Time for Spring Cleaning!

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Spring is right around the corner

The weather might not seem like it, but spring is just around the corner, in two weeks to be exact! All of the cleaning and reorganization projects that you have been putting off for the past few months need to be tackled. Spring is the time to freshen up, clean and reorganize the home after a long, cold winter. It is time to open up the windows and let the fresh air in and the musty cold air out. Spring cleaning activities actually date back over hundreds of years.  During the winter months, homes were closed up tight to protect from the cold weather. Homes were heated by fireplaces and people used oil lamps for lighting, which left dirt and residue over everything in the home. When the first taste of warmer weather arrived, people would throw open their windows and doors and completely clean out their homes from floors to ceilings to furniture and linens. Today, we might not go to the extremes in cleaning projects that our forefathers did, but we have continued with the spring cleaning projects.

Spring cleaning, reorganization and remodeling projects can be quite the daunting task. The most important thing to remember is to start with a plan and a goal for your project. Write down your goals on a list. Doing so will give you a sense of accomplishment when you can cross that task off of your list. Break down your projects into smaller easily attainable tasks. You can overachieve and get your house cleaning checklist completed in a weekend, but it is best to spread the project over a few weeks. Make it a family project and get everyone involved. The more people who help, the quicker the project will be completed.

A major part of a spring cleaning project  is decluttering and reorganizing your stuff. This is usually the hardest part to spring cleaning (if you don’t count having to clean the windows inside and out). Sort through the items in the room and decide what you want to keep in the room versus what you want to throw away, donate, sell or store. Make sure to remove the items that will not be going back into the room as soon as possible.  Rent a storage unit to place the items that you still want to keep, but no longer have the room for or items that you want to sell in a garage sale. ezStorage has many different storage unit size that can fit your storage needs. You can also purchase packing supplies at each of our locations.

Before you are ready to put the items that you want to keep back into the room, thoroughly clean the room from top to bottom, including wiping down walls, cleaning windows, deep cleaning rugs, washing and changing out comforters and linens and dusting furniture. Utilize all of the great storage solutions that are on the market from decorative shelving units to storage bins and baskets.

Good luck in with your house cleaning checklists this spring! Keep an eye out for some great spring cleaning room-by-room tips from ezStorage  in upcoming blog posts and Infographics!

5 Easy Garage Organization Ideas

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Organized Garage

Garages can become a “store all” for everything from your car to tools to lawn equipment. The garage can get so cluttered with “stuff” that there is no room to actually use the structure for what it was intended for – to park your car. As the weather begins to warm up and our spring cleaning projects start to go into full steam, don’t forget to add cleaning the garage to the spring cleaning task list. This is a great time to sweep out the salt and soot from the long winter. Below are a few garage organization ideas to get you started on your project.

  1. As with any home project, it is important to have a plan in mind for organizing and cleaning the garage.  There are many questions to ask yourself as you put together your plans for the garage.  Is the ultimate goal to park your car in the garage? Are you using the garage for additional storage only? Will the garage space be turned into a workshop, man cave or craft room? Is the garage used for utilities and food and home supplies storage?
  2. Once you have decided on the purpose, diagram zones in your garage where you want to store certain items or where you want to set up the garage for different purposes. If you have a freezer or store food in your garage, these items need to be closer to the door of the home. Children’s toys and summer equipment should be closer to the front of the garage for easier access for the entire family. Everything that you place in the garage should have a specific home, instead of everything being piled into a corner. Group like items together within each of the zones that you create, for example keep your gardening tools, summer toys and tools together in one area and not spread out in the garage.
  3. You have your garage organization plan set and know where you want to place items back in the garage. How do you start the entire garage cleaning and organizing project? Just as you would for any organizing project inside the home, you need to remove all of the items from the space and sort them into specific boxes or piles. Sort the items into the following piles: Keep, store, donate, sell or throw away. If you borrowed a neighbor’s ladder or gardening tools in the past year, then this is the time to return them to the rightful owners. If your garage plan doesn’t include (or you don’t have room for) seasonal items such as holiday lawn decorations, Christmas trees or lights, then consider renting a storage unit to place these items in a secure place. ezStorage has a variety of storage unit sizes that can help you free up space in your garage. Each ezStorage location also has a large supply of moving and packing supplies, so you can properly pack your additional tools and garage items.
  4. After all of the items have been removed from the garage, thoroughly sweep and clean the floor of the garage. This is a great time to remove the oil stains from the garage floor. You can use many different DIY solutions such as kitty litter, dishwashing solutions or baking soda to remove the spots. Time permitting, this is also a good chance to paint the walls of the garage to freshen it up before putting items back inside the garage.
  5. Use as much vertical space as possible as you move your items back into the garage. Install pegboards and storage shelving units along the walls. Pegboards are a great way to store tools for a workshop. Hang ladders and bicycles from the walls and ceilings of the garage. When you are using the garage for storage, make sure to clearly label the contents of any boxes that you use for storage. This is especially true for a workshop with screws, nuts, bolts and other materials. If you keep things in your garage organized then you will be able to find them when you need them.

