How to Move Stress Free!

Packing up your belongings and moving to a new home can be stressful. A year ago, I moved into a new home and all my preperations made it a smooth, pleasurable experience... Here are my tips!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Moving boxes in all sizes
• Permanent marker
• Lots of packing tape
• A positive attitude!

1. Stand back and take a look at the overall picture. Make a mental (or physical note) of what you don't need in order to live. Things like home decor, certain kitchen utensils, books, all of the things in your bathroom closet you don't use on a regular basis, dvds, cds, etc. etc. should be on this list.

2. Taking one room at a time, start to pack up the items you really don't need. You can seal the boxes if they are full and clearly label them with your marker. Mark not only the contents, but what room you want them put in in your new home or apartment. I did this step with still 3 weeks to the closing of my home... this allowed me to take my time.

3. Once everything you don't need is packed up, step back again and weed through the things that you DO need. This step is tough, for the obvious reasons. I went through my clothes and kept 'X' number of outfits and packed the rest away. I went through my computer room and packed all of my bills into one file, keeping it easily accessible.

4. A day or two before the big move is when you start to pack away the things you do need. Packing the MOST IMPORTANT things into one CLEARLY labeled box. You don't want to be looking for your toothbrush in one box, your underwear in another box and your pillow in a third box. Consider this box to be your 'survival kit'.

5. Now- the day of the move! The more you organize this in your head, the easier it will be. I thought about the layout of my new house and loaded the truck accordingly. I loaded the truck with things that would be in the way of UNLOADING first. This is usually the larger items like sofas, beds, , computer desks, etc. That way you are not stepping over these things in your new home.

6. Once all of the bulky stuff is loaded, then room by room, start filling the truck... still considering the layout of the new home. For me, the bedroom and computer room are in the back of the house, so I loaded those into the truck last. This way, they are the first to be unloaded and kept out of the way of the other things to be unloaded. Keep your 'survival kit' separate if possible. This box sat with me on the front seat of my car and was not taken out until everything else was brought into the house. In the confusion, I needed to know EXACTLY where that box was.

7. When unloading the truck, if possible, direct anyone helping you to where you want your boxes. Bedroom boxes go in the bedroom, bathroom boxes go in the bathroom... you catch my drift. Making a pile in one room with your boxes is sure to create a headache!!!!!

8. Once, everything is unloaded... START UNPACKING!!!!! Unpack opposite the way you packed, starting out with the most important things and leaving the least important things last. This step is going to take a while, but once it is finished you can start to enjoy your new home!!!

Tips & Warnings

• Don't over pack boxes with heavy things! Try to distribute the weight.
• Take care in packing glass. Pack tightly, but not so tight that some of your most delicate things will break. Forget bubble wrap! If these boxes are packed correctly, newspaper will be just fine and a lot less expensive!
• LABEL LABEL LABEL!!!! Unlabeled boxes will find their way into rooms they don't belong.

[Susanh]

on 11/24/2008 Excellent tips for folks who are facing the moving process.