Boxit Urban Self Storage

Boxit provides on demand self storage in Toronto. Once you've ordered your boxes online we deliver them to your house free of charge. After we pick them up for free they are stored at our 24/7 storage facility for $7 a month. Need them back? Login and request to have your boxes delivered. Its that simple.

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The Easiest Ways to Sell Baby Products and Electronics

We all love our Kijiji and Craigslist, but sometimes these generic marketplaces don't quite cut it for niche items like baby toys or iPhones. Here are two nifty websites that offer a better buying and selling experience for parents and geeks.

Kiinzel

www.kiinzel.com

Kiinzel, the parent marketplace, aims to serve as a classifieds portal where parents across the GTA can buy or sell new and/or gently used children's products with people in their neighbourhood. Creating a posting is simpler than making a Kijiji post. Once logged in, create a posting with your title, description, price, location and optional photo. Other parents can then view your posting easily reply through the website. Kiinzel also lets users share posts with their friends on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Whether you’re looking for baby clothes, a baby monitor or a stroller, Kiinzel can help you find it.

Swappa

www.swappa.com

Swappa is a website that allows visitors to buy and sell smartphones and tablets.Creating a posting is easy, and can be viewed by anyone across the globe. You can catageorize your device by carreir, brand and model. If you have an old iPhone, iPad or iPod in a drawer collecting dust, simply create a listing on Swappa and make some cash. You can buy and sell with confidence with a buyer/seller rating system similar to eBay. There are no seller fees, and no faulty devices. Considering it is a international market place, buyers/sellers are responsible for shipping fees, however the community is very friendly and also any seller is willing to make special arrangements for a serious seller. Swappa also features a free ENS/IMEI/MEID checker that let’s you know if your device or the one you plan on buying is on a blacklist.

Did these applications help you? Let us know what you plan on buying or selling in the comment section below.

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2000 Years of Storage

With shows like Storage Wars, storage can seem like a modern invention. But not so! Over 2000 years ago, ancient China already had a storage solution.  Pottery vases were dug underground letting families put money, jewelry and other precious items away for safe keeping. The down fall of this ancient storage system was that anybody that could dig a hole had access to your belongings.

The first modern storage facility, Lauderdale Storage, was founded in 1958 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was the first storage solution of its kind that offered exclusive access to the facility for tenants only.

The Self Storage Association was formed in 1975 and since then has served as the official trade organization of the self-storage industry all over the globe. They represent more than 5,000 companies, and operate and/or manage roughly 24,000 self storage facilities.

The self storage industry began slow growth throughout the 90s and at some point during the decade the demand surpassed the supply. From 2000 - 2005 3,000 new storage facilities were being built every year.

By 2009 the U.S was home to 58,000 storage units. Each year the facilities got more advanced, with the addition of more sophisticated security systems, larger spaces and round the clock access. Some high-tech storage facilities use biometric thumb print or hand scanners for verification. In 2010 reality television shows ‘Storage Wars’ and ‘Auction Wars’ debuted reminding people that self-storage solutions are out there.

In 2013, Boxit was born to provide you with the most convenient storage experience possible. Give it a spin today at www.boxitnow.ca

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5 Must Have Apps for Urbanites

1. Zipcar

Zipcar is changing the way people think about car rental. It’s perfect for those that take the transit, but sometimes require a vehicle for convenience or to accommodate large items. It’s also great for the environment as each zip car keeps 15 vehicles off the road. The Zipcar app makes using Zipcar an easy task wherever you are. You can locate Zipcars nearby, place or extend a reservation, or report any damage. The application even acts like a remote and provides the functionality to lock or unlock doors, and honk the horn!

Zipcar on Android , Zipcar on iOS 

2. Transit App

When you’re not using a zip car, this extremely useful application will come in handy. The easy-to-use interface allows you to find transit in real-time wherever you are located. Frequent traveler? The Transit App works across North America and Europe. 

