- Safeguard Storage’s new calculator lets you work out exactly what size storage unit you need in about 30 seconds, no guesswork required.
- Discover what a small, medium and large storage unit will typically fit, with real examples for 1, 3 and 4+ bedroom homes.
Picture this: you’re standing in the spare room, ankle-deep in half-taped boxes, staring at a pile of furniture that used to fit so neatly into your house. Somewhere between the third box of kitchen gear and the mystery bag of cables, one question pops into your head: what size storage unit do I need?
If you’ve ever typed that exact phrase into Google at 11pm, mid-move, you’re in very good company. It’s one of the most common questions Kiwis ask before they even pick up the phone to a storage company, and for good reason. Getting it wrong is expensive either way – too small and you’re paying for a second unit, too big and you’re throwing money at empty space.
Good news: you don’t have to guess. Here’s how to work it out fast, plus the tool that does the tricky bit for you.
So, What Size Storage Unit Do I Need?
Let’s be honest: what size storage unit do I need is a genuinely hard question to answer off the top of your head, because everyone’s stuff is different. Two people moving out of the same three-bedroom house could need completely different storage unit sizes, depending on whether one of them owns a piano and the other travels light.
That being said, there’s a solid rule of thumb that gets most people in the right ballpark fast: bedroom count. If you know roughly how many bedrooms’ worth of furniture, boxes and general clutter you’re dealing with, you’re already most of the way to an answer.
It’s not a perfect science, though. Big appliances, whether you’re keeping the couch or finally letting it go, and how ruthlessly you’ve decluttered along the way all shift the number. That’s exactly why a rule of thumb is a great starting point, before our new calculator tool becomes your way of finishing the job properly. More on that shortly.
Storage Unit Sizes, Decoded
Before you pin down ‘what size storage unit do I need’, it helps to understand storage unit sizes in plain English, not just numbers on a spec sheet.
Most storage unit sizes fall into three broad categories:
Small units suit a handful of boxes, a couple of pieces of furniture, or the overflow from a single room. Think sports gear, seasonal decorations, or the contents of a home office.
Medium units suit a one to two bedroom household. This is your sofa, bed frames, a dining set, whiteware appliances and a solid stack of boxes.
Large units are built for a full family home. Multiple bedrooms’ worth of furniture, bigger appliances, maybe even a spare vehicle if the facility allows for it.
And if you’re wondering what size storage unit for 3 bedroom house, for example, here’s a super quick breakdown by bedroom count.
If you’re storing the contents of a smaller home or downsizing, a medium unit is usually enough. The beds, a sofa, a dining table and a decent stack of boxes will generally fit without drama. Meanwhile, a typical family home’s worth of furniture, whiteware and boxes will usually call for a large unit, especially if you’re storing everything for a longer stretch rather than just a few weeks between moves.
A full family home, including bigger furniture, extra appliances and years of accumulated stuff, will generally need one of the biggest units in a storage facility, or occasionally two smaller ones side by side. On the totally other end of the spectrum – if you’re just decluttering and not moving, you’re probably closer to a small or medium unit. Garage overflow, a spare-room clear-out or getting a house ready for sale rarely needs as much space as people expect.
Meet the Storage Unit Calculator That Does the Maths for You
Here’s the exciting bit. Safeguard Storage has just launched a proper storage unit calculator, and it’s live on every single branch page right now, from Mangōnui in the north to Invercargill in the south.
This isn’t a rough “small, medium or large, take your pick” guess. It’s a tool that’s been carefully designed to build your estimate, room by room. Pick the rooms you’re clearing out, whether that’s the bedroom, lounge, kitchen or outside gear, and add the actual items going into storage from each one, right down to how many boxes, cartons and pieces of furniture. As you go, the storage unit calculator keeps a running total of your volume in cubic metres, so you can watch your estimate build in real time instead of guessing at the end.
Short on time, or already have a rough idea of how much you’re storing? There’s a quicker slider version too. Just drag it between a small locker, right up to vehicle storage, and get a size estimate in seconds.
Once you’ve added everything, the storage unit calculator does the clever part for you: it matches your total volume to the right unit, whether that’s a small unit for a single room’s worth of gear, a medium unit for a family home, a large unit for a full house move, or outdoor space if you’re storing something bigger than boxes. From there, it’s one click to request a free, no-obligation quote, with your size and volume sent straight through to your nearest branch.
This is the fastest way to go from “I have no idea what I need” to “here’s my answer”, and it means you walk into any conversation with your local branch already knowing roughly what you’re after. If you’d rather talk it through with a real person first, you can always get in touch with your local team, but for most people, the calculator alone does the job.
Stop Guessing. Start Storing.
You don’t need to be a professional mover to get your storage size right. You just need thirty seconds and an honest answer to a couple of quick questions.
Whether you’re shifting a whole household or just trying to get the garage back, the same advice applies: skip the guesswork, run the numbers, and go in prepared. If you’re still nailing down the wider logistics of your move, Tenancy Services also has some solid general guidance on planning a shift that’s worth a look.
Ready to find out what size storage unit you actually need? Find your nearest Safeguard location and try the calculator on that branch page today. It takes less time than finding a park outside the storage unit.
Browse our personal storage units to see what’s typically available, or jump straight to your nearest branch page and run the calculator yourself. Either way, you’ll have a real answer, not just an estimate.