Thoughts & Inspiration

Easy to tell he’s just another landlord with limited space in his brain, but it’s ok.

Took a deep breath, packed my stuff and went to classes at NOVA SBE in Carcavelos. Fairly close to the flat in São Domingos de Rana i was about to empty and leave.

Summer was about to start, it’s almost time to come back to Pampilhosa, and nothing worried me. I mean, I had just this thing occupying my mental space- what would I do with my stuff, furniture, crockery, books, etc. during the months to come? Bringing them home with me was out of the question, also selling them was a no go, as I would need them again in September.

A few days later, while having coffee at Uni, a friend told me she was going to Riga in September for Erasmus, very excited and with a semester of trips already planned. Given that she also lives in a rented apartment, I mentioned my space issue and asked what she was gonna do with her things since she would be away from Lisbon for so long.

“I’ll store it all in a Kuboo!” she answered, as if my question had been the most unreasonable of the week- “It’s simple and pretty close here from NOVA, and they have friendly prices for us students!”. “At least somebody thinks of us”, I sighed.

I ended up making a visit to KUBOO Carcavelos/ Abóboda and was astonished, it had nothing to do with what we see in movies. I was greeted with a smile and a chupa-chups. The air is light in this warehouse. I even crossed paths with other people from University in the hallways. Apparently there’s more University students leaving their things in a self-storage during the months they’re away. And I became another!

Thank you KUBOO, a yellow-doored mini-storage just 10 minutes away from Carcavelos came in very handy.

My partner is a pilot for a short-haul airline, so he often goes back and forth to the airport. In most big cities, living near an airport means living on the outskirts, having good access but being far from the euphoria of the urban centers. As we know, this isn’t the case in Lisbon, so I found myself renting a flat that was too small for the price, just because of its proximity.

Naturally, when I moved houses, I brought a lot more stuff than I could fit into the new city flat, from tents and camping equipment to the stress of moving and seeing more boxes than storage space available. I find it hard to believe that nowadays we have to pay absurd amounts for a roof under which there is no room for what is ours, for the things we love.

Fortunately, KUBOO Self-Storage crossed my path and came to “expand” my small flat not far from its walls. At least here everything is uncomplicated, I pay a fair price and I know that my belongings are safe and easily accessible – unlike the property market in Lisbon.

I’d rather give my money to someone who cares about helping me, regardless of the square meters, than to someone who just looks at them as euros.

And when I became a client of KUBOO, guess what, they planted a tree in my name and sponsored kids to play football, among many other social responsibilities they showed me they were doing in my name. When I left KUBOO I was happy.

I was here when they built the CCB and when Os Belenenses Football fell to the bottom division… and I’ll be here to see it return to where it belongs, the 1st division.

I started going to the Restelo stadium when I was 7 or 8 years old, accompanied by my grandfather who quickly infected me with a huge love for the Azuis da Cruz de Cristo, a love that burns today in the same way it did on those Football afternoons in Restelo with my Avô Zé.

I’ve lived in houses and apartments, I’ve had a backyard and I’ve had a balcony overlooking the south shore. I’m a simple person and, as I grew up, I realized that space is what we make of it. My grandfather used to tell me that happiness doesn’t lie in “how much we have” but in recognizing that “we have enough”.

Among the things that have never changed, there’s a huge stone: the issue of housing, with its one-way, rising prices, in contrast to its ever-decreasing size.

The last time I was in the process of moving houses, which I hope was for good – I’m too old for these things – a long-time friend told me about a discovery of his that turned out to be a real “tidy-up” for the “huge stone” that takes up so much physical and mental space. His find was “cubes”, which turn out to be “kuboos”, mini-storerooms that have come to complement my home, where I keep many achievements and memories that, despite always being there, no longer fit under the same roof as me.

At KUBOO in Carnaxide, I know that the first letters I exchanged with my wife, the old Belenenses shirts and scarves that my grandfather left me, and the bottle I’m saving to celebrate when they’re back in the first league, are safe and well kept.

My things are not mundane things, they are important objects given to me by dear friends, some of which have already passed away. They are books, thousands of books that I hold dear and who taught me how to live and become, they are records of great musicians and lyrical poets that also vastly contributed to who I am today, and some Art from friends mostly, that colour my life and brings back memories.

But when the choice was done to move to Portugal, to start nothing less but a Self-storage, of all ironies, I had to store my belongings in a Self-storage back home. Ah! Storing! It’s a bit like forgetting. Like forgetting that you loved something or someone once. Far from the eyes far from the heart says a french proverb, and it’s true. I learned to live without any of them. I adapted like anyone faced with the choice of moving away from their roots. I adapted and I stored every single bit of my belongings before I came to Lisbon, and I don’t regret it.

I made sure though that the space I was storing them in was safe, friendly, secure and insured, so I could sleep on both my ears. And I did. I found the best Self-storage and I went there. It’s been 5 years, and I barely think about it.

A friend offered me a garage to store everything, of course I declined. In a garage? why? These are the things that I hold dear, and even if I don’t see them, I want to know that they’re safe.