Transit App on Android, Transit App on iOS 

3. Food Network in the Kitchen

Everybody enjoys a gourmet meal. With the new Food Network in the Kitchen app you don’t need to spend big bucks to eat like a king. The application is more of a cookbook as it features thousands of recipes from award-winning chefs such as Rachael Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, and Bobby Flay. You can add your own recipe box and keep track of your ingredients with the shopping list. The application even features a unit converter, and multiple cooking timers to keep you on track. You better start storing your cookbooks with Boxit, because you won't need them too often any more!

Food Network in the Kitchen on Android, Food Network in the Kitchen on iOS 

4. Houzz

Houzz is an renowned website that showcases excellence in design to provide its reader with inspiration for their own remodeling ideas. With the new Houzz app,  users can browse over 2 million images of interior and exterior design categorized by style, room and location and save them for later in their own personal Houzz ideabook.

Houzz on Android, Houzz on iOS 

5. Homestyler Interior Designer

Another treat for those with a creative flair. Ever wonder if that new couch is going to match your curtains? The Homestyler Interior Design app lets you take a snapshot of any room that needs a makeover. You can then place high quality 3D renderings of real furniture such as light fixtures, tables, couches and branded rugs as you visualize your ideal room. Homestyler Interior Design even lets you share designs on Facebook and browse the portfolios of professional designers in your area. Got too much stuff for that minimalist look you’re going for? Give Boxit a call and we can store your clutter while you figure it out. 

Homestyler Interior Design on Android, Homestyler Interior Design iOS 

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How to Organize Your Closet

1. Why are you organizing your closet?

Organizing your closet will help you feel much more organized. Being able to find things will make your life easier, and your mornings less complicated. When its easy to find what you are looking for, it helps your mind focus on the things that are important to you.

2. What do you wear the most?

We tend to wear certain parts of our wardrobe more than others. Keep the pieces you use the most often in easy to access places will save you time and energy. Here are three important aspects to consider when divvying up closet real estate:

Move most-worn clothing items to the front of your closet, preferably at eye-level;

Choosing the right hangers;

Store out-of-season clothing either in a storage space (Boxit), or higher up in your closet so it's out of the way.

These three things will save you from looking for your favorite sweater and making it easier to get out the door and on with your life.

3. What are you going to do with shoes and accessories?

Clothes are easy to manage, they tend to follow pretty uniform storage patterns. Either folded, hung or tossed in a drawer. Shoes and accessories can often lead to a lot of clutter when we aren’t sure where to put them. Since there are a number of sizes and shape in any shoe or accessory category. Getting a rack with different height shelves would definitely be a start. For accessories depending on the type boxes work great for jewelry and there a number of options to store ties neckwear.

4. Have you heard of consignment?

Consignment is the easiest way to get some of the money you invested on great pieces of clothing back once they are no longer a relevant part of your wardrobe. Its much easier than you might think, simply drop the goods off at a store that sells consignment items and receive a share of the profits when it is sold.

5. Are you going to make a regular effort?

Organizing your closet is a futile endeavour unless you intend to keep it that way. Developing systems and spaces that allow you to easily follow a pattern that allows you to maintain the serene space you’ve worked so hard to organize.

6. What organizational tools do you need?

Organizational tools are a great way to keep things organized. They won’t help you if you’ve never taken the time to de clutter your space.

Keep in mind that you will need to measure the space that they are filling to make sure that they are the right solution for your closet. Otherwise they may just become obstacles rather than facilitators.

7. Who can you donate the things you don't want to?

Throw it out. If you have something that you don’t use, that you don’t think you’ll ever use… just get rid of it. There are a number of places you can donate to. Find one that is the easiest for you and let someone else enjoy that sweater that no longer fits or the dress shirt you never wear.

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What's in Gracie Carroll's Box

Fashion blogger Gracie Carroll recently became a customer and talked about the process and how it helped her when downsizing into her first home. You can check the post out here!

Some of our favourite parts...

