Wedding Dress Storage: The Do’s & Don'ts
We’re just coming into Wedding Season. If your big day is fast approaching, you’ll know there’s so much you still have to think about and do. From planning your outfit(s) and matching accessories to the pre-wedding parties, before you know it, the big day is upon you. But after the wedding, with the excitement wearing down, you’ll have to think about what to do with your precious wedding dress. We’ve got some helpful dos and don’ts on wedding dress storage and how to keep your dress safe.
Dos
- Have your dress dry-cleaned by a specialist who deals specifically with wedding dresses. The process not only removes stains, but the cleaning fluid can also deter insects and moths; so nothing will munch on it while you have it stored away.
- Store it in a box that eliminates light, protects against dust and acid, and is breathable. You can buy specialist wedding dress storage boxes.
- Keep it stored in pH-neutral conditions, and away from anything acidic. If you store your wedding dress in a box with tissue paper, the paper itself will become acidic, which can damage your wedding dress.
- Keep your wedding dress storage box somewhere that’s climate-controlled. This keeps your dress in an optimum environment so it doesn’t get damaged by the elements.
- Alternatively, you can frame your wedding dress - although they can be a bit more costly, it's a lovely way of framing your wedding dress as a piece of art.
WEDDING DRESS HACK: when looking to get your dress cleaned by a specialist, wrap it up in white cotton sheets. This keeps it safe from dust, light and pesky insects!
Don’ts
- Don’t store your wedding dress in plastic for too long. It’s good for hanging your dress before the wedding, but can be detrimental to the material if used for storage in the long-term. Plastic can let in light that can fade the fabric and it doesn’t allow for the changes in humidity, so it can trap moisture that can lead to mould and mildew!
- Never store your dress in the attic. Although it’s dark and keeps out the light, accidents do happen up there. Think roof leaks or wasps’ nests...
- It’s fine to hang your dress in the short-term, but don’t keep it hanging for long. It can wear on the stitching and sag the dress because the weight of the skirt is heavy. It looks great in pre-wedding photography, but with a long and heavy train, you don’t want to keep it hanging for very long!
Why you should be using self storage for your business
Document storage for businesses is becoming more common nowadays. Document storage and archiving are now an important factor for organisations. Think about that information that’s essential for your company, but takes up too much space to have lying around the office. We at Beyond Storage offer document storage and archiving solutions for any business. Read on to find out what we can offer yours.
Space-saver
There’s usually a large amount of archiving that businesses need to do at the end of every financial year and after auditing. Whether you’re a small business or large organisation, you want to save your costly office space for other purposes, not just for storage. If your business is growing, your data will grow just as much; so it’s important to know where you can organise and store your documents where you can still have easy access to them when you need to draw on this information. Storing your archives with us means you can use that extra space in your office for what really matters to your business.
Safe Storage
How important is safety? We know it’s very important. When you’re archiving and storing important documents, you want to know that they are safe and secure. These could be account records, personnel files or other confidential documents - whatever you’re storing, you want peace of mind knowing that they can only be accessed by yourself or others of your choosing. We at Beyond Storage offer 24/7 security, including CCTV surveillance and fingerprint access at some facilities. Knowing your documents and archives are secure will give you peace of mind and space to focus on your business.
Cost-effective
Right now you might be asking yourself: ‘Won’t I save money by keeping my documents on-site?’ The answer is more cost-effective than you think. You may believe that adding extra shelving could make space for these documents in your office. However, as you accumulate more documents, you’ll need more shelves, which will take up more space. Remember your Feng Shui - an uncluttered office means an uncluttered mind.
Even if you have vast archives to store, we can still offer affordable rates on our top-of-the-line storage units, preventing your documents from being stolen or lost, which could be costly later down the line. At Beyond Storage, we offer secure storage at competitive prices for you, so you won’t be breaking the bank on an essential business need.
Convenience
Having storage space is very convenient for businesses. Knowing that your documents are stored somewhere safe and easily accessible can take a load off your mind. Our storage facilities are easily accessible at any of our spacious locations, so you can drive right up to the insulated and climate-controlled storage containers. It saves you going back and forth when moving your archive - especially if you have van-loads of documents. Storage convenience will can let you focus more on other business needs, and we simplify this further with our on-site assistance from staff who can help you at any time you need.
Still, think that document storage and archiving is time-consuming and costly? We thought not. Contact us at Beyond Storage today for more information. Or to save you time, why not get a direct quote straight to your inbox?
