Apartment renters often live in smaller spaces than they might prefer. Making the most of this space is key to enjoying the apartment lifestyle no matter where you are and what your circumstances are. But, a self-storage unit can help. How can you use an off-site unit to maximize your apartment space? Here are a few approaches to consider.

1. Rotate Seasonal Items. Every household probably has items in their home that are only used during appropriate seasons. Whether it's holiday decorations, winter sports gear, or warm weather camping equipment, these things take up space in the apartment for half the year or longer. Move off-season stuff to a storage unit and rotate it with in-season items as the weather changes.

2. Use a Six-Month Rule. Look through your apartment and assess what you haven't used in six months or more. While many home organization pros recommend getting rid of these things, this isn't always practical. You may not use those copies of your old income tax returns, but you still need to keep them for reference. Instead, move these seldom-used goods to a well-organized and well-labeled storage unit until they're needed again. 

3. Rotate Furniture. Because of the limited space in most apartments, all of your furnishings may not always fit comfortably. And if they do, you may have little flexibility in changing the room's layout or usage. Could you benefit from being able to safely store some larger pieces of furniture or rotate them for variety? Perhaps that love seat gets in the way when you're not entertaining, but your extra tables and chairs come in handy during the holidays. Get more out of the same space by making furniture changes easier.

4. Stage for Removal. If you do want to get rid of items in your apartment, it can be hard to decide which ones to let go of. You may find that moving them to a staging area in a storage unit helps this process. You can move things off-site and live without them for a while. This could make it much easier to finish the process by donating or selling them from there. 

5. Create Storage Categories. Rather than move things based on how often you use them, consider storing things off-site based on a category instead. You might, for instance, store in the unit all of your sports equipment, extra bulk purchases, or formal clothing. By moving an entire category together, you know where everything is whenever you need it. 

Want more tips for using a storage unit to make your apartment look and feel larger and more comfortable? Start by touring self-storage units in your area today.