We like her friends:

"Rather serendipitously, a friend reached out to me just as I was beginning to have a lack-of-storage-induced panic attack to introduce me to a new Toronto-based company called Boxit."

and she thinks we are friendly!

"Not only is this service great for people who are downsizing, but Boxit offers ease of use (all deliveries and logistics are taken care of), security of service (boxes are sealed and secure, and stored in a safe and trusted location as well as a great and friendly staff."

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Boxit takes 2013 CCI Condo Conference by Storm - Announcing Condo Affiliate Program

Over the November 15th weekend we attended the 2013 Condo Conference put on by CCI. Their theme, "The Future is Now" couldn't have been more relevant to us. Over the course of two days we developed contacts with all of the major condominium corporations and property managers throughout the GTA and beyond. 

Many of the other exhibitors noticed that it was our first time at the event, and those who didn't, could probably tell from our enthusiasm that we were there to make an impact.  Over the course of 2 days we managed to build out prospective partnerships with Condominiums and are now in the process and finalizing the details with a number of leading Condos who were early adopters of our Condominium Affiliate Program.  Our affiliate program allows Condominium Boards to offer Boxit to their residents at a discounted price. We donate a portion of the proceeds from that Condo to their Condominium Board. These funds can be use to invest in additional amenities for their residents. In other words, by joining the program Condo residents would not only get a discount on our service, but also be contributing to their annual budget for new services or amenities in their building. If you are interested in joining the program please email [email protected] to discuss the details.

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Boxit in the News - BlogTO, Notable, & TorontoIsAwesome

This month we received a ton of new attention from local and online media outlets and are very proud of what they had to say!

Notable.ca called Boxit "a valuable service that’s an absolute gem for urban living."

Blogto said "If you're one of a growing number of people who has sacrificed space for the convenience of living in a shoebox-sized condo in the heart of downtown, this startup might just change your life."

TorontoIsAwesome said we are changing "the way people store important items."

We are extremely thankful for the amazing response we've had for Boxit so far. If you haven't already seen our special offer for the month of November lock in the deal for later by signing up on our special offer page.

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6 Amazing Organized Spaces

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5 Ways to Be More Productive

The topic of increasing productivity for most is one of hopelessness and failure. Most have the mentality “what can I do to be more productive”. However, being a high risk demographic, a university student such as myself has not only seen the depths of procrastination, but enlightenment of the antidote. In addition to the “what can I do” perspective, one must restructure their views to include “what shouldn’t I do to be more productive”.

1. Social Media

When typing in a URL, do your fingers gravitate towards the F key, for Facebook? Yes, this one is obvious, but oh how time consuming it is. Having social media websites open is the fast track to having that somewhat irritating person (who always messages you the moment you log on) spark a conversation. What can you do about it? Don’t go on it. Easier said then done but whenever habits get the better of you, try hitting ‘Command W’ as fast as you can…

2. Leaving the Room 

The need to satisfy that snack or coffee craving heralds the needless sacrifice of at least twenty minutes of your time. You start thinking, “I’ll start this as soon as I get …” Never leave the room, or else your train of thought derails. Bring whatever snacks you want with you, but for the Love of God stay in the room.

3. Lyrical Music

Concentrating is hard enough as it is, but focusing when someone is talking in both ears is a losing battle. Yes, this is more so a home issue, but music with lyrics always distracts. Just try finding some piece of classical music, or jazz, or chillstep (yes I said chillstep, now try it…) that you can put on repeat while you work away. Hint: on your YouTube URL, replace ‘youtube’ with ‘listenonrepeat’.

4. The 60-Min Nap: Here is another time waster that pertains to working at home and rather than the office (at least I would hope so!). That ‘half-hour’ nap is never just ‘half-hour’. You wake up after thirty minutes and convince yourself that another ten minutes won’t hurt anyone. All of a sudden the sun is rising again and it is breakfast… Don’t do it unless you set at least two or three alarms and set them on opposite sides of the room! Personal secret: www.onlineclock.net is a huge help. An hour long nap is a fallacy. Either sleep for a full cycle (1.5 hours) or keep it to a power nap 20 minutes or less. 

