Rent a storage unit: The comprehensive guide to calculating the right size

When you are looking for a storage unit that fits your needs, choosing the right size is what makes the difference between space well used and money wasted. A reasonably accurate calculation makes sure everything you put into storage actually fits, while stopping you from paying for square metres you will never use.

Rule of thumb: you need roughly 10% – 15% of your living space

The average French home is around 90 m², so most full moves are covered by a unit of roughly 9 to 14 m². Flats in Paris are far smaller than the national average — often half of it — so work from your own surface area rather than the national figure. If you only want to free up space at home rather than empty it completely, 2 to 3 m² is usually plenty.

Find out how much space you need: just read it off the table

Storage units are usually between 2 and 3 metres high, and every household has a different volume. We have put together a table showing roughly how big a storage unit needs to be, depending on your living situation. If you are new to France, the key to reading it is the T notation: a T3 means 3 pièces, which is a living room plus two bedrooms — a 2-bedroom flat in UK or US terms. Kitchen and bathroom are not counted, and a T1 is a studio. The unit "wardrobes (60 x 85 x 200 cm)" is only partly helpful — almost nobody stores 35 wardrobes — but it helps you picture the actual size of the room. A standard moving box takes up about 0.05 m³, so if your whole household fits into boxes, a 2 m² (roughly 5 m³) unit already holds 100 perfectly stacked boxes.

	Area in m²	Volume in m³	Equivalent in wardrobes
Small cave (cellar)	1–1.5	3–5	1
A few pieces of furniture or boxes	2–2.5	5–8	5
Studio (T1)	2.5–3.5	8–11	8
T2 (1 bedroom)	3.5–5.5	11–15	11
T3 (2 bedrooms)	5.5–8.5	15–25	15
T4 (3 bedrooms)	8.5–15	25–35	25
T5 or house	15–20	35–50	35

Why does the size of the storage unit matter?

The right storage unit depends on several factors: the number and type of items you want to store, and your own preferences. A unit that is too small turns into chaos and forces you to unpack half of it every time you need something from the back. A unit that is too large, on the other hand, drives up your costs for no reason — a self storage box in France costs €25,00 per m² per month on average, so every extra square metre shows up on the invoice. You can find the full breakdown in our guide to what a storage room costs in France.

The benefits of getting the size right

Choosing the right size has several advantages. By using the space efficiently you save money, because you only pay for what you actually use. On top of that, the right size lets you organise things properly and reach your belongings without having to empty half the unit first.

Step by step: calculating the perfect storage size

1. Take an inventory of your belongings

Start with an inventory of everything you want to store. Go room by room and note down all the larger items: furniture, appliances, sports equipment and anything else bulky. Also count the boxes or containers you plan to store.

2. Sort the items into categories

Group your things into categories to get a clearer picture. You can sort them by size, weight or how often you use them. This makes it much easier to estimate the space each group needs.

3. Think about access and organisation

When you calculate the space you need, think about how you will get to your things and organise them. If you need to reach certain items regularly, make sure there is enough room to move around comfortably — store those items near the door. Plan how you will stack, too: going upwards is the simplest way to gain square metres.

4. Calculate the space you need

Based on the previous steps you can now work out the size you need. Allow enough room for the whole household plus the space required to reach the things you use often. The table at the top of this article already gives you a solid starting point.

What to know about renting storage in France

Garde-meuble is priced by volume, self-stockage by surface

France has two distinct products and they are quoted differently. A traditional garde-meuble, usually run by a moving company, prices your goods by volume in m³ or per container, and you generally cannot walk in whenever you like. Self-stockage rents you a box by the square metre with your own key and your own access hours. Take the m³ figure from the table when you ask a garde-meuble for a quote, and the m² figure when you compare self-storage boxes — otherwise you will be comparing two different things.

Your cave is smaller and damper than you think

Most older French buildings give each flat a cave in the basement. They are typically only a few square metres, and in Haussmann-era buildings they are often unheated and prone to damp. Books, documents, upholstered furniture and anything electronic do not belong there for months at a time, which is exactly why so many people rent a proper unit alongside the cave.

Notice periods differ by city

A tenant's notice period on an unfurnished rental is normally three months, but drops to one month in a zone tendue — which covers Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Toulouse and many other tight markets. That difference decides whether you need to bridge a long gap between two homes, or just a couple of weeks — and therefore whether you size the unit for the entire household or only part of it.

Check whether the price includes VAT

Self storage is subject to TVA in France, currently 20%. Consumer offers are normally quoted TTC (including VAT), but business rates are often quoted HT (excluding VAT) — check which one you are looking at before you compare providers or rule out a slightly larger unit.

Finding the right storage unit

Once you know how much space you need, all that is left is to find an available storage unit near you in the right size. The best way to do that is storabble — the only independent comparison platform for storage space. Here is a quick overview of the most important cities:

France	More cities
– Storage in Paris – Storage in Lyon – Storage in Marseille	– Storage in Toulouse – Storage in Bordeaux – Storage in Nantes

Frequently asked questions