Celebrate Mardi Gras in The Washington D.C. Area

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Mardi Gras events in Washington D.C.

A Little History of Mardi Gras

We are now in the midst of Mardi Gras season with the celebrations culminating with Fat Tuesday on Tuesday, March 4th. Mardi Gras has origins back to pagan spring rites and rituals. Today, it is a celebration of music, food, floats and excitement. Mardi Gras celebrations actually start in the beginning of January with the 12th Night Feast of Epiphany and runs through to Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras has been celebrated in New Orleans since the city was founded in the early 1700’s. The modern celebrations date back to the 1830’s with masked parade participants going through the town. Costumed parade participants have been throwing out beads and other small gifts in the Mardi Gras parades since 1871. Mardi Gras is celebrated as Carnival in different cities around the world including Venice, Italy and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Many cities have Mardi Gras celebrations and Fat Tuesday feasts, but New Orleans is the capital of everything Mardi Gras. There are parades, masked balls and parties in full swing for the 12 days before Ash Wednesday. There are over 70 free parades in the city that are put on by different krewes (social clubs and organizations) starting at 8am to sundown each of the 12 days. The larger parades can have hundreds of floats, marching bands and participants that wind through the streets of the French Quarter.

Mardi Gras Events in Washington D.C., Northern Virginia and Baltimore Areas

The Washington D.C. area has quite a few Mardi Gras events and celebrations. The Mystick Krewe of Louisiana held their annual Carnival Ball on February 22nd.  This event kicked off many of the Mardi Gras celebrations in the area. The Mardi Gras Masquerade 2014 is tonight, February 27th in Georgetown. There will be Orleans style brass and jazz bands, costumes and beads. The 16th Annual Clarendon Courthouse Mardi Gras Parade is Tuesday, March 4th in Arlington, Virginia. The parade is the largest Fat Tuesday celebration in the Washington D.C. area. The parade, which runs along Wilson Boulevard and starts at 8pm, is family friendly with floats, marching bands, community groups, costumed performers and of course beads! You can continue with the celebrations after the parade at the Bayou Gras Block Party with many area pubs and restaurants participating with live music, great food and other celebrations. Rumors in Washington D.C. will be transformed for the Bourbon Street Bash on March 4th with music, New Orleans style food and beads.

The Power Plant in downtown Baltimore is hosting its first Mardi Gras celebration on March 1st.  There will be a carnival atmosphere with stilt walkers, fire breathers, Cajun food, New Orleans style jazz and much more. Eight bars and restaurants in the Power Plant area will be participating in the event.

Even though Northern Virginia, Baltimore and Washington D.C. are thousands of miles from New Orleans, there are still many ways to celebrate Mardi Gras from family friendly events to adult only celebrations.

Home Improvement and Self Storage

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Home Improvement Season

Spring is nearly upon us…I hope! This is the time to get your home improvement projects and renovation plans under way. The Washington D.C. area hosted two great home improvement shows in January and February and there will be one coming to Maryland in March. These shows always offer a chance to speak with designers and contractors and to get home remodeling ideas. Just before the warm weather hits is the perfect time to get your plans and budget set, material ordered and the time set aside to fulfill your goal of a new room. Home improvement activity has increased dramatically over the past few years. According to this infographic from the Census Bureau, homeowners spent over $359 billion on home improvement projects from 2009 to 2011. The largest amount  was usually spent on renovating the kitchen. And 37% of homeowners surveyed did the project on their own, while 63% hired professionals. In 2013, it was projected that homeowners would spend over $550 billion dollars on home improvement projects! With the housing market on the upswing, people are planning and working on projects to improve their homes.