5. Avoid Distracting Individuals

You know your family members, or office friends are going to walk by and ask you for something. As much as you want to roll your eyes and tell them you don’t have the time, you know you can’t. So you smile and say “sure” while you die-a-little inside. Dodge this problem by doing as much work as possible in secluded areas.

Take it from a recovering procrastinator: adopting the “what shouldn’t I do” mentality statistically cuts your procrastination by 50%. And if it doesn’t? Well, at least I know you will never get around to suing me…

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3 Advantages for Businesses Who Boxit

1. Reclaim Space

Take back usable space that was previously used to keep files and folders from past projects. You can’t throw them out but you also don’t need to keep them around. Boxit makes it easy to put a project behind you while keeping it available for future reference should you need it.

2. Cut Down on Travel Time

Have tools delivered to different worksites. Save costly time in transit for employees transporting tools by keeping them in a central location that delivers anywhere in the GTA. Just show up to a job and we will bring you the you need cutting down on time in transit when you can just go straight to the site.

3. Make Remote Work Easier

Share items between employees who work remotely. Businesses continue to downsize their physical office space in order to reduce overhead and let employees skip the commute. This can be difficult when shared resources are a necessity for some workplaces. Keep resources with Boxit and employees can request them and receive them all without leaving their preferred workspace.

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5 Habits of Organized People

Boxit wants to help you live a more organized life. In that spirit we’ve organized some of our favorite organizational tips from a few of our favourite places. Here are 5 habits that we think will help you get organized.

1. Give Everything a Home

Having a dedicated place for items will help you keep things in order. Storing things properly and labeling storage spaces helps keep people organized. Things you use regularly should have accessible homes. Don’t let your storage places get cluttered. Never label a storage space miscellaneous and be creative about finding unique places to store items you don’t use regularly.

2. Keep Only What You Need

Get rid of the things you don’t need. To lead an organized life you should cut down your possessions to only what you really need and want. Having fewer things allows you to feel better about using everything you own rather than letting items collect dust. I

3. Separate Emotions From Possessions

A little bit of attachment to important possessions can be healthy. Whether they are heirlooms or mementos of special moments in your life. Costume jewelry, unused sports equipment, old pairs of jeans and your favorite t-shirt all need to go at some point.

3. Write Things Down

Writing things down allows you to keep track of the wealth of information you are exposed to on a daily basis. Being able to keep track of important dates, shopping lists, big events, and anniversaries is critical. Its also critical to keep those lists some place handy. The Boxit team uses Asana to keep everyone on the same page about important upcoming dates.

4. Clean as you Go

If you are the type of person that waits for things to get dirty before you clean them up, you are probably working twice as hard and often much longer. Chefs are known for cleaning as they go, a habit that makes cleaning a part of your daily processes rather than a chore to be carried out at a different time. Try putting things away as you use them and never let things pile up.

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Turn Your Balcony Into An Oasis

Balconies- a nuisance for condo builders and neglected item for the buyers who so desperately covet them. Or so commented Toronto condo magnate Brad Lamb when he spoke to The Globe and Mail.

“It’s over 3,000 square feet, it’s got a tent and a fantastic view of the city and the park,” he says. “It’s like something from an amazing hotel, but I don’t use it. Even in the summer, I’d rather cook inside than go out and barbecue.”

And that’s a nice balcony. For the rest of us- those down at Spadina and Front will appreciate this- balcony square footage shys in comparison, and the picturesque views of Lake Ontario sunsets we imagined, enjoyed over a bottle of Chardonnay, will soon be views of 1231′s living room across the street. 

“Most people don’t use the balconies, but they insist on having them,” Lamb comments. “People fantasize about what their lifestyle will be in a condo, but the reality is they come home, they turn on the TV and eat dinner, and they don’t go out there.”

