Moving is seriously NO JOKE. It takes a lot of planning, organizing, sweat and even tears! Going through a recent move myself, I can personally say that it has been an emotionally draining process but at the same time such a liberating experience.
I always get asked what my favorite service is that we offer at OWL and I will EASILY say unpacking projects are my absolute favorite. Why you ask?
Usually once all of your belongings are in your new space, a huge load is lifted but then you are also left with the stress of having to put away all of those things. Seeing all of the boxes and containers and piles of things can be really overwhelming. Helping my clients with this huge project is SO MUCH WORK but it is SO SATISFYING to see all the piles of empty boxes. To set their items up in a way that is functional and makes their new space feel like home is SUCH a great feeling.
In this post, I am going to be sharing my top 5 moving tips that helped me out the most during my moving process as well as what I feel would be the most helpful after having worked with several families to unpack after their own moves.
DECLUTTER FIRST!
I am sure you are tired of hearing the word declutter but it is SO IMPORTANT to declutter BEFORE you move. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard people say they wished they didn’t bring as many things as they did into their new space. You are going to be dealing with all the items at some point, whether that’s in the packing or unpacking stage. You might as well deal with it during the packing stage so that you don’t have to pack it in the first place. Think of how many boxes you’ll save, how much packaging paper you’ll save, how much TIME you will save and you will probably even be able to rent a smaller truck for moving day 😊. Now that’s a win for sure!
PACK IN CATEGORIES
It can be really temping to just throw everything into boxes and say you will deal with it in your new home but reality is that only makes unpacking so much more stressful and time consuming. If you take the time to pack in categories to begin with, you will save that time later because you will not be hunting around for things because they are packed all over the place. Some categories I packed my own things in are “pillows”, “blankets”, organizing products, “cleaning products”, “home decorations”, etc.
LABEL YOUR BOXES
Always take the time to label your boxes. Again, it can be really temping to just tape up your boxes and call it day but labeling your boxes will really come in handy later. I like to not only label my boxes with the location they will go in my new space but I also like to jot down some of the main items that are in the box so that if we are looking for something it’ll be easier to find. I know some people even like to color coordinate the labels on their boxes such as blue would go in their new living room, red in the dining room and so on.
PLAN/FREEZE MEALS
Take out during a move is just a given. Actually, it’s a tradition in my family that the day you move, you mark your landing in the new house with pizza take out haha.
But eating out every single day for multiple meals and for multiple days can be very costly. This is why taking the time to prepare some meals before your big move would be such a great idea. These meals will really come in handy on the evenings you’re too tired to cook and even too tired to pick up take out!
GET RID OF THE BOXES
My last tip is to focus on getting rid of the boxes once you move into your new space. Personally speaking, I felt such a huge load off once I stopped seeing all the boxes all around me and it made my new home feel much more like a home. Also don’t keep the boxes for your next move, even if it’s going into an attic or garage. It’ll still take up a lot of space and maybe someone who is in the moving process could make more use of them. There are usually Facebook groups for your neighborhood that you could join to see if anyone is in need of them 😊.