When you are starting your renovation project, it is important that you define your project, which means that you have a set a specific budget and scheduled the necessary  time to complete the project. Make sure that you have ordered, in advance, materials that you will need to avoid scrambling to find the needed material or tool at the last minute. Most importantly create alternate areas to use as back-up for the construction zones. For example, if you are renovating a bathroom, make sure that you have another bathroom in the home that can be used during construction.

When doing a renovation project, it is important to remove all of the items from the room to protect them from construction damage. Renting a self storage unit during a renovation/remodeling process is a smart choice to protect your personal items and furniture from dirt, dust, paint drips and damage during the project. Renting during renovation projects is one of the most popular reasons for renting a storage unit. It is much easier to work in a room that is completely empty. Simply putting a paint tarp over items will really not protect them from damage during actual construction. Also, large furniture can take up valuable work space.  If you are doing the project on your own, you’ll need that extra space for the added equipment and materials.  After the project is completed, you can use your self storage unit to store your new equipment until you need it for the next project.

One of the most important things to remember during a renovation process is do not overreach. Do not give up on your DIY project, but know when it is time to hire a professional to finish up the work. ezStorage has 45 locations in the Baltimore, Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. areas. Our friendly and professional staff can help you with your storage needs from packing and moving supplies to temporary storage for your renovation project. Stop in when you need help finding the right storage space for your renovation projects!

Wine Storage 101

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wine storage 101

Wine collecting has become a growing trend across the world. There are certain wines that can be served right away, while others need to be stored in order to “age” properly. If you live in a smaller home or just don’t have the room to create your own personal wine cellar, what do you do to store your growing wine collection? The most optimum place to store your wine collection would be in a wine cellar, but most people do not have that option. Many self storage facilities are building special wine storage cellars. Specially built storage lockers are separated into wine storage units that are climate and humidity controlled and electronically monitored for the correct temperature and humidity levels. Do not store wine in a regular storage unit. Also, keep in mind that climate controlled storage units are not appropriate for wine storage as wine needs to be stored in a much “tighter” temperature range where temperature will not fluctuate more than one or two degrees. Temperature variances in regular climate controlled self storage units will definitely vary more than one or two degrees.

If you are planning on creating a wine storage solution at home, there are a few things that you should keep in mind when storing your wine. Wine needs to be stored at a certain temperature. The optimum temperature for storing red wines is 55 degrees. White wines can be stored at a slightly lower temperature. If the temperature is too high, it can rapidly increase the aging process and damage the wine. Wines should also be stored at a higher humidity level of 55 to 85 percent. Higher humidity settings help prevent the cork from drying out. The cork blocks oxygen from entering the bottle. If the cork dries out, oxygen can get into the wine causing oxidation, which in turn ruins the wine. Wine bottles should be stored on their sides to keep the corks moist and the sediment inside the bottle at a good mixture.

Another important factor in wine storage is darkness. Too much natural light or even fluorescent light can affect the quality of the wine. That is why most wine cellars are below ground and away from direct sunlight.  Most wine bottles have light protected bottles, but the glass protection only goes so far in protecting from the sun’s damaging rays. Also, too much vibration or shaking of wine bottles can cause sediment in the wine to redistribute incorrectly affecting the taste of the wine.

Wine collectors are very particular about their wines! They want to make sure that their investment is protected. When wine is stored under the right conditions, it will be more favorable and enjoyable. Choosing the right wine storage solution is key to keeping your wine collection protected. It will allow your wine to age properly and be enjoyable to share in the future.

Travel and Adventure Show in Washington D.C.

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Travel and Adventure Show DCAre you sick of winter? Have you dug yourself out of the latest snow storm to hit Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington D.C.?  It seems like this cold, snowy winter will never end! It is time to plan an escape and the perfect place to do that is the Washington D.C. Travel and Adventure Show February 22nd and 23rd at the Washington, D. C. Convention Center. The travel expo helps you to figure out your next vacation, get summer travel ideas, interact with hundreds of destination travel experts and tour operators, and experience food and cultures from around the world.

