Summer Storage Options for College Move Out

For many college students, dorm living is the highlight of the college experience…but it does have some issues. Your room changes every year, and that means that each year, you need to pack up your stuff, store it for the summer, and unpack it come fall semester. College move out isn’t easy, and figuring out your summer storage options is just as tricky.

If you’re a college student struggling over what to do with your stuff over the summer, have no fear. You’ve got quite a few options with what to do with your stuff come summer break.

Store Your Stuff at Home

If the house that you call home is less than a few hours’ drive away, your storage solution is simple: bring everything home with you. So long as your home has space and you’re able to transport it, load up a few moving boxes with your stuff and drive it home.

Can’t fit everything in your mom’s sedan? Book a Dolly to get your stuff home for summer in a pickup truck, no driving required. 

Ask a Friend to Store Your Stuff

Your house may not be close enough to drive, but maybe your friend’s house is. There’s no harm in asking them if they would be willing to store a few boxes in their garage or attic–especially if you’re willing to sweeten the deal with a promise to help them study for their chem final. 

If your friend is kind enough to say yes, make it easy on them. Carefully box up your items with reusable plastic bins that won’t break or get wet. Condense your items as much as possible so you aren’t taking up much space. And don’t add on the task of making your friend bring your stuff home, too. Use Dolly to get your stuff delivered without you or your friend needing to move a muscle.

Ship Your Stuff Home

If you desperately want to bring everything home with you, and driving isn’t an option, you can ship your items home. Dorm Room Movers specializes in helping college students tackle moving their stuff for college move out, including shipping big boxes of stuff from your dorm to your home. They advertise themselves as an easier alternative to bringing extra boxes and bags on a plane with you, so if flying your items home was your only option, they’re the perfect way to bring home your stuff for summer storage. 

Rent a Storage Unit After College Move Out

When looking for summer storage options for college move out, a self-storage unit is one of the first suggestions to show up. But there are quite a few drawbacks to this that might scare you off: the large size of even the smallest storage units, the annual contracts, and of course, the high costs. 

That being said, a summer storage unit isn’t impossible. Here are some tips to make renting a storage unit for the summer affordable:

• Ask your local self-storage center if they offer student or summer packages at a discounted price.
• If available, sign a month-to-month (or a three month) rental agreement.
• Share your storage unit (and its cost) with other friends looking for a college move out storage solution. Even the smallest storage units are typically 5’x5′, large enough for more than a handful of boxes.
• Speaking of, get the smallest unit possible (unless you have furniture). Your bedding and dorm decor won’t take up as much space as you think. 

Don’t be afraid to compare price quotes between storage centers. Go with the smallest unit at the best price to store your stuff come summer. 

Or Use a Storage Unit Alternative

Traditional self-storage isn’t right for everyone. Here are a few alternatives to traditional storage units you can use to store your stuff after college move out:

• Neighbor. Neighbors is like Airbnb for storage. It lets your neighbors rent out spare places in their home where you can store your stuff. Perfect for just a few boxes and some odds and ends, and free of annual contracts.
• Clutter. Rent a storage unit, get your stuff picked up, and get your items delivered on-demand when you want them again, all in one place. The perfect flexible option if you’re unsure when you’ll be back in town.
• MakeSpace. Like Clutter, MakeSpace provides the storage space, picks up your stuff, and brings it back when you want it. But their sizes (and prices) start smaller, and MakeSpace can even provide you with reusable boxes delivered to your dorm directly. 
• Dorm2Dorm. Dorm2Dorm is like MakeSpace and Clutter, but it’s made by college students, for college students. They schedule pickup and dropoff of your items around your college’s calendar and only charge you per box. They service a number of colleges along the east coast and in California. 

Pare Down Your Dorm to the Essentials

The ultimate option is a challenge even for the biggest fan of Marie Kondo’s Netflix show: get rid of everything non-essential, and only bring home what fits in your bags. It may sound extreme at first, but a quick purge of your dorm may find you have plenty of items you’re not using. From there, condense as much as you can into your bags, and whatever doesn’t fit, donate and buy again come next fall. It’s an extreme option, but if you were already considering replacing some items anyway, it’s a great way to save up money to afford better versions in the new academic year.

Once you’ve found summer storage after college move out, all you need to worry about is getting your stuff there. You can count on Dolly to help with that. Our Helpers will bring a truck and some muscle to bring your stuff to the local self-storage center, your friend’s house, or even your home. With Dolly by your side, summer storage is a breeze.