get real about what “need” means. Defining what is important to you is the first step to efficient storage.

2) Does it work? Don’t let your storage space become the place where broken things go to die! Stop telling yourself, “I’ll fix it one of these days”. If you don’t care enough about the item in question to get it fixed right away, it’s probably not worth keeping.

Broken Watch

Broken pocket watch

3) Is it clean? Storing clothing and other textile items without having them cleaned first can spell trouble. Moths and other critters are attracted to the dirt on textiles. And body oils will cause fabric to break down over time. Your best defense is to put only clean items into storage. Tools and outdoor equipment, including patio furniture, should also be cleaned before storing to avoid deterioration. If you are in need for a good cleaning place check it out.

4) Is it yours? It’s amazing how much stuff we can accumulate from others. If you are storing the item in question for a relative or child, consider setting a limit and giving the item back rather than continuing to let it take up valuable storage space.

5) Are you saving it for family? When you save things for family like children or grandchildren, making decisions about what to keep can be a challenge. Often a small amount of carefully chosen and properly stored items can be far more meaningful (and welcome) than an attic’s worth of stuff. Tuck a note about where each piece came from or why it is important to help pass along the stories to the next generation.

6) Will it create a problem if stored? Perishables like food, pet food, plants and potting soils shouldn’t be put into storage as they can create problems by attracting bugs, mice and other pests. Ammunition, chemicals, fertilizers, fireworks and fuels also shouldn’t be stored as they will deteriorate, become unstable and create a fire hazard. Most storage offices will have a list of what is not accepted.

7) Is it irreplaceable? One-of-a-kind items, collectables, jewelry, family photos, and documents like birth certificates and passports should be kept in a safety deposit box or a safe in your home. While storage companies take every precaution to keep things safe and secure break-ins and violent weather can still impact these facilities.

Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa should you store it

Earth Day

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Earth day is coming April 22 and amid all the chaos of the past few years we wanted to put the focus back on the future of our families and our community here at Medicine Hat Storage. After all the way we treat the environment now will affect future generations. 

 

A planet that is growing warmer each year isn’t good for any living thing. We can’t become complacent to this threat to the world, so Medicine Hat Storage has focused on offering only moving boxes made from recycled material and going paperless in our office. Below are just a few positive effects this action has on our community and the world.

 

Protects trees (our shield against CO2)

Trees are considered carbon sinks. Trees lock away carbon dioxide in the wood, roots, and leaves. “This locking-up process ‘stores’ carbon as wood and not as an available ‘greenhouse’ gas. Trees are imperative to earths survival so it is beneficial to protect them as best we can.” Steve Nix forestry expert on  .

 

Reduces paper waste

According to , in 2022, paper mills will produce about 500 million tons of paper and cardboard. Paper waste produces pollution which is toxic to air, water, and soil. Paper is produced by using chlorine-based bleaches so when paper rots in the landfill Methane gas gets released. This gas is worse than CO2. Using products made with recycled products and going paperless significantly reduces paper waste and in turn reduces the amount of toxic gasses entering our atmosphere.

 

Saves water

The amount of water used to produce one piece of paper is 10 litres. The less paper we use in our office, the less of the life-giving resource is wasted.

 

How is your family or business being environmentally conscious? We’d love to hear your ideas so that we all can do a little better to help our home — planet Earth.

January Cure Cleaning Challenge

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Usually this is where we give you a blog to help you out, this time we have made a calendar challenge instead.

To view our first 10 days Click here: January Cure Calendar (1)

Christmas storage Hacks

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It seems as though Christmas has only just arrived, but here we are thinking of ways to organize your decorations as you put them away.

Of course, our first answer would be to send it to us for safe keeping. But we know not everyone can do that, so we are happy to share some holiday storage hacks we use in our own homes.

The most economical way to safely store decorations is to use one of our box inserts. These inserts are specially designed to keep things safe and tidy whether you are storing delicate heirloom Christmas decorations or your kitchen glass wear.

You can also, repurpose Kleenex boxes to hold garland. This works especially well with tinsel garland. Storing it inside a Kleenex box helps keep the garland from tangling with itself and other decorations.

If you have an artificial tree, once it’s stripped of its glam and glitter, recycle a couple of old belts to use as cinches on the tree to make it more manageable and take up less storage space.

