Whether you relocate every couple of years or have only completed a handful of moves in your life, you know that uprooting your life and belongings can come with its fair share of stress. To make moving less daunting, we offer you our pro tips on what not to do while packing up those boxes and preparing for life in your new space.
Don’t Move Items You Don’t Actually Need or Want
Take some time pre-move to do a cleanout and decide what will stay and what can be tossed or donated. Your holey sweater or broken kitchen appliance does not need to make the trek to your new abode. Clients often pack a lot of items that immediately get thrown away. Moving is also a chance to downsize and donate your good condition items as well. Free yourself of clothes that don’t fit, that china you never use, and furniture that will not match your new home’s aesthetic.
There can be monetary and emotional benefits to doing so, too. Not only does getting rid of items lighten your load (which also means lower moving costs) but it gives you a chance to start fresh and upgrade and reprioritize your possessions.
Going through your belongings is something that should be done ahead of time, of course. Before moving, go around your home and do a first edit of trash and donations. Ask yourself, “Do I want to pay to move this?” Once you’ve determined what you’re donating, schedule that drop-off before the movers arrive.
Don’t Pack Without a Plan
Once again, investing a bit more time upfront to pack correctly will make the move-in process much simpler. We see clients pack their items with no rhyme or reason, just shoving whatever will fit into their boxes and bins. Before packing, sort your items into categories and do your best to keep like items together. Moving is already stressful, so packing your items in an organized way will ultimately save you more time and streamline the unpacking process.
In a similar vein, ensure that you’re keeping track of equipment parts and grouping them together into one box when packing. If you’re moving electronics, keep all the cords and accessories together. Similarly, a kitchen mixer is no good if you’re missing the attachments. Tape a Ziploc baggie of furniture screws, bolts, etc, to the actual piece of furniture especially if you had to disassemble any items.
Don’t Pack Poorly
A lot of customers want to do their own packing and boxing, which is great, but problems arise when they don’t do so correctly. Don’t forget to pack boxes using an adequate amount of bubble wrap to protect breakables, stay on top of labeling each box, and covering other key bases.
Label your boxes by category, add the room name of where you’d like it to land in your new home, and list key items you may find yourself searching for later. Bonus points if you label the top and two sides, so you can view the contents from any angle.
