Every barbecue has its last burger of the season, and if yours was recently, you are now faced with the annual question of where to put everything. The barbecue, the garden chairs stacked in a wobbly tower, the parasol, the cool box that still smells faintly of sunscreen, and the paddling pool that has never once folded back into its original bag.
The garage is full. The shed is doing its best. And leaving it all outside under a tarpaulin is just a slow way of replacing it all next April. So let's talk about a better option.
What Actually Needs Storing (More Than You Think)
It is easy to underestimate how much summer kit accumulates over a few years. A barbecue, even a compact one, takes up serious floor space. Add a set of folding chairs, a couple of sun loungers, a parasol with its base, a cool box, a gazebo from that one ambitious garden party, and a paddling pool roughly the size of a small car, and you are looking at a proper pile.
Most of this kit is not designed to live outside through a Devon winter. Covers help, but damp gets into everything eventually. Fabric goes mouldy, metal rusts, plastic becomes brittle. Dry storage is not just about tidiness; it genuinely extends the life of things you paid decent money for.
How Much Space Do You Actually Need
A 5ft storage container holds a surprising amount of garden kit. Chairs stack, parasols store upright or flat, and cool boxes nest inside each other. The barbecue goes in as-is. The paddling pool goes in whatever shape it ended up in, because we are not judging.
For most households with a season's worth of outdoor furniture and equipment, a single small container is enough. If you have a larger spread of gear, or you want to store garden tools and outdoor toys alongside the summer furniture, it is worth thinking about a slightly larger unit. Either way, the stuff stays dry, off your driveway, and out of the shed.
Where We Are and How It Works
SOS Storage is based just off the A380 at Kingskerswell, which puts us in easy reach of Torquay, Newton Abbot, Paignton and the surrounding villages. You can drop things off when it suits you, and pick them up again when the weather turns and the barbecue is needed back on active duty.
There are no complicated long-term contracts. You store for as long as you need, which for seasonal garden kit is typically somewhere between the first frost and the first weekend warm enough to justify firing things back up. For most people in South Devon, that is roughly October through to Easter, give or take a mild spell in February that always feels more promising than it turns out to be.
Making the Most of the Off-Season
A bit of preparation before things go into storage pays off in spring. Give the barbecue grates a proper clean while the memory of what you cooked is still fresh. Fold chairs with their fastenings done up so nothing snags. Let the paddling pool dry out as fully as possible before folding, to avoid mildew. A quick wipe of the parasol fabric does the same job.
- Clean the barbecue before storing, not after winter
- Dry the paddling pool as thoroughly as you can manage
- Stack and secure chairs so they do not shift around in transit
- Deflate anything inflatable and fold loosely rather than tightly
None of this is complicated, but it means everything comes out in spring in genuinely usable condition rather than requiring a day of work before you can use it.
If you want to get your garden kit sorted before the weather turns properly, get in touch with us for a quote and we will help you find the right size unit at Kingskerswell.