April is Stress Awareness Month: How Well are You Managing?
Life is made up of stressful situations, and for many, this is no unfamiliar concept. From daily stressors like money, work, or social pressures, to the heavier hitters like the loss of a job, relocating to a new home, or coping with a heavy hardship. Stress is both natural and completely normal. Navigating this physical reaction and finding ways to manage and combat these anxious nerves can greatly impact your peace of mind and overall wellbeing.
Stress and the Positive Impact on your Wellbeing
According to experts, in small bursts, stress can have several advantages.
- Help you meet daily challenges.
- Motivates you to reach your goals.
- Help you accomplish tasks more efficiently.
- Boost memory.
- Aid as a vital warning system (engaging fight-or-flight response).
- Increased focus with the ability to avoid distracting situations.
- Moderate stress can fortify the immune system.
- Improve how your heart works.
- Protect your body from infection.
Stress and the Negative Impact on your Wellbeing
Too much stress, if persistant can be detrimental. Emotional stress that lingers can have a negative impact on your health, happiness and overall wellbeing.
- Prolonged stress will weaken the immune system.
- Can result in high blood pressure, fatigue, depression, anxiety and even heart disease.
- Alter blood flow, the arteries and how cells regenerate.
Signals of too much Stress
Differentiating good stress from bad stress, is not always something we can cognitively do. Look out for the ways your body could be letting you know that you've exceeded your stress limits:
- Inability to concentrate or complete tasks.
- Prone to sickness (especially colds).
- Sore or aching body.
- Autoimmune diseases flare up.
- Increased or prolonged headaches.
- Social irritability and lack of patience.
- Increased sleeping discomforts.
- Drastic changes in appetite or irritated bowels.
- More temperamental or anxious than usual.
Simple ways to Lessen the Stressin’
Stress is an inevitable part of life, but you can improve the way you react to stress by avoiding certain situations/triggers and making these simple lifestyle changes:
Diet:
Believe it or not, what you eat and drink can have an impact on your mood and certainly your levels of stress. Four of the most common culprits include caffeine, alcohol, high-sodium foods, and refined sugars. Whether the pressures is on or not, consider the best and worst foods for stress.
Planning:
Preparedness is a fantastic mental tool and that feeling of being ready can truly help you overcome the most challenging situations. Whether you are planning a big move, or just trying to stay ahead of the unexpected, don’t feel as you have to go at it alone. Employ the help you need, to lessen the stress and make the most of your energy. Beyond Storage is always here to help when the boundaries of your comfort zone feel lost.
Sleep:
For the human body, rest is recovery and without this valuable tool the smallest of stresses can feel more daunting than ever. If you find yourself increasingly more irritated and with a thinning patience, simply treat yourself to better rest! It can sometimes be as simple as a new and supportive pillow; the missing piece to a better nights rest and a stress free week.
Exercise:
Exercise in just about any form can act as a stress reducer. Increased active can boost those feel-good endorphins and serve as a distract you from daily worries. Don’t stress if you can't find the time for a quick short workout, there's an app for that.
5 Smart Ways to Brighten Up your Garden for Summer
With the rain (hopefully) clearing away and the days get warmer and sunnier, it might be time to give your garden some TLC. Your garden is an outdoor extension of your home. As the sun starts to peek out and the flowers begin to blossom, many of us are already planning our Summer BBQs! We’ve come up with 5 simple, low-cost ways to brighten up your garden without breaking the bank. Why not get the kids involved with crafting DIY features to keep in the garden, too?
Colourful plants & flowers
It’s the time of the year when you have colourful flowers coming to bloom, scattered around your garden. Splashes of rainbow around the garden will look beautiful and give you that summery feeling. Filling flower beds with perennials is a reasonably priced way to make your garden look vibrant and polished. 
Recycled pots/tin/jars can planter - DIY with Kids
If you don’t have flowers but you want to keep your garden looking bright and vibrant amongst the sea of green, you can always decorate your plant pots. Painting those pots will add colour - and you can even personalise them! Why not get the kids involved too? It’ll be a fun activity for them - and you can also make them as gifts for extended family. This idea is also great if you have a tiny garden - or no garden at all - but you still want some gorgeous greenery around your home. 
Colourful furniture cushions
If you’re lucky enough to have the space for furniture in your garden, then you can always liven up plain furniture with colourful cushions. Tropical-style prints with flowers and leaves are very popular at the moment and will add an exotic touch to your home. 
Light it up!
