There's a lot to do when it comes to moving. Cleaning, packing, cleaning, unpacking. It seems like a vicious cycle. I saw a commercial not long ago that asked the viewer if they had recently packed all their belongings into boxes, put the boxes on a truck, take them off the truck and then take all their belongings out of the boxes. When you say it like that, I have no idea why anyone would ever move!
But, we do move. Some more often than others, for sure. But, there are some basics that we should all follow:
1) Don't pack anything you don't need anymore. Cull through your belongings as you're packing. When you realize you own three Monopoly sets, it's easy to get rid of two. If you do this now, you'll save yourself time and money twice down the road. You won't end up paying movers, friends or yourself to load these things you no longer want into a truck and take them elsewhere. You also won't spend the time or money to unpack those unwanted items in your new home.
2) Make it clean and simple. This applies to those selling their current home. As you begin to get rid of items and pack things up, you'll want to try and stage your home right off the bat. Don't waste time clearing out a space of unneeded belongings, then come back a week or two later, touch everything again and move it around again to stage the room. Do it in one shot! As you're packing up knickknacks, set out the few that you'd like to display through open houses, where you'd like to showcase them.
3) Label. Everything. Label the boxes. Label which room they'll move to. Label the thresholds of the new rooms so whoever is carrying the boxes in knows where to put them. It just makes the settling in process quicker and easier. No one wants to unpack their kitchen, have it all set, then realize there are five more kitchen boxes in the attic.
4) Tackle one thing at a time. Whether packing or unpacking, tackle one space at a time. Don't pack half the kitchen, then half the bathroom, then half the toy room. Move through one space at a time, and tick it off your to-do list. The one exception would be if you have one category spread throughout multiple spaces. Try packing those items all together. For example, you currently have board games in the family room, basement and a couple in the kid's bedrooms. Try collecting all of them into boxes together. Then, when it's time to unpack you might be able to store them all in one place. This will make playing games, and cleaning up after, easier in your new home.
Comments