Smooth Move: Tips for an Easy Move
October 5, 2007
I wouldn’t say I’m a serial mover, but I’ve moved enough times over the last 10 years to have collected a few secrets. I recently moved after adding twins to my family, so I knew ahead of time that I would need to do a lot of prep work if we were to survive.
Here are my tricks for making a move more organized:
** Put hardware in a ziplock and tape the bag to the disassembled furniture so it doesn’t get lost.
** Pack by where things are in the old place, not what they are. This makes it easier to find the right box when you are in the new place. For example, pack the hall closet all together, instead of splitting it up into clothes, books, boardgames, etc…
** Have a box that will stay at the old place for cleaning day. In it you will want:
* extra packing tape and a box or two for odds and ends
* sharpies
* garbage bags and ziplocks
* envelope and pen for turning in keys
* screwdriver
* CDs and player to listen to while cleaning
** Leave a Baby Einstein or other Kids DVD in the DVD player in case you can’t find the “media” box after moving (if you have kids) – You will NEED it!
These tips helped us get through an otherwise rough move with two babies and a toddler.
What tips have worked for your moves?
Good tips! I just got done moving myself and something that helped me while unpacking was planning a yard sale for the following Saturday. Not only did it help me to unpack faster than I ever have before but it was a good motivator for purging items. I would have purged before moving but we weren’t in a good yard sale location & I only had 5 days to get everything out of the house & cleaned.
I once surprised a couple of cool friends who had come to help me move into my new home. They were pleasantly tickled when they found that I had drawn a floor map of the entire home showing exactly where I wanted each of the furniture items and boxes to go. I made a couple of copies and hang them at strategic places all the way leading into the house and the rooms. They all said it was the first time they had ever seen this and they loved it. It made the job so easy and quick.
Great tips!
They also have some good advice on moveme.com, as well as pre made change of address letters etc. Really handy website for such a stressful time 🙂
Im not a big fan of moving truck and storage companies. Ive heard some horror stories and I just cant seem to trust these companies. Ive moved 3 times in the past 4 years and I decided to give PODS a try since they let you store the pod on your residence. Gave me a piece of mind and working with PODS was easy too.