As everyone knows, New York City apartments are scarce in space and high in price… just one sacrifice for living in arguably the most exciting metropolitan Mecca in the world. Thousands of individuals and families pack up house and home every year, making way for The Big Apple for nothing but fruitful opportunities and larger-than-life adventures. And when they come, they ‘literally’ pick up house and house!
A typical middle-aged couple moving to New York City from another place in the United States (a normal place!) has easily accumulated 10-20 years’ worth of “stuff.” Stuff from living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, bathrooms, closets, attics, basements, garages, patios… stuff from anywhere, anytime. Coming from living areas of 1,200 – 3,500 square feet, space is not an issue. Neither is sentimentalism. Not so in New York City! Our middle-aged couple has two choices: quadruple their income or shed some tears by shedding some stuff.
In addition to being astronomically more expensive, a typical New York City apartment is 50% smaller in living space than an average American home, for example, 750 square feet versus 1,500 square feet. In Manhattan, the difference is 60-70%. Not to mention the lack of a homeowner’s gathering point… a garage! It’s not uncommon for our middle-aged couple to move 2,000 square feet of household equipment into an 800-square-foot apartment. You’re right, you can’t! That leads to the how-to ideas, options, solutions, and suggestions for which this is the first of hopefully many more articles.
For this particular article, I want to focus on what I think is the best storage solution for smaller, less bulky items. The main factors considered here are convenience, simplicity, and cost.
Mobile cabinets
The mobile cubicle concept was created by a creative entrepreneur who was born and raised in small apartments in New York City. Recognizing the challenges of living in small spaces, he invented and designed an innovative way to maximize space in closets, under beds and in apartment spaces.
A typical mobile closet is the size of a standard apartment closet (18 x 10 x 70 cm) and is literally delivered to your front door on wheels. Prior to delivery you have the option to request a specific interior layout of the cabinet based on what you want to store, e.g. wardrobe rails, shelves or a combination of both. After delivery you need 24-48 hours to closet with things like seasonal clothing, holiday items, sporting goods, collections, storage containers or just smaller things that can be easily stored together. When you’re done, lock it with the lock provided, call the company, and ship the cabinet to a safe, secure storage facility…usually in New Jersey due to much cheaper real estate. you want it back, the company usually delivers it within 24 hours It’s that simple.
Costs are typically around $60.00 per month and in most cases include… Initial cabinet delivery to your home – Unit rental – Facilities rental – Two or three home returns per year – Free lock and up to $2,000 insurance.
Many New Yorkers will testify that mobile closets have helped them free up valuable apartment space while eliminating the hassle of doing everything themselves, i.e. driving to and from self-storage facilities, carrying them up and down stairs, renting trucks, labor or Uncle harassing Bob on his day off. After all, many in New York don’t even own a car or a driver’s license. At such a low cost and with the added convenience, mobile closets are proving to be one of the most desirable solutions for optimizing small spaces in New York City apartments.
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