Moving to a new house can be so exciting, full of possibility and new beginnings. However, before you can settle in and get started on that new chapter of your life, there is one daunting task you must face. *Cue thunderclaps and foreboding music.* Moving day. But what if I told you that a little prep and some effective planning could make moving day a breeze? Don’t believe me? Check it out!
Essential Prep
If you want moving day to go smoothly, you have to start prepping well before the day itself. Good preparation is the key to feeling confident while moving and even while unpacking.
- Step one: decluttering.The first step to packing is to declutter your home. There is no need to waste time and space packing things you don’t actually need to keep! Go through each room and get rid of things you no longer need or want. If you’d like, you can even donate or sell things that are no longer useful instead of just throwing them away.
- The Master Plan. One of the best ways to make moving 110% less stressful is by splitting up the workload. Figure out how much time you have before you need to have everything in boxes and make a timeline for when you want to have each room packed up. It’s best to start with non-essential rooms like the office or loft, and finish with rooms you’ll need access to like the kitchen. You can also begin by packing extra items in closets and decor first, since you won’t need them before you are in your new home.
- Essential packing supplies. You will need a good supply of different sized boxes, lots of packing tape, bubble wrap and packing paper for fragile items, markers, and stickers for labeling.
Take a Deep Breath and Get Packing
Once you have a good plan and all your supplies, it’s time to get started. Remember, packing your house takes time, so don’t rush it. Start early and work steadily, and you’ll be done before you know it.
- Keep rooms together. One of the biggest mistakes you can make when packing is mixing items from different rooms in the same box. Packing items by room will make it much easier to unpack later. It also means you can take boxes directly to the room they belong to at the new house instead of sorting through piles of boxes later.
- Label, label, label! The key to organized packing, and stress-free unpacking, is labeling every box you pack. Using different colored stickers to label boxes by room will save you time and headaches in the long run. Once a box is packed, it’s also important to use a marker to write down the contents of the box. That way, when you are in your new home, you can easily find all of the most important items and unpack the rest piece by piece.
- The heavier the item, the smaller the box. Items like canned goods or books are small and pack together easily, so it may seem like a good idea to load as many into a big box as possible. Although that might save space in the moving truck, it actually makes those boxes a nightmare to move. The weight of small items like these adds up very quickly, so a big box of them would be very difficult to lift and carry around. Another downside is that each box can only take so much weight before the bottom gives out, so packing heavy items in small boxes will also help you to avoid broken boxes and potential injuries while moving.
- Moving day survival kit. One of the biggest favors you can do for yourself on moving day is limiting the number of things you have to unpack after getting to your new home. Pack a moving day bag for each member of the family with essentials you will need like toiletries, a change of clothes, phone chargers, and snacks. This will alleviate the stress of trying to find what everyone needs in a sea of boxes when you get to your new house and give you some time to just sit back and take a little break when you get there.
The Takeaway
Packing your house for a move can be a daunting task, but with good preparation and these essential packing tips, moving day can be a stress-free and exciting experience for the whole family.