What size storage unit do I need?
It depends on what you own, not on your bedroom count alone. The table below gives a size for each home size, checked against what the major storage providers themselves recommend. For an answer based on your own belongings, the tool on this page packs them into each unit and shows you the fit.
The short answer, by home size
| Home size | Estimated volume | Recommended unit | What that looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 240 cu ft | 5×10 | a walk-in closet: bed standing on its edge, dresser, boxes to the ceiling |
| 1 Bedroom | 479 cu ft | 5×15 | a large walk-in closet, packed close: bed frame, small sofa, kitchen boxes, barely a path down the middle |
| 2 Bedroom | 651 cu ft | 10×10 | a small bedroom, floor to ceiling: two bedrooms of furniture, about 80 boxes |
| 3 Bedroom | 821 cu ft | 10×15 | about a one-car garage: three bedrooms, a living room, roughly 100 boxes, room to still walk through |
| 4 Bedroom | 993 cu ft | 10×20 | four bedrooms, a dining set, about 125 boxes, floor space left over |
| 5 Bedroom | 1164 cu ft | 10×20 | the same 10×20, closer to full: five bedrooms, around 150 boxes stacked near the ceiling line |
Find your size
The interactive tool needs JavaScript. The table above answers by home size without it.
Frequently asked questions
What size storage unit do I need for a 1-bedroom apartment?
Plan on a 5×15 for an average 1-bedroom apartment. That's roughly 480 cubic feet of stuff, bedroom furniture, a small living room, and kitchen boxes, going into a unit with 600 cubic feet of gross capacity, which is a tight fit. If you're on the fuller side or you have overflow from a garage or storage closet, a 10×10 gives you real breathing room instead.
Is a 5×5 big enough for a studio?
Usually not. A 5×5 gives you 200 cubic feet of raw space, about the size of a walk-in closet, and an average studio's furniture and boxes add up to around 240 cubic feet before you've packed anything efficiently. That's why most major storage providers list a 5×10 as their studio recommendation. A 5×5 works if you're storing a slice of a studio, like seasonal items or a few boxes, not the whole apartment.
Can a queen bed fit in a 5×10 unit?
Yes, but not lying flat. A queen mattress and frame run about 64 inches wide, and a 5×10 unit is only 60 inches wide in that direction. Stand it on its edge, long side up against a wall, and it fits easily under the 8-foot ceiling while the frame takes a sliver of floor space. This is standard practice, not a workaround: movers and storage staff do it by default.
What fits in a 10×10 storage unit?
A 10×10 holds the contents of a small 2-bedroom home at average clutter: two bedrooms of furniture, a modest living room, and around 80 boxes, packed close to the ceiling line. That's near the practical limit of the size. If your 2-bedroom has extra clutter or you've lived there more than a couple of years, a 10×15 gives you more margin.
Why does the tool sometimes recommend a bigger unit than the table?
The table is volume math, checked against the size guidance the major providers publish. The tool packs your actual items as rigid shapes. Cubic feet assume your things pour like liquid, when a mattress is six feet of rigid geometry. The air trapped between real objects is space you pay rent on. The table is the floor; the tool is what to rent.
How tall are storage units?
8 feet at the standard size, floor to ceiling. That height is where most of a unit's real capacity lives, not the floor space. A unit that looks small on paper holds a lot more once you're stacking boxes and flat-topped furniture up to that line instead of just covering the floor.
Do I need a bigger unit if I've lived in my home a long time?
Yes. More time in a home usually means more accumulated stuff, and the model accounts for it directly: a household that's lived somewhere 2 to 5 years needs about 12% more box volume than one that just moved in, and a household there 10 or more years needs about 40% more. For a 2-bedroom home, that's often enough to push you from a 10×10 into a 10×15 once you're past the 2-year mark.
Answers to specific things
- Will a sectional fit in a storage unit? No 5-wide unit takes one assembled, but splitting it at the module seam drops it from a 10×10 to a 5×15.
- Will a couch fit in a storage unit? A full 84″ sofa fits a 5×5 standing on edge, which is the trick most people don't know.
- What size unit do I need for a bed? No bed lies flat in a 5-wide unit. A twin or full makes a 5×5 on edge; a queen or king needs a 5×10.
- What actually fits in a 5×5? A fridge, a washer, a dryer, a folded treadmill and a snow blower all do, individually. Footprint beats volume.
- Storing mowers, bikes, kayaks and canoes: a mower drops to a 5×5 with the handle folded, while a 16 ft canoe needs a 10×20.
- What comes apart, and what it saves you: the five things that drop a full unit size once you break them down, and how sure you can be that yours will.