A renovation changes where things belong before it changes how a room looks. A bedroom may need to be cleared first, a study may become a temporary place for furniture, and the drawer where you keep important documents may be out of reach for weeks. It’s easier to decide what to do with jewellery, watches and family keepsakes before you start packing the rooms around them.
Start with the order in which rooms will be cleared. Then decide what you’ll need during the work, what can stay in storage and when you’ll be ready to bring it back.
1. Work Backwards From the First Room to Be Cleared
Look at the renovation schedule and identify where you currently keep the items you want to set aside. If the bedroom is first, start with jewellery, watches and keepsakes in drawers or cabinets. If the study will hold furniture from elsewhere in the home, take out important papers before boxes start blocking the filing cabinet.
For work carried out in phases, check which rooms will be available at each stage. A cupboard that seems convenient in week one may be in a room that needs clearing in week three. Setting selected belongings aside once, at the beginning, can save you from moving them from room to room as the work progresses.
2. Keep What You’ll Need During the Work Within Reach
Set aside the papers you’re likely to refer to while the renovation is underway: current drawings, signed quotations, contractor contact details and records of agreed changes. Keep any personal documents you already know you’ll need for travel or appointments accessible too.
If you have both an original and a working copy, think about which one you’ll actually use. You might want a copy of the kitchen drawings on hand to check an installation detail, while an unrelated family certificate can stay with originals you don’t expect to need. The same applies to jewelry and watches: keep the pieces you wear regularly within reach and consider separate storage for those you use less often.
3. Choose Storage for the Items You’re Setting Aside
A safe deposit box may suit a small group of valuables you’d prefer to keep separate from furniture and household cartons. This might include jewellery you don’t wear every day, a compact family heirloom or selected original documents. Furniture, framed artwork and larger keepsakes may need a different arrangement.
Bring together only the items you intend to store this way before comparing the safe deposit box options at Vintage Vaults. Check the dimensions of the largest item with its folder or case included. A single wide folder may determine the size you need even if the other belongings take up very little space.
4. Choose a Rental Period That Allows Time to Settle Back In
The contractor’s expected finish date and the date a room is ready for everyday use may be different. The bedroom may still need cleaning and furniture assembly. The study may be finished before the new cabinets arrive. When comparing rental periods, consider when your valuables will have a place again, as well as when the work is due to end.
If you’re staying elsewhere during the renovation, think about how a visit fits into your temporary routine. Vintage Vaults is located at Mall of the Emirates. If the schedule changes or an occasion comes up, you can plan to collect what you need and leave the remaining items in storage until the relevant room is ready.
5. Bring Belongings Back When They Have a Place
You don’t have to retrieve everything on the day you move back. Bring original documents back once their filing space is ready. Return jewellery and watches when you know where you’ll keep them. If the new layout changes where you naturally look for things, give yourself time to settle into it before collecting the pieces you rarely use.
To discuss box sizes or rental periods, contact the Vintage Vaults team. Plan the return around when you’ll use each item again. A certificate you need next week can come back first; a keepsake can wait until it has a permanent place.