Outdoor fairy lights are a lovely, cost-effective feature that can be used all-year round. They’re especially beautiful to hang around in the garden on those warm spring and summer nights. Outdoor lights are a quick and simple decoration for fences and furniture and add a pretty glow to your patio and back garden. If you want to make a bigger statement, why not choose pretty lanterns to put around the garden? They will complement your furniture and illuminate your garden with a lovely radiance. 
Get Creative
You can always get creative with your garden decorations, too. Think outside the box. Paint little figurines to give the gnomes a run for their money - or why not give your old garden tools a makeover and put them on display? 
How Decluttering Helps You Lose Weight
Are you a busy mum who is juggling Monday meal preps, with a full time job, with school runs, with Date Night, the Sunday Football mornings, with Thursday night swimming, with Friday night Zumba classes when you can, with your full time job, with catching up with Sarah and Joe, with catching up with your mum, with getting that upper lip waxed, with keeping the house in check, with making sure that the kids don’t go to school in their PJs….? The list goes on! And if that all sounds all too familiar, then we are sure that all this juggling has got you feeling tired, run down and in much need of an exotic break, alone, on a desert island.
With all that stress going on, it’s not surprising that you might be looking for shortcuts wherever you can to break up your working week. But this may be effecting you more than you think, leaving you with a life-filled with clutter, unhealthy foods, unhappy relationships and more hopes and dreams that are on the back-burner, whilst you are nothing more than burnt out with no back-up.
For many of us, the clutter and ‘stuff’ around us can feel like a ’fortress’ that stays consistent and habitual, whilst the rest of out lives are up in the air and out of our control. The same is true with food. Are you comforting yourself and covering your daily stresses with one too many packets of crisp? It’s easily done.
Over the past few years, researchers have shown that there is a definite link between losing clutter and losing weight. This is because, at times of stress, everyone has different ways of dealing with life, “some people start smoking, some people exercise, some people move in and out of relationships, some people hoard, and some people turn to food”, but even the healthiest of coping mechanisms can become unhealthy when used in the wrong way.
So, if you are reading this and you feel like the above makes sense to you in one way or another, have no fear. Your solution may be one Spring Clean away.
Nutritionist Keri Glassman, R.D., says that ”A behavioural and physiological chain reaction is put into motion by having a streamlined space," she says. Picture the domino effect of a messy closet: The chaos makes it harder to choose clothes. You're late. No time for breakfast, which can slow your metabolism and release the fattening stress hormone cortisol.” Yes, that’s right, being stressed can make you hold on to fat! So imagine, how unstressed you would feel if your morning routine was streamlined, clean and unstressful. You may actually make it to 11am without having 3 coffees and another snack from the vending machine…
Now that you’ve got that visualisation, let’s look at how you get rid of all of that stuff, that emotional baggage and that unfinished business that’s standing in your way.
De-Document: Get rid of the documents from past careers, love letters from long ago lovers, diary doodles, shopping lists.- Finish or Forget the Unfinished business: if you don’t want to run a marathon one day, then don’t, otherwise guilt will run your world. You run your world. Doing a list every morning, of everything going on in your head can truly help you to clear the mind before the day begins. That way you can create a specific to-do list for the day. One little trick, is to always choose something on the list which is really not that important, and eliminate it!
- Unroll that inbox, don’t let you digital life swamp your real-world life
- Gifts for future self: GET RID! Too often we think ‘oh this toy will be great for my child’, and ‘this dress will look nice when I lose weight’, and ‘this toaster that my mum gave me will be perfect when I save up and my own house’, but actually these are all coping mechanisms, that are thought of through fear that you may not be able to get your own things. Most commonly women keep clothes for years and years, thinking they need them, but actually you don’t and you are just holding on to these things based on hope and fear. We hang onto far more objects than we need, and, instead of motivating us, they become talismans of guilt and shame. What if you don’t lose weight? Well that dress you kept will just be a reminder of your failure, but how many items do you need to hold on to before they start controlling you.
- Unloved items: When you are clearing out, ask yourself these questions, do you honestly need this item? Do you love it? Does it have some sort of significance in your life? Does it serve a purpose? If the answer to all of these questions is “no,” it’s time to get rid of that thing and move onto the next one.
- Let your goals shape your organising: If you want to become more consistent with your gym raining, then organise your training gear into a space near your front door where they are easily grab-able on your way out in the morning.
