Storage for all my stuff (Chicago, Oak Park: apartments, movers, how much)

[sfcambridge]

Interested in any recs for storage facilities in the Chicago area for my personal belongings. Ideally somewhere central, between downtown Chicago and near west suburbs (ex. Oak Park, Forest Park etc..).

I will likely need to move all of my stuff (1 bedroom apartment) into storage while I am helping out my family for a ?few/several months, then will start apartment hunting again. Will hire movers to help me do this. Can't find any threads about finding a ?safe facility, and/or a moving company that has an associated storage facility that helps with this.

Looking for a place that will have some temperature control in a hot summer, where I can get in if needed if I need to retrieve things, and which is relatively secure.

[mikedoyleblogger]

I would recommend one of The Lockup facilities. From what I've seen they're well maintained, have climate-controlled facilities, and offer use of a free, medium-size moving van to bring your things into the storage facility. You also get one month free (I think your second month of storage.)

I am currently using them to store my things between apartments. One thing to consider is storage in downtown is far more expensive than storage further out. I'm using the Lockup facility at Armitage and Western, which was cleaner than the downtown high-rise I moved out of (!) and has a very friendly and helpful manager. It was also HALF the cost of storing my things at the downtown Lockup on Kinzie Street in River North. I'd recommend this specific facility without hesitation. (I can't speak for any of their other locations.)

I don't believe they have any facilities on the west side and the closest suburban ones to Oak Park would be in directions away from downtown Chicago. If it helps, though, I really wanted to store my things downtown (since I lived a few blocks from the Lockup on Kinzie) but the affordability of dragging it all a few miles north made the difference.

[sfcambridge]

Thank you Mike! That info is extremely helpful.

Can I ask - what size storage room did you use? How much stuff do you have (eg. much furniture)? Having a hard time figuring out what is the right size for my stuff.