My back still hurts thinking about that first storage unit I ever rented.
I was twenty-three, moving out of my college apartment, and I just clicked the cheapest option on some website. Didn’t measure anything. Didn’t ask questions. Didn’t even look at the dimensions.
Show up with my dad’s truck and this tiny unit I rented is basically a broom closet. My couch? Not even close to fitting. My mattress? Had to angle it so hard I thought it would snap in half. We spent three hours stacking boxes in ways that defied physics just to get the door shut.
I remember sitting on the tailgate after, drinking warm soda, and asking my dad: “Who decided storage units should be these weird sizes anyway? Why can’t they just make them all bigger?”
He didn’t have an answer.
Fast forward about eight years and now I’m working at Plaza Mini Storage. Been here about four years now. And somewhere along the way I finally figured out what I was asking that day.
The Truck Thing
You ever drive a moving truck?
They’re massive. Not just long but wide. And the turning radius is absolutely terrible. Try backing one into a tight spot sometime. It’ll humble you fast.
When storage facilities get built, someone has to think about those trucks. Not just the big ones either. The U-Hauls. The Penskes. The Budget trucks. Even the regular pickup trucks people borrow from their buddies.
The buildings have to be laid out so you can actually get to your unit. The drive aisles have to be wide enough to turn around. The units have to be shallow enough that you can park close.
If units were thirty feet deep instead of twenty, you’d park farther away. You’d carry boxes longer. You’d get caught in the rain more. You’d make more trips. You’d hate every second of it.
Twenty feet is the sweet spot. Deep enough to hold a whole house worth of stuff. Shallow enough that your truck can get right there.
At Plaza Mini Storage, we’ve got it set up so you can literally step out of your truck and into your unit. That matters more than you think when you’re moving on a hot day.
The Drywall Thing
This is boring but stick with me.
Drywall comes in four by eight sheets. Lumber comes in specific lengths. Metal panels come in standard widths. That’s just how factories make them. Has been for decades.
If someone designs a storage unit that’s seven feet wide, here’s what happens. They cut a sheet of drywall. Now they’ve got a one-foot strip left over. That strip is trash. They paid for it. Now it’s going in a dumpster.
Multiply that by hundreds of units and you’re talking real money. And guess where that money comes from?
Your rent.
But if you design units that work with standard materials—five feet, ten feet, fifteen feet, twenty feet—you use almost everything. Less trash. Lower cost. Lower monthly payments.
The people who figured this out fifty years ago weren’t trying to be difficult. They were trying to keep prices down. We still use their measurements because they work.
Your Couch Fits For A Reason
Think about the stuff in your house.
Your couch is probably seven or eight feet long. Your bed is six or seven. Your dresser is maybe four or five. Your bookshelves are three feet wide. None of it is weird.
Storage units match that.
A five by five is a walk-in closet. You know what fits in a closet? Boxes. Suitcases. Christmas decorations. Winter coats. That’s exactly what a five by five is for.
A ten by ten is a bedroom. Queen mattress fits flat against one wall. Dresser against another. Boxes stacked in the corner. Room to walk in the middle.
A ten by twenty is a whole apartment. Living room furniture, bedroom furniture, kitchen stuff, boxes everywhere. All of it fits because someone thought about how big furniture actually is.
If they made units eight feet wide instead of ten, your couch wouldn’t fit flat. You’d lose space. You’d need a bigger unit for the same stuff. You’d pay more.
The dimensions save you money. I know it doesn’t feel like that when you’re sweating trying to wedge something through the door. But it’s true.
The Car Thing
Old timers will tell you storage units were sized for cars.
I thought that was just something old timers said until I actually looked it up.
Back in the fifties and sixties when storage really took off, people stored cars all the time. Not classics like today. Just regular cars they didn’t have room for at home.
A 1955 Chevrolet is about seventeen feet long. Give yourself room to open the doors and walk around and you’ve got a ten by twenty unit.
A Volkswagen Beetle from that era is about thirteen feet long. Stick it in a ten by fifteen and you’re good.
Those measurements stuck because they work for everything else too. A ten by twenty fits a whole house. A ten by fifteen fits a two bedroom apartment. A ten by ten fits a bedroom.
So yeah. When you rent from Plaza Mini Storage, you’re standing in a space designed with 1950s cars in mind. Kind of cool when you think about it.
The Hallway Thing
Here’s something you probably never noticed.
Indoor units have hallways between them. Outdoor units have drive aisles. Those hallways and aisles have to be wide enough for two people to pass each other carrying furniture.
If the units were deeper, the hallways would still need to be the same width. You’d just have longer walks to the back. More time carrying boxes. More chances to drop something on your foot.
So they balance it. Deep enough to hold your stuff. Shallow enough that you’re not hiking a mile every time you need something.
Someone thought about that so you don’t have to.
The Humidity Thing
If you’ve never done climate control, here’s something you should know.
It’s not just about temperature. It’s about moisture. It’s about air moving around. It’s about keeping your wood furniture from warping and your photos from sticking together.
The size of the unit matters for that.
Too big and the air doesn’t move right. You get dead spots where moisture builds up. Too small and you’re paying for a system that’s way more than you need.
The standard sizes—five by ten, ten by ten, ten by fifteen—they work perfectly. The HVAC guys know exactly how to set up the vents. The air moves where it needs to go. Everything stays dry.
At Plaza Mini Storage, our climate control units are laid out so every square foot gets the same treatment. No weird corners. No musty spots. We learned that lesson the hard way years ago and fixed it.
What Actually Fits Where
Since I deal with this every day, here’s a rough guide.
- Five by five: Walk-in closet. College kid stuff. Holiday decorations. The boxes you keep meaning to go through but never do.
- Five by ten: Small shed. Studio apartment without the big furniture. Motorcycle with gear. Baby stuff you’re saving for the next kid.
- Ten by ten: One bedroom apartment. Home office. Your first place after college.
- Ten by fifteen: Two bedroom apartment. Living room plus bedroom. The stuff that didn’t fit after you moved in together.
- Ten by twenty: Three bedroom house. Full home furnishings. Construction project stuff. Boat on a trailer.
- Ten by thirty: Whole house contents. Business inventory. Restaurant equipment. The “I’ve been collecting for twenty years” special.
That’s not official. That’s just what I’ve seen renting units to real people for four years.
The Custom Size Thing
Sometimes people come in wanting something weird. Twelve by twelve. Eight by twenty. Something custom.
Here’s the truth. We don’t have it. And if we did, you probably wouldn’t want to pay for it.
Custom sizes mean custom everything. Custom framing. Custom drywall. Custom doors. That stuff adds up fast. You’d pay double for a unit that’s only slightly bigger than a regular one.
Instead, most people rent two units next to each other. Or they go up a size. Or they realize they don’t actually need as much space as they thought.
I’ve watched people cram a whole two bedroom apartment into a ten by ten and make it work. People get creative when they have to.
What I Wish I Knew Back Then
Remember that first storage unit I rented? The one that ruined my back?
If I knew then what I know now, I would have done one thing different. I would have actually gone to look at the unit before I rented it. Brought a tape measure. Looked at it in person.
Because pictures online don’t tell you much. Dimensions on a screen don’t mean anything until you’re standing there.
At Plaza Mini Storage, we let people walk through and look before they commit. Bring your measurements. Bring pictures of your stuff. We’ll walk through together and figure out which one actually makes sense.
No pressure. Just people who’ve done this awhile helping people who haven’t.
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