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Section 02

What Fits in a 10x20 Storage Unit

Moving boxes are fairly consistent across manufacturers. A small book box is 16 by 12 by 12 inches (about 1.5 cubic feet), a medium is 18 by 18 by 16 inches (about 3 cubic feet), and a large is 18 by 18 by 24 inches (about 4.5 cubic feet).

Each medium box is 16 inches tall against a 96-inch ceiling. Six layers would reach it exactly, but stacking to the full 8 feet is neither safe nor practical for one person working alone. Five layers puts your top box at 80 inches, which is realistic.

A Three to Four Bedroom Home

• Three or four full bedroom sets, including king mattresses, frames, dressers and armoires
• Multiple living room sets: sofas, sectionals, recliners, coffee and end tables
• A full dining room set with table, chairs and china cabinet
• Major appliances: refrigerator, freezer, washer, dryer, dishwasher and range
• Patio furniture, grills and lawn equipment
• A home office and a garage's worth of tools
• 100 to 130 medium boxes on top of all of it

Which Vehicles Actually Fit

This is the question that brings most people to this size, so here are the numbers rather than an adjective. You have 240 inches of depth and 120 inches of width.

• Compact cars (roughly 165 to 175 inches): fit with 5 feet or more to spare.
• Mid-size sedans (roughly 185 to 195 inches): fit comfortably.
• Full-size sedans (roughly 200 to 210 inches): fit, with a couple of feet left.
• Mid-size SUVs (roughly 190 to 200 inches): fit, though check height as well as length.
• Motorcycles, ATVs and jet skis on trailers: fit easily, often two or three at once.
• Small boats on trailers up to about 18 feet including the trailer tongue.

Width is rarely the problem at 10 feet, but it is not generous either. A vehicle roughly 6 feet wide leaves about 2 feet on each side, which is enough to walk past and open a door partway, not enough to store much alongside it.

Shelving Capacity

A 10x20 has 60 linear feet of wall, minus the door opening, leaving roughly 54 usable feet. Shelving along both long walls and the back gives you 50 linear feet of run, and at five shelves high that is about 250 linear feet of shelf with a full-length aisle. Our business storage page covers commercial use in more depth.

Section 04

Who a 10x20 Storage Unit Is Right For

Families Moving Out of a Three or Four Bedroom House

The core household case. A 10x20 takes a full family home including appliances and garage contents, with an aisle left to reach things during the rental.

Anyone Storing a Vehicle

This is the smallest size we would recommend for a car. Indoor vehicle storage protects paint and interiors from sun and weather in a way outdoor parking cannot, and at 10 by 20 you have room to walk around the car rather than squeeze past it.

Military Families on Deployment or PCS Orders

A permanent change of station or a long deployment often means storing a household and a vehicle at once. A 10x20 handles a full household, and a vehicle in a separate space alongside it. We follow the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, with active duty verification at signup, and we have facilities near military installations in Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Contractors and Trades

Materials, tools, a work vehicle or trailer, and 250 linear feet of shelving for everything else. With 24/7 gate access and month-to-month terms, a 10x20 works as a yard and a stockroom without the commitment of commercial premises.

Businesses Storing Inventory in Volume

Eight to ten pallet positions with room to move between them, or considerably more racked. For a growing e-commerce operation this is often the step taken instead of a first warehouse lease.

Whole-House Renovations and Estate Clearances

When a property has to be emptied completely, whether for a gut renovation or after a death in the family, a 10x20 takes the contents in one move so the house can be worked on or listed. Our storage scenarios pages cover these situations.

Section 06

How to Pack a 10x20 Storage Unit Efficiently

Two hundred square feet is enough space to waste badly. The units that end up half usable are almost always the ones loaded straight off the truck in whatever order it came.

1. Decide First Whether a Vehicle Is Going In

   Everything else follows from this. A vehicle claims the centre of the unit and roughly 2 feet on each side, which leaves the walls and the far end for everything else. Plan it before the first box goes in, because a car cannot be added to a full unit later.

2. Keep a Full-Length Aisle From the Door to the Back Wall

   Twenty feet is a long way to reach. A 24 to 30 inch aisle costs roughly 30 percent of capacity and is what keeps the back half of the unit accessible for the whole rental.

3. Appliances and Heavy Furniture at the Back

   Refrigerators, washers, dryers, dressers and anything you will not touch go furthest from the door. They are also your sturdiest stacking platforms.

4. Flat Things Vertical Along the Long Walls

   Mattresses, sofas on end, table tops, headboards, mirrors and artwork on edge against the 20-foot walls. They take almost no depth and placing them first frees a great deal of floor.

5. Disassemble Everything, at This Size Especially

   Four bedrooms of assembled furniture will not fit in a space that four bedrooms of flat-packed furniture fills comfortably. Bag hardware and tape it to the largest piece it came off.

6. Stack Uniform Boxes to Eighty Inches on Both Sides

   Uniform boxes reach roughly 80 percent volume efficiency against 55 percent for mismatched sizes. Across 1,600 cubic feet that gap is about 400 cubic feet, which is a 10x10's worth of space.

7. Prepare Appliances and Vehicles Before They Go In

   Defrost and dry refrigerators and freezers and leave the doors ajar. Drain fuel from mowers and equipment, since flammable liquids are not permitted in a unit. For a stored vehicle, clean it, inflate the tyres and disconnect or tend the battery.

8. Zone by Season and Label Toward the Aisle

   Anything you might want in the next few months goes in the front third. Label the face of every box that points at the aisle.

9. Cover Furniture and Raise the Bottom Layer

   Furniture pads over wood and upholstery prevent scratching and dust. Pallets or plastic risers under the bottom layer protect against incidental moisture on a concrete slab.

Our full storage tips guide goes further on protecting furniture and preparing appliances for storage.

Section 08

What a 10x20 Storage Unit Costs and How to Think About Value

What a 10x20 costs depends on your market, the specific facility, whether the unit is climate-controlled, and what is available when you book. Rather than publish a range that goes stale, we point you at live pricing for the locations near you.

The Cost Logic That Does Not Change

Prices move. The underlying economics do not, and they are worth understanding before you choose.

• Larger units cost less per square foot. Consistently, across the industry. A 10x20 costs more per month than a 10x15 and less per square foot.
• The gap between adjacent sizes is smaller than the gap in capacity. Stepping up to a 10x30 buys considerably more space than it costs. If you are genuinely uncertain about your inventory, that arithmetic favors sizing up.
• Oversizing is a real cost too. Half-empty units are common, and the fix is easy under month-to-month terms. If you have been paying for space you do not use, change it.
• The expensive mistake is undersizing. A mid-rental swap means renting a truck twice, moving everything twice, and losing a day. That cost dwarfs several months of the difference between two unit sizes.

What Is Included

Every rental includes a free lock, month-to-month terms with no long-term contract, and 24/7 gate access at nearly all of our locations. A protection plan is required at checkout at all of our facilities. Before you select one, check whether your existing homeowner's or renter's policy already extends coverage to belongings stored off premises, and read your rental agreement for what the plan does and does not cover.