You can't keep hiding the things you don’t use or need:
The truth is, physical or non-physical, whatever bits and bobs you are holding onto, you can’t hide them in the cupboard forever. All of those things will pile up and be carried with you and niggle at you. For example, just this weekend I felt this same stress come over me, because I realised that the 5 pairs of shoes that are gracing my living room floor, waiting for my partner to sell on eBay, have now been there for over a month.
These shoes have been subconsciously walking by my side since they were placed next to my TV, and although I hadn’t mentioned that to my partner sooner, in a moment of stress and frustration I realised that we just needed to get rid instead of waiting for a bid.
What do you want from your life?
It’s important that you pick one thing at at a time to declutter and don’t decide to say ‘I don’t want to deal with this today’, the more you can make organisation a way of living, the clearer your head will feel and the more mindful you will be. Some of you may hate the thought of putting cleaning up at the top of the list, before your full time job, catching up with Sarah and Joe, catching up with your mum, getting that upper lip waxed… but try it and see how cleaning up some actual space, can leave you with some breathing space to get through your busy life with easy, more lightly, physically and psychologically.
We hope this helps!
Guest Blog: Fitness_KaleoPaleo
Storage Hacks for Your Living Room
The living room is the hub of a family house. It’s traditionally the most comfortable room in the home (after the bedroom, of course), and usually the most high-traffic area. Typically, this room holds most of your sentimental possessions and everyday items, so it’s important to make sure this part of the house has enough storage space to keep them safe or show them off - without making your most important room feel cluttered.
We’ve been inspired by the #TinyHomeBigLiving trend by our cousins from across the pond, and want to share some of our favourite handy storage solutions for your living room.
(Hanging) Off the Wall
Just because you don’t have acres of room doesn’t mean that you can’t exercise your green thumb. You don’t have to show off your plants on sideboards or in vases; you can hang those little green beauties off the wall. This keeps them out of the way, frees up space on your valuable surfaces, and allows you to create a mini indoor garden.
Shelving equals storage
Shelves can be a life-saver for storage solutions - as long as you stack them carefully. They can be a great way to cut out the clutter in your living room and keep your little belongings on display - but out of the way.
Corners often get left as dead space in living rooms, but why not try stepping-up your storage with ladder-style shelving? These are on-trend storage solutions for a modern family home which are decorative and useful without overwhelming your space. Just make sure you secure it to the wall to be safe.
Fill up handy bins
If you have space underneath small tables or cabinets, you can make great use of this by adding some handy storage baskets. Endlessly useful baskets can be used to stow away blankets, magazines, games console accessories and crossword puzzles - and even those too-numerous-to-mention remote controls and batteries! 
Rethink your coffee table
Your coffee table is usually a key feature in a living room. It gives you somewhere to rest your feet while you’re enjoying your favourite show on TV. It shows off your art-house books. It… becomes a dumping ground for remote controls? No - a coffee table takes up too much space to be used as a clutter bench.
If this sounds like your home, why not ditch the space-grabbing coffee table in favour of low-level shelving just behind your sofa, so you can keep your cuppa close while enjoying TV time? Or, if you just need somewhere to prop those feet up, choose a tiered coffee table. The top has open functionality, but you can use the bottom to store your belongings.
Making room for your new puppy!
Bringing home a new puppy is an incredibly exciting experience - whether it’s your first furry friend or not. That said - inviting a sharp-toothed little critter into your precious home is not without its risks! So we’ve put together our top tips for preparing your home for a new four-pawed arrival - and beyond.
1. Make Space
Puppies - yes, even the tiny ones - take up a LOT of room. Whether it’s a new crate or bed, food bowls or endless toys strewn about your house, creating spaces especially for your new pup is an essential first step in preparing your home.
2. Puppy-proofing
If you’re planning to invite a young hairball into your home without puppy proofing it first, you’re asking for trouble. The first step is to take a look round, and move anything within nose, paw or tail reach up high to a safer spot. Always put things higher than you think as puppies are mischievous little creatures and will find a way into anything. The second step inside is to tidy away all cables or electrical equipment. We know that in a modern home this is hard to do - but trust us when we say that taping down your TV cables will save you endless hours of frustration when little teeth nibble through your power supply - and possibly save you a terrifying trip to the vet, too. Finally - don’t neglect your garden. Even if it’s not possible to completely fence in your yard, make sure you create a safe space in the garden that your pup can’t escape from. It’s also important to do some research and remove any plants which could be poisonous to dogs.
