Anca Lenta
Anca is a real estate researcher and writer at StorageCafe, focusing on housing and self-storage trends across the U.S. She specializes in data-driven analysis that sheds light on how development, migration, and market shifts shape cities and communities across the U.S. When she’s not analyzing numbers, she’s leveling up in the latest game or getting lost in a good novel. You can contact Anca via email.
Biker wearing jacket suit holding helmet with motorcycle.

Motorcycle Storage Guide: How to Store Your Bike Safely

Motorcycles may be born to be wild, but eventually even the wild ones need somewhere to park. Whether riding season is winding down or your current living situation comes with plenty of square footage for you and less for your bike, motorcycle storage is one of those parts of ownership that doesn’t get as much airtime as the open road.

Top-down view of a tabletop RPG setup with dice, miniatures, character sheets, a dice tower, and a fantasy map.

Board Game Storage Ideas That Keep Your Collection in Fighting Shape

Nobody warns you that getting into board games usually unlocks a second hobby, the much dreaded one that includes figuring out where on earth to put them. One game becomes a few, expansions start spawning beside their base boxes and before long, board game storage requires as much strategy as whatever is waiting on the other side of those lids.

Woman and man standing in front of storage facility with storage lockers.

Storage Locker vs. Storage Unit: What’s the Difference?

A locker and a unit may sound like two names for the same four walls and a lock, and depending on the storage facility, you may even see the terms used that way. However, once you start comparing available spaces, storage lockers tend to occupy the smaller end of the spectrum, while storage units(opens in new tab) give you considerably more room to work with.

Middle aged woman surrounded by moving boxes.

Where to Find Moving Boxes in Los Angeles

Moving in Los Angeles is its own thing, and figuring out where to get moving boxes sorted is just the start of everything you’ll need to organize before moving day.

Storage unit with boxes on shelves.

1 in 4 Americans Rent Self Storage — and the Next Wave Is Already Coming

About one in four Americans is already using self storage and just as many are actively searching for a unit online right now. Across the 150 largest U.S. cities, self storage searches rose 23% year-over-year in 2025 — nearly triple the growth recorded the previous year, up from around 8% in 2024.

Living room filled with maximalist decor.

The Art of Maximalist Decor: More of What You Love, None of the Chaos

Maximalism decor is the design philosophy that more is more — and then some. What is maximalism, exactly? It’s the belief that every object earns its place not because it fits a neutral palette, but because it means something to the person who brought it home. Your shelves might hold dog-eared fantasy novels from high school, a ceramic frog rescued from a flea market and the postcard your best friend mailed from the other side of the world. None of those objects belong to the same collection. And yet, somehow, they still belong together.

Roommates living together in shared apartment, using laptop and books while discussing coursework.

How to Keep Personal Belongings Organized When Living Together

You dreamed of the Friends apartment. Or maybe just a tidy place where you and your roommate had your own corners of the world. For couples, living together was supposed to feel like home. For multigenerational living, it was supposed to bring everyone closer. What nobody warns you about is that living together introduces a whole new layer of organization in shared spaces. Your stuff, their stuff and everyone’s habits are competing for the same square footage.

Furniture and cardboard boxes in living room for donation.

Where to Donate Furniture in San Francisco: 6 Organizations That Make It Easy

San Francisco has no shortage of places to donate furniture, which is good news in a place where moving trucks seem to be a permanent part of the streetscape. Anyone who’s ever watched three friends pivot a couch around the tight corner of a San Francisco Victorian knows moving day here can turn into a spectator sport. Apartments change, roommates come and go and sometimes the couch that fit in one place might not make the trip to the next.

Bedroom with basket of stuffed toys.

How to Store Stuffed Animals: Cleaning, Display and Long-Term Preservation Tips

Storing stuffed animals properly means cleaning them before you put them away, choosing the right container for the type of piece and protecting anything sentimental or collectible from moisture and temperature swings that break down fabric over time.

Woman putting books for donation in cardboard box.

Where to Donate Books in Boston

Boston has no shortage of places to donate books — from the Boston Public Library to local bookstores and beyond. For a city that gave the country its first large free municipal library, that tracks. Its literary roots run deep, and they never really stopped growing.

Different sneakers on shelves indoors, closeup.

How to Store Sneakers the Right Way: A Collector’s Guide to Sneaker Storage

Sneaker storage has become a bigger conversation than ever. Between viral unboxings, midnight raffles, resale apps and social feeds dedicated to carefully curated shelves, building a sneaker collection has become part of the cultural zeitgeist. The challenge begins once the excitement of a new pickup fades. Finding room for every pair while keeping them in mint condition is something almost every collector eventually has to figure out.

Woman in RV putting dishes away in cabinet.

RV Storage Ideas: Smart Solutions for Every Space

The best RV storage ideas work by finding space you already have but aren’t using — under beds, inside cabinet doors, on walls, above entry steps and in the overhead bunk. Most RV owners run out of obvious places quickly, but the real storage capacity in a typical trailer or motorhome comes from vertical surfaces, divided compartments and rethinking what each space was designed for.