Moving Tips
By the time I was 25 years old, I had moved 14 times. Everything was run smoothly and efficiently by my mother, during those earlier moves. She taught me the importance of planning in advance for items that might be urgently needed during and just after the loading/unloading of the moving van, thinking through moving stressors and how best to counter them before they happened. Once I was a bit older and moving my own household, I relied on many of those strategies to ease the process.
Tip 1. Edit!
When you’re gearing up for a move, whether cross-country or just across town, it’s always a great time to peruse your belongings and do some editing and purging. It’s a perfect time for a yard sale or if that’s too much to organize, there are often community garage sales benefiting charities that accept donations. If you keep in mind what your organization goals are for your next space, you will have a much easier time letting go of things you don’t really treasure or need. (A good example of this forward planning- if you have always wanted a beautiful linen cupboard and you’ll have a great closet space in your new home, edit out those torn towels, stained sheets or fraying linens as you pack. Only keep what you will actually use and want to see in your next home.)
Tip 2. Pack with a plan
Begin packing as early as possible, beginning with the more non-essential items, such as decor, artwork and out of season clothing. Starting early and slowly gives you time to think through the process, without panicky rushing around, throwing random things into boxes in the end. Think in terms of grouping, as you fill a box. By gathering all of one type of item into a pile, such as seasonal decor, you are then able to box up those items together, label the box and know where all of them are located. Very orderly. (Of course, you can always hire The Orderly Space team to come in and do all of this for you as well.)
Tip 3. Make a Do Not Pack Box!
Set aside a special box, bin or hamper and clearly mark “DO NOT PACK” on it. This will become your last out, first in, box of essentials, and you will thank us later. Things you might want to tuck inside this box, might include things such as cleaning supplies, paper towels, a tool kit, snacks and waters, toilet paper (ask us how we know) child and pet essentials, ziplock bags, trash bags… whatever you know you’ll want on the first day or two.
Tip 4. Organize electronics
Before you ever begin packing electronic items, we have several tips that can save you some sanity on the unpack. First, whip out your phone and snap a photo of anything that needs to be taken apart or dismantled. The back of your tv is a perfect example. When the time comes for setting up, you’ll know exactly what cord belongs where. We also love to slap a small label on cords so that we know what they belong to. (Masking tape and a sharpie can work just as well as a printed label, but if you’re in the market for a household labeler, we recommend this one.) This is also a perfect time for a small purge-sesh by the way. If you match up every charging cord with it’s device, do not be afraid to toss old, lone cords. (If you need to organize your electronic cords, we love using these containers.)
Tip 5. Make a life binder
Much like the Do Not Pack box, this binder will probably be your most needed item. If you take some time on the front end of moving to assemble it, you will know where to find any important document, and things will feel a lot less stressful with that peace of mind. In this binder, you might find it helpful to store things like emergency numbers and contact info, stamps, some extra small cash, checklists for moving, moving company contracts and information, current prescription info, important documents, receipts, vaccine and school records for transferring, utility company info, etc.
Tip 6. Create a Packing Command Center
Once you have a game plan for what you’re going to pack first, you've snapped photos of assembled electronics, created a “don’t pack” box and started a life binder, you’ll need a packing command center. Choose a space where you can gather items, start a box and have everything easily at hand. A basket with all packing-related items gathered in one spot, such as packing tape, scissors, box cutters, sharpies, labels is really handy. Tuck some flattened boxes and a roll of packing paper or bubble wrap beside it and you have a command center. Once you have gathered all of these supplies, plan to keep them together and in this area, and if you can, bring each newly filled box to this same spot for sealing and labelling, thus creating a system for less frustration spent wasting time hunting down the packing tape. It can also be a good idea to have more than one of things- just in case someone does misplace the packing tape…
Tip 7. Don’t be afraid to over-label
Often, when we pack for clients, we use color-coded stickers. You can find room labels on Amazon that are really helpful for sending boxes right into the room they belong, when the van is being unloaded for the unpack. If you aren’t using stickers, make sure to clearly mark the room the box is meant for, in sharpie. and take the few extra seconds, to mark down any other specifics of the box contents as you pack. We recommend trying to write these details on the same place, on each box, so that anyone helping you move knows right where to look. Try not to skip this step…you’d be surprised how often you think you’ll remember exactly where you put every item, but after opening ten boxes to find it, with no luck, you’ll wish you had jotted things down on each box. By marking the room it belongs in and the general itemized list of what’s inside, you’ll save yourself loads of hassle if you do happen to really need that wine opener. Just saying. (Second thought, you might want to include the wine opener in the Do Not Pack box right from the start…. you’re welcome.)
Tip 8. Enjoy
Take a moment to enjoy the process. Moving can have some stressful moments, yes. But it is also an adventure. They say that it’s not the destination, it’s the journey. So, snap a few photos along the way and definitely capture some of those memorable moments!
Tip 9. Clean as you go
Everyone appreciates moving into a clean space, and it’s a thoughtful way to leave a space too. If you clean as you go, you will feel a sense of accomplishment, and save your self time at the end. As you empty a drawer out and pack the contents, take a moment to wipe it out before closing it up for good. It’s a good way to detach and say your good-byes to a space as well.
Tip 10. Call the Pros
If you’re overwhelmed and the idea of “where to even begin” has you tossing the covers over your head, it may be a good time to invest in a little self-care, and call the pros in. It’s a lot more peaceful to unpack your things in a new space, when you’ve been thoughtfully and carefully packed up, by a team of professional organizers. And of course, this also works on the unpacking side as well! Having a team of efficient experts arrive and unpack your kitchen can be a huge load off. We break down boxes, clean as we go, create an orderly plan for your space, placing items in a functional way, and label everything so you can easily find things in your new home.
We would love to hear your tips on moving as well, as there are so many helpful ways to make moving more manageable. Do you recommend any apps or websites to make the process smoother? Or perhaps you have a moving nightmare we can all learn from? We would love to hear from you in comments!
- Sasha