3. Crate training
You might think the idea of shutting your pup in a metal box sounds cruel, but actually, dogs love small, dark, enclosed spaces where they can curl up and feel safe. Especially for young puppies, crate training is a great idea as it gives them a place of their own where they can escape from stressers - particularly over-enthusiastic children! It’s a fact, too, that dogs don’t like to mess their own bed, so if the crate is small enough, your new puppy will do its best not to make a mess but wait to be taken out instead.
4. Upstairs, downstairs
You might love the idea of having your puppy upstairs with you, but studies have shown that hurtling up and down stairs at a young age can do damage to your pup’s soft joints while they’re still forming. Using a baby gate or puppy gate is a great way to keep pup safe downstairs and out of mischief. Just make sure the gaps between the bars are narrow enough to avoid little heads getting stuck!
Ultimately, a new puppy is going to take up a very special place in your heart, and your home. But sharp puppy teeth are notorious for doing damage to your precious belongings! So if you’re preparing for a furry new arrival, why not let us store your favourite things for you in our safe, climate-controlled units - at least until the ‘chewing’ phase is over!
#BeyondYour Atmosphere Competition!
Have you pushed yourself in 2018? At Beyond Storage, It’s no secret that we love to give people the opportunity go beyond their comfort zone, try something new and make a positive change in their life. So you can only begin to imagine our excitement to announce that, thanks to a recent partnership that begins today, 1 April, we are going to be offering the trip of a lifetime to a member of our community and their plus one!
#BeyondYour Atmosphere
We’re giving away two tickets for a flight that will take you higher than 100,000 feet, to the very edge of our atmosphere. From this point, you’ll be able to see the curvature of the earth and the dark and beckoning expanse that is space… an experience that puts absolutely everything into perspective.
All you need to do to enter is tell us why you and your chosen friend, partner or family member want to complete the journey, and why you think you or they deserve it.
The foolishly incredible voyage will take place in the spring of 2020 and will last a total of four hours and, for at least half of that time, you'll be suspended at just over 100,000 feet on the edge of the atmosphere and way #BeyondYourComfortZone. To make this once-in-a-lifetime experience as accessible as possible, we've also decided to fund the travel costs to and from our partner's headquarters with all expenses paid.
Royal British Legion Sponsorship & Tribute
We at Beyond Storage are proud to announce that we’re in partnership with the Royal British Legion. We are so proud and honoured to be collaborating with the Royal British Legion and honouring what they stand for.
Who are the Royal British Legion?
The Royal British Legion supports ex-servicemen and women and their families when they return home from serving in the armed forces, Many of these brave men and women are unsung heroes. The organisation was founded after the First World War to help those ex-servicemen who could not support their families after suffering terrible injuries from the war. They welcome all men and women, whether they’ve served in the Armed Forces or not, to continue their legacy 100 years on.
Why are we sponsoring the Royal British Legion?
The Royal British Legion symbolises coming home, and at Beyond Storage we know there’s no place like home. Our sponsorship is helping the organisation support these deserving families and individuals.
We support and celebrate the Royal British Legion’s centenary of service, as well as all the brave ex-servicemen and women coming home after being away for so long. We have tremendous respect for what they’ve done for us all. As a symbol of this, we have two Silent Soldiers
placed at our Hereford and Ross-on-Wye sites. Along with the Poppy Appeal, they are a symbol to remember the fallen and to support the future of those still living. We are proud to sponsor the Royal British Legion to commemorate their services by supporting them and their families.
Happy St. Patricks Day!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
With green being the colour of choice today, we’re sure it can be seen as far as the eye can see - from clothes to food, and even hair! We’re looking at the green drinks that you can indulge in today to get in the spirit of the celebrations.
We might not have a Shamrock Shake, available at a little fast-food chain with golden arches across the of the pond, but there are plenty of other beverages we can enjoy on St Patrick’s Day. Perhaps you want to start your day with an Irish Coffee, just to make things interesting. Or instead, you might want to go out get a real taste for the occasion. Plenty of bars will be serving green-themed cocktails, and while not technically green, Guinness will be flowing from the taps of bars and pubs across the world! If you’re looking for something a little more healthy, there’s the iconic green smoothie, or maybe a green tea matcha latte to get you started in the morning- and possibly detox from the night before.
Show us your St.Patricks Day drink of choice and tag #YourWorldCup for a chance to be entered into our Beyond Your Comfort Zone competition, with the chance to win up to £1000! Could today be your lucky day?
We hope everyone has a fantastic evening!