The Travel and Adventure Show features seminars and presentations from celebrity travel hosts and experts. The list of presenters is impressive with Rick Steves from PBS, Samantha Brown, Todd Carmichael and Don Wildman from The Travel Channel, Pauline Frommer from Frommer Guidebooks and actor and travel writer, Andrew McCarthy. These experts will share travel tips and information about traveling around the world.

There are multiple stages with activities, demonstrations and presentations throughout the show. The featured presenters will be at on Speakers Stage. The Taste of Travel Stage showcases local, regional and world cuisines including chefs sharing dishes from Jamaica  and Norway. The Global Beats Stage features performances of music, dance and culture from all over the world including performances by groups from Taiwan, Ethiopia, Brazil and India.

Families will enjoy all of the hands-on special exhibits that take place during the show.  You can try out your rock climbing skills on the rock wall. If you are interested in learning to scuba dive, here is your chance. You can learn to scuba dive with a certified expert in a heated pool at the show. No need to worry about scuba equipment, wet suits, mask or air tanks as these are all provided. However, you must be at least 10 years old in order to take the lesson. There is a Sea World and Busch Gardens animal exhibit and show, a chance to ride a Segway and a kite simulator, which puts you in the seat of a true-to-history Wright Brothers glider.

As a special added incentive, there are special show give-aways during the event including winning trips for an Outer Banks vacation, white water rafting, cruise tickets and more! Individual booths also are offering special show discounts. Children under 16 accompanied by an adult are admitted free to the show. Active military members receive free admission for themselves and up to 4 family members with their military ID.

Think spring and summer travel ideas by heading to the Travel & Adventure Show in Washington D.C. this weekend!

Presidents’ Day Events in Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia

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Presidents' Day. 

History of Presidents’ Day

This Monday, February 17th is a day to honor the past presidents of the United States, specifically George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Both presidents celebrate their birthdays in February: Abraham Lincoln on February 12th and George Washington on February 22nd. George Washington was born 282 years ago in 1732. His birthday became a federal holiday in 1870, but was actually celebrated much earlier during his time as a general during the Revolutionary War. Abraham Lincoln’s birthday was officially celebrated starting in 1865, but it did not become a federal holiday. For decades, both presidents had separate days to honor their birthdays. In 1971, President Richard Nixon proclaimed one single federal public holiday, called Presidents Day to be observed on the third Monday in February to honor all presidents. Banks, federal, city and state offices, post offices and most schools are closed in observance of the holiday.

Presidents’ Day in the Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia Area

Mount Vernon has a 3-day birthday celebration honoring George Washington. The admission to Mount Vernon is free on Monday, February 17th. Special events include storytelling from re-enactors of George Washington’s family and friends, wreath laying and other family events.

The city of Alexandria, Virginia is the host for many of the Presidents’ Day events. Alexandria played an important role throughout the Colonial, Revolutionary and Civil War periods.  Alexandria’s Annual George Washington Classic 10K is scheduled for Sunday February 16th starting at 8am. The race benefits the Alexandria Police Youth Corp. Step back in time to celebrate President Washington’s birthday at the Birthright Ball at Gadsby’s Tavern Museum. The 18th century tavern once played host to George Washington, John Adams, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson amongst other notable figures.  The Birthright Ball is an evening of toasts, re-enactors, historical programs, dancing, and an 18th century banquet. Monday, February 17th, Alexandria hosts the country’s largest Presidents’ Day parade in Old Town Alexandria. The parade, dating back to 1923, has bands, floats, wagons, horses, historical reenactments and special performances. The parade kicks off at 1pm.

Presidents’ Day is a great day to visit the monuments on the National Mall. There are monuments and memorials to Presidents Lincoln, Washington (even though it is not open due to earthquake repairs), Jefferson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Also, make a stop at Madame Tussauds’ Museum at 1001 F Street NW  to see wax figures of all 44 presidents in an interactive 3-D tribute.

If you have the day off, head out and enjoy history and honor our presidents by enjoying one of the many Presidents’ Day events in the Washington D.C. area.