Brent and Sue from Lacombe, cut down of the time it takes to trim the tree by wrapping the tree with saran wrap and gently place it back under the stairs, lights and all.

Ron and Nadine from our Medicine Hat office photograph the decorated parts of their home before they take down the Christmas decorations (inside and out). They walk around and take a photo of each room (or location). Print these photos and pack them with each locations decoration in a plastic tub(s). Next year there is no wondering how you had placed the decorations the previous year.

Tamara at our head office recycles cardboard box lids and wraps light strings around them.

Want more decoration hacks? Click below to check out a previous year’s blog to find more tips: 

You can also call us 587-871-4294

Ways You Can Support Your Local Businesses During A Pandemic

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Why the pandemic means we need to support local businesses more than ever.

Everywhere we look big brands and big box stores are on display. While these large companies have the money to buy online ads or billboards it’s small businesses that most impact on our local community. And it’s small business that has been mostly impacted by the pandemic.

Small businesses color and enrich local shopping by providing unique products and services that make our local communities great places to live. No one wants to live in a neighborhood where unique local stores are replaced with For Lease signs. These small businesses also provide the lions share of employment and often employ people we know. These are our neighbors, friends, and family so it makes sense to support them, and during the pandemic, it’s more important than ever that these businesses survive for the health of our communities.

Here tips on how to support local businesses: Read more

Protect Yourself – Fraudster’s Tricks and How To Avoid Them

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I just received a phone call from Ontario, saying it was Servus Credit Union calling and that my SIN has been compromised and not to hang up as I would end up in JAIL!

I hung up. . .

In this day of heightened cyber crime being aware of how to protect yourself has become critical. Here are some tips to avoid falling into a fraudster’s trap. Read more

Top 5 Mistakes When Storing Your RV

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If you are new to the RV scene, welcome! We hope you had a great summer visiting all the beautiful camping spots Alberta has to offer. It’s hard to say goodbye to summer and park the RV. To help you get back on the road without delay next RV season here are some winter storage blunders to avoid: Read more

Moving During A Pandemic

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Packing and moving can be difficult at the best of times, but moving during a pandemic creates a whole new set of challenges. If you have to move you and your moving company should put health and safety first. We suggest you call your moving company to discuss your options and they should help you plan as safe (and seamless) a move as possible. This may include: Read more

Camping During Covid-19

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Now that the weather is finally nice most of us have the itch to get our campers out, spruced up, and on the road to our favorite camping spot so we can enjoy our summer. Well this season it is looking very different thanks to Covid-19.

Provincial campsites will all remain closed until after a government assessment on June 21, 2020. However, the private camp grounds are under county discretion as long as they comply with rules set out by Alberta Health Services. Here’s what to prepare for this Covid camping season:

  • Only Motor Homes and hard sided travel trailers that are completely self contained with an internal water supply, holding tanks and personal washroom will be allowed.
  • All public washrooms and shower facilities will be closed.
  • Campers will need to bring their own water as there will be no access on site.
  • Campground capacity will be limited for purposes of social distancing
  • There must be a minimum space of 30ft between camp sites
  • No group camping and no co-mingling of campers.
  • Campers must disinfect tables upon arrival and departure.
  • No garbage collection. Campers will need to take their garbage with them when they leave.

 

We have found some campgrounds around central and southern Alberta that are following these guidelines and hoping to open to campers June 1.

  • Close Drayton Valley we have Elevated Experience Camping 780-542-5821 and Kay-son RV Park 780-514-5969.
  • Around Edmonton we have Glowing Embers RV Park & Travel Centre 1-877-785-7275.
  • By Rocky Mountain House is Outwest Camping 403-844-3083.
  • In Blackfalds Watipi Campground 780-852-6176.
  • By Okotoks we have Riverbend Campground 403-938-2017.
  • Also, the Hoodoo RV Resort in Drumheller, 403-823-2790. This site is also taking snowbirds and essential workers only until June 1st.
  • In Nanton. the Lions Campground, 403-336-9999 will be open.

Let’s not let this discourage us from enjoying one of our all-time favorite summertime traditions, as with like the rest of our lives this is our new normal until we can get this virus under control. Happy camping!

https://www.alberta.ca/assets/documents/covid-19-relaunch-guidance-private-and-municipal-campgrounds.pdf

~ Candice Sinclair