Can You Store Furniture in Your Garage? 6 Items You Should Never Store in Your Boston Garage

If you’re looking for a little extra space in your Boston home, your garage may be one of the first places that come to mind, but can you store furniture in a garage? While the garage is perfectly suited for many seasonal and outdoor items, there are a number of things you shouldn’t store in your garage, including furniture.

Why shouldn’t you store furniture in the garage?

The garage may seem like a logical place to store any of your excess belongings, but throughout the year, many different factors can cause damage, including weather, insects, moisture and more. From storing wooden furniture in your garage to a large sofa, discover six items you should never keep in your garage.

 Can you store mattresses and upholstered furniture in your garage?

• Bulky mattresses and upholstered furniture like armchairs and couches are bound to take up precious storage space in your garage where they’re susceptible to damage from vehicles and other items that call your garage home.
• Upholstered furniture is prone to attract wood-boring insects and other pests that can effectively ruin them beyond repair.
• Furniture stored in your garage may even begin to absorb car fumes, leaving them unsafe for future use.

The best way to free up space in your home and protect your furniture for many more years of use is to choose a clean, dedicated storage space — like a climate-controlled storage unit.

Storing wooden furniture in your garage

Wood furniture is susceptible to cracking and warping when exposed to changes in temperature and humidity. And, once the wood has been affected, there’s no way to repair the damage. So think twice before storing wooden furniture in your garage.

Garages are too close to harsh weather elements, as well as cars and people that track in snow and rain — both of which can leave your wooden furniture in danger of damage. To keep your wood furniture in proper condition, it’s recommended that you store it indoors, in a climate-controlled setting.

The 6 other important items you should never store in your garage:

Before you start storing things in your garage, review our list of the six other important household items that you should always store indoors:

1. Electronics

Have a spare TV, DVD player, or maybe a vintage video game console that you aren’t using but want to keep? The garage may seem like a great, out-of-the-way place for electronics, but the fact is that high levels of humidity will ruin their internal circuit boards and parts. Even storing electronics in cardboard boxes in your garage is not a safe option. Your best bet for storing electronics is in a spare closet or in a temperature-regulated storage space.

Pro Tip: When you do store your electronics, don’t forget to pack them in a plastic bin to further protect from dust and dampness!

2. Paint

It may be tempting to store leftover paint in your garage to keep handy in case of paint touch-up jobs, but a garage is one of the worst places to store unused paint! Since paint is sensitive to heat, cold and temperature swings, we recommend storing it in climate-controlled storage like your basement or an indoor utility closet. Storing paint in a hot garage can lead to a mess and unusable paint.

3. Spare refrigerators

It’s tempting for homeowners to keep an old refrigerator available for cold drinks in the summer or as a backup option when hosting parties. But, keeping this spare refrigerator running all year for rarely used items can cost you in the long run. Old refrigerators are often less energy efficient, which will drive higher energy bills each month. Also, when keeping a refrigerator in a hot garage, they cannot safely keep perishable food at the appropriate temperature during extreme changes of weather.

Pro Tip: If you need a spare refrigerator, your best bet is to keep it in your basement, not in your garage.

4. Bedding and clothing

Spare bedding is great to have around for guests or to swap seasonally for a new look in your room. Perhaps you’re saving clothes as hand-me-downs for a younger child or your wedding dress for your daughter. For whatever fabrics you’re storing, keep in mind that your garage is a welcome mat for mold, mildew and smells from your vehicle that will get trapped in the fibers of the fabric. We recommend storing fabrics inside your home or another cool, dark and clean storage space.

Pro Tip: Store any fabric items in an air-tight bin to prevent odors from getting into the fabric in the first place!

5. Photos

Some of us now store our photos in the cloud, but most of us haven’t gotten around to making digital copies of our physical photographs from the years before smartphones.

If you want to cherish your physical photo albums for years to come and you’re storing things in the garage, choose a storage area that provides a cool, dry and dark environment like under a bed or the back of a closet.

Pro Tips:

• Avoid attics and garages for storing photos
• Use archival-quality paper and albums to avoid photos from fading or sticking together.

6. Paper products

Important documents like deeds, tax returns, wills and other legal contracts are necessary to keep around for long periods of time. But, avoid storing these important things in cardboard boxes in your garage, as they can become a great place for pests to chew and nest in.

Books and comics should also never be stored in your garage since changes in temperature and humidity will curl and crack the papers. Closets are your safest option for all of your valuable and important paper documents.

Pro Tip: A small fire-resistant safe is a great way to store these items and it can easily be kept in a closet or in your basement.

Where should you store your important items and furniture?

Find climate-controlled storage during a move or for the long term before storing furniture in your garage. Our Framingham and Newton storage facilities offer a variety of unit sizes that provide temperature and humidity regulation to protect all of your items. Find out more about climate-controlled storage options at EZ Storage today!