So how can you turn your glass and concrete balcony into a three-season Oasis? Check this out for inspiration:

  This Sao Paulo herb garden was made with recycled bottles filled with soil and hung against the wall. Also makes a refreshing window display. Spice up those Italian dishes and impress your guests!

Annies Garden suggests using dwarf plants. This is a very classy setup they’ve thought up

Cool flowerpots from Padstyle!!

The ideal balcony. “Stairsscraper” designed by Nabito, a Barcelona based architect. Residents of this Abu Dhabi’s condo will have access to their own balcony and roof garden… Unfortunately not feasible in Toronto quite yet. But we can always dream!

Good luck making your balcony into a three-season Oasis where you can kick back and relax! And if you need to store that Oasis away for the winter, check out Boxit- Toronto’s mobile storage solution.

http://www.boxitnow.ca @boxitnow (Twitter) http://www.facebook.com/boxitnow

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4 Common Causes of Clutter

1. You Don't Know What Clutter Is?

Some people just don’t know what clutter is. They can’t tell the difference between valuable things and junk because they have all got bunched together on your desk, your floor, or in your closet. Clutter is the culmination of all the things you don’t use because:

Its useless and you should get rid of it

You can’t seem to see something useful through all of the useless stuff you should get rid of.

2. You Don't Know How to Store Things

If you don’t know how to put things away, nothing will ever seem like its in the right place. If you don’t know how or where you should be storing stuff you tend to leave it out. Usually this has a two different effects, it gets in your way or ends up lost when you need it.

3. You don’t have places to put things

Aggregating and organizing things that seem to clutter up your life is key to eliminating it from your life. Using storage tools, we know it might seem like useless piece of plastic for sometimes, can help you cut through. Putting items that serve similar purposes in one container turns multiple smaller and disjointed items into larger easier to manage groups of similar items.

4. You Buy Too Much "Stuff"

There are a few purchasing patterns that greatly increase your likelihood of living surrounded by clutter.

You LOVE a deal

If you can’t say no to a bargain that doesn’t benefit you, you are likely to end up living a life surrounded by as seen on TV widgets you purchased for only 30 small payments of $5.99 or

You are always trying something “new”

You want to start making music so you buy 10 things that will help you make it. You want to play a new sport you buy every tool and toy to help you “improve your swing”

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Whats in your box? - David Dempster

It is inevitable that there will be items that you don’t use regularly and don’t need to keep at home but you can’t get rid of. Whats in your box? is a series that is all about how people are using Boxit. Today we have David Dempster who has 4 things he desperately wanted to get out of the house but couldn't afford to part with.

1. Hockey/Basketball Cards

These are usually a point of  contention with anyone who ever used to take a look into my closet. “Why do you keep your basketball and hockey cards, you don’t really think they are going to be worth something some day do you?” was the standard response. The time I took and nostalgia of the cards is worth more than someone would pay me today so I can’t get rid of them, but I rarely will ever need them.

2. Records

My dad threw away a ton of records I would love to have on hand. Perhaps its the pack rat in me, but at least this way I dont have to give up a wall in my house for parts of my collection that are rarely used. I catalogued what I have in storage and if I ever want to retrieve something or a friend wants to borrow something its easy to have them brought back to me.

3. Golf Clubs

I have golf clubs, I play golf, I don’t play golf often enough to give up the space they take up in my modest apartment. I usually put them into storage around the fall and take them out only once I’ve booked a tea time. Having invested a lot in the set it doesn’t make sense to get rid of.

4. Christmas Decorations

I need these once a year for 2 weeks, why give up space for the other 50 weeks in the year when I can easily keep them and convenient retrieve them by pressing a button.

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Welcome to the Boxit Blog

Here you will find interesting information and ideas about:

a. Being more organized

b. Increasing your liveable space

c. Really cool architecture

d. Guest blog posts by organization consultants