It’s moving day. You wake up with a smile on your face and your make-up already done. You feel so energized and prepared you don’t even need to go and make a pot of coffee. Your feet hit the ground and they are already in your peppy moving day sneakers. You’ve got your moving day playlist already loaded, and so you pop in your earbuds and ride the banister down to the entryway, which is full of nicely stacked shipping boxes that are perfectly labeled. They look like a battalion, ready for inspection. Does this sound a realistic scenario?
Of course it is! And that’s because you followed these few simple steps to help make the whole process go so much smoother:
Get Ahead of the Game:
- Start going through rooms weeks ahead of time, sifting through all of your belongings. Now is the time to get rid of clutter! Ideally, you can hold a garage sale and put that money towards something fun for your new house (which should be a positive incentive to get all the hard work done).
- Figure out how many boxes you are going to need. There are some online calculators to help you determine that number. Make sure you don’t get a bunch of large boxes, which might sound good in theory but are, in reality, a living nightmare. The goal is to pack medium sized boxes well that can be carried and stacked easily. Shipping boxes aren’t cheap! Calculate the number and secure them way ahead of time.
Prepare for the Immediate Future:
- Set aside anything that you might need immediately after you move in (plastic baggies, tool kit, a small box of kitchen essentials).
- Pack an overnight bag so that you don’t have to go digging through boxes on your first night in your new home.
Pack Smart:
- Packing always takes longer than we think it will. There’s the making of piles of stuff to get rid of, throw out, and pack. There’s the misting of eyes as we come across precious memorabilia. So start a long time in advance! Weeks, if you have them.
- Shipping boxes may be heavy duty, but your body probably isn’t. Try to avoid stuffing an entire box with books. Normally, you want to pack everything that goes in the same room together, but in the case of super heavy stuff like books the suggestion is to pack half books and half linen closet.