So here I am, in Lisbon, unworried, until the day I get them back again. I sit sometimes on the beach of Carcavelos, 10 minutes from my house in Aboboda, and I think to myself that maybe storing in a safe and clean space was one of the best calls i’ve made. Romantic! To store well or not to store! That was the question.

And I answered it.

Bicycles, surf boards, luggage and suitcases of all kinds, awesomely cool specialist equipment…but often these things take up room in our home, so what can we do about that? Well the solution is simple! And quite cheap.

KUBOO offers affordable and reliable self storage spaces around our so elegant city of Lisbon that you can utilise however you need to. Can’t squeeze your bicycle through the front door of your home? There’s a Kuboo for that. Don’t want your surfboard propped up conspicuously in the corner of your room? There’s a Kuboo for that too. If the wife is upset at your surplus of equipment and you don’t want to throw them away, make her (and yourself) happy, store them at KUBOO!

You could also do without your precious living space cluttered with luggage that you don’t use from one week to the next, there’s a KUBOO solution for that too! Spaces is what we specialize in. But service and friendliness is what we excel in. Nobody can help you the way KUBOO’s family does. In that sense, mini-armazens (as we say in portuguese for small warehouses) are only the beginning of the story. The beauty of the facility, the reception and our staff is what makes your day better and eases your stress of moving.

If you’re travelling around Portugal and you want to travel light, you can either store your luggage at one of the specialized luggage storage in town, or store it at KUBOO for a fraction of the price, a more private space, and behind a locked door. In a facility specially conceived to store belongings safely and in perfect cleanliness, for the short or the long term, or any period you would need to store it for, in an environment that is safe, clean, and accessible at any time of the day, 365 days a year. Even on Carnaval. Ask Pedro!

But how does it all work? I’ll explain: Let’s take your bike, for example, you could cram it into your home, but when it’s covered in mud and dirt after a long ride then perhaps your home isn’t the most sensible place to keep it. Sure you could go buy a lock and a chain and secure it somewhere outside, but then you run the risk that some unscrupulous and light fingered individual might ‘forcefully liberate’ your bike and you’ll never see it again. Again this isn’t the best of options! So bring it to us. We are here to expand your home for a ridiculously low fee.

We are built on the notion of extra-space for all that needs to be stored away. No matter what it is. KUBOO’s space is made of multiple spaces, those spaces, others call them boxes or units or warehouses, we call them Kuboos. and they can be yours for a short or a long period of time.

KUBOO offers a whole range of storage spaces from a nice compact 1m3 all the way up to a grandiose 30m2. Whatever you need to store away and keep safe, we can help you out with, and we can guarantee we have the perfect place for those bicycles of yours!
Starting from the ridiculously low price of only 15 Euros a month you can safely store a bike, a suitcase, a luggage or a surfboard, and rest easy and assured in the knowledge that it is safe, sound, and always there for you when you need it. Should it be 3am and the sudden urge strikes you to take a bike ride or hit those waves under the Lisbon moon with your surf board, that’s not a problem! The KUBOO Self-Storage spaces, otherwise known as Kuboos, are accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We pride ourselves on our accessibility. And our reception opening hours are extensive, 7 days a week, 365 day a year.

You can hire your Locker-Kuboo known at large as a mini-armazem, by week or by month for as long as you need to, and we haven’t even mentioned price yet – We’re so affordable that the payments will barely make a dint in your wallet! For 35 euros a month or 20 euros a week you can have your own 1m3 Locker-Kuboo in which you can fit 17 medium sized boxes, at least 5 suitcases depending on their sizes, and a whole lot of smaller objects. Fabulous! Isn’t it? For such mini-armazens? In comparison a luggage storage will cost you upwards of 10 euros, well, a day! If it sounds like a no-brainer and it looks like a no-brainer, then it sure is a no-brainer.

So should you feel the need to un-clutter, expand your home or create a little bit more space in your life, then be sure to come and check out our clean, modern, bespoke KUBOO facilities. Located in the nice and accessible town of Carnaxide, 10 minutes from the center of Lisbon, we’re a friendly, reliable yet ultra-professional service that is guaranteed to meet all your self-storage needs. So contact us now – our experts can give you an accurate quote, offer honest advice about spaces and storage, and informed recommendations, and they are ready and waiting to help you out in any way that they can! Don’t drink coffee at home before you come and visit us, we have really good coffee and we love drinking a cup with our clients, some of which end-up becoming friends.

So you can either make a Locker-Kuboo yours, or store surf boards, suitcases, luggage, bikes, or any piece of furniture you need to put away by the piece. One piece, two pieces, 1 bike 1 surfboard, 2 luggages and 1 board, no matter the combination, there is a cheap solution to choose from at KUBOO. And our staff will find it with you.

Then you can continue living your best life while KUBOO stores your stuff safely away in the lap of Lisbon luxury, away from the spaces in which you live your daily life, and that you need to keep clear of clutter. We offer extra-space: space for everything that you need out of your sight, but not out of your life.

There’s no place like home, but there’s no extra space like KUBOO.