You just found out or decided that it’s time to move. Congratulations or condolences as the case may be. Once your emotions settle down a bit, it really hits you – you are MOVING! Where to start? What to do? Can I get it all done in time? Relax. Breathe. There is a light at the end of your tunnel.
Having moved more times than I care to think about, there are many tips and pointers that I would love to share with you. The first thing to accomplish is to purge, purge, purge. If you haven’t used it in the last year, donate it, give it away, sell it or just plain toss it in the trash. Everything you move will have to be packed, moved, unpacked and a place found for it. Think about the changes from your current residence to the new place. Is the weather different? Is the space going to be larger or smaller? If you are moving from North Dakota to Florida, you are not going to need all those galoshes, gloves and heavy overcoats. Will the style and size of your current furniture fit into the new place? My palm tree and fern patterned Florida style furniture really looked out of place when we were in Kentucky. In short, make sure that what you plan to take with you is something you NEED to take and will be a benefit to you.
If your budget allows, new boxes are stronger, cleaner and since they are of a uniform size, will stack more compactly when loading them onto the moving truck. If you need to conserve funds, boxes are available from most stores. It helps to speak with a manager to determine the best day and time to pick up boxes from the store.
Assemble your boxes, packing tape, bubble wrap, wrapping paper and scissors at a table or counter top suitable for wrapping and securing items to be packed. Start with the things hanging on your walls. Take down pictures and as you wrap them, write a short description of the item on the wrapping, i.e. family picture, Dad’s graduation photo, grandkids at the beach, etc. so that you know what is underneath the wrapping paper when you get to your new home. Right now, you think that you will obviously know each item, but after experiencing much frustration over this point, let me assure you that a few descriptive words now will help you in the future.
Move on to all the decorative items you have sitting around. This takes some purposeful looking because everything just looks like it ‘belongs’ right there. Candle holders, figurines, whatever you have that makes your home personal to you should be carefully wrapped and packed.
Be mindful of the weight of items being packed. Books are amazingly heavy so put them into many small boxes rather than one large one. If you are fortunate enough to have guys moving the boxes, some larger ones filled with light items such as linens or pillows are fine.
As each box is filled, write a list of the major contents of the box either directly onto the box or on a 3 X 5 card and tape it onto the top. It’s so wonderful to see the words “light bulbs” on a box when you arrive and find that the previous owners took every single light bulb with them. Or the words “coffee pot” (!) – how welcome are they?? I am all for reducing frustration whenever possible.
Take some time to consider what each person will need in order to function up to the day of the move. If possible, set those items, such as clothing, hygiene items, shoes, etc., aside and then pack everything that is left. It is very helpful to have a staging area where the filled and labeled boxes are assembled. On one of my moves, I used the guest bedroom for my staging area. It had a window that opened onto the front porch so the boxes could easily be passed out the window, onto the front porch and then to the truck without having to carry them down the hallway which was quite narrow. A weather proof garage would be a good choice but any space with access to a door leading out of the house will work.
Always leave yourself several boxes for last minute things that need to be put into something, somewhere, somehow. You will be amazed at how much stuff is still left on moving day even after packing and packing and packing. Utilize your garbage cans to hold small items from each room. Put in a new liner in the office garbage can and put the stapler, sticky notes, scissors, pens and other small items from the desktop into the can. In the same way, if you have a large pot from the kitchen, fill it with your spices, kitchen tools or towels. Fill every available container.
When filling the boxes, I like to use my blankets, sheets and towels as padding. Kills two birds with one stone, so to speak. Pillows can also be used for extra heavy padding but be sure to note on the box or card that pillows are in the box.
On moving day or before, as each room is emptied, look around to be sure that nothing is missed. Vacuum, wipe down, whatever you feel you want to do to leave things clean and emptied and then close the door to that room. Do not go back inside that room as it is now finished. Focus your attention on the next room and the next and before you know it, you are loaded up, the house is in decent shape and it’s time to set out on your new adventure.
This has not been intended to address every conceivable situation, but hopefully it will get you started and help you to avoid some of the pitfalls that others have made. I wish you all the best with your move and that you will soon be settled into your new home, enjoying your new surroundings and thriving.