5 Simple Moving Tips
A few weeks ago we asked our followers on Instagram if they has any advice for moving, and goodness did they come through with some awesome suggestions. The answer we heard most often when it came to packing and moving was “hire movers”, but if you’ve met my husband, you’ll know that’s not an option for his spreadsheets. So I’ve compiled a list of my top five suggestions for packing and moving based on some of the tips our followers provided and a few of my own!
Also, pack your essentials in your suitcases for use either during your transition or while all of your furniture is being packed away.
Set timers for yourself. You will be shocked at how much you can accomplish if you set a one-hour timer for a room or space to pack. This is also good for reminding you when it’s time to stop and refuel with lunch or coffee!
Packing Tips
Keep clothes on hangers: This is a fun tip that we’ve used and I think it will work out really well. Essentially, we created our own garment bags with plastic trashbags and have left all of our clothes on the hangers! Once they get to their new home, just hang them and take the bag off!
Label boxes vs. color coordinate: We got a lot of suggestions to color code the boxes with stickers and have a master chart for which rooms they should go into in the new home based on their color. Kellie, our awesome assistant, vetoed that right away. She suggested that rather than making people stop and figure out what color goes where, or worse, risking that the stickers fall off, just write the contents of the box and the room it needs to go into when it gets there. So that’s what we’ve done and I think it will be most helpful on the other end, as well.
Use matching boxes: This seems so boujee, but I highly recommend just getting boxes from your local hardware store or moving company and having them all match. Not every single box we have is the same, but 99% of them are and it’s just helpful and more organized when getting them all on the moving truck. Rather than playing a big Tetris game with a bunch of random sized boxes, get a bunch that all match and save yourself the headache!
Take your time: If you’re able to do it, I highly recommend spacing out your packing time. Rather than rushing to get it all done in a day or two, we’ve taken a week between leaving the old job and starting the new one to really plan out our packing time and prepare room by room. It has really been helpful to map out room by room what we will accomplish each day.
Purge
This one may seem obvious, but it is something that we have been taking pretty seriously over here - we’ve already made two huge trips for donations and are preparing out third. There are just things that you don’t need to take with you. Stuff you haven’t used in years, Christmas decorations that you push to the side for the new ones, etc. This is the time to get rid of it all, when you have it all laid out to decide if it stays or goes. The other big suggestion is to trash things. Not everything needs to go in the trash, but sort through old paperwork, broken items, etc. and determine what just isn’t worth even donating on to the next person.
Leave Reviews
This was actually a suggestion that I read on Emily Ley’s blog a long time ago and always thought it would be the best little way to leave love around your city before you go. I’ve left reviews on the Facebook pages of my hair salon, local restaurants we love, photographers we’ve used, handymen, and more. It’s a nice way to let those people know how much you appreciate them, while also helping other people know who you suggest for those services!
Family Photos
I can’t recommend this one enough. At the last minute I decided we needed some final family photos in the house that we started our family and boy oh boy will I forever be grateful that we did this! We had an in-home lifestyle session done by Rocha & Co. Photography to capture us in our nature element and these are photos that I will cherish for eternity. The best way to remember your previous home while also creating artwork for your new home, as well!
Plan on takeout
Because we have about a week between leaving one house and moving into the next, we are purging most of our food, as well. It’s not the most ideal situation, but we haven’t been to the grocery store in about a week other than to get some basic essentials like bread and milk. So we are doing a lot of fast food and takeout which is also not ideal. I’m telling myself that I’m burning a lot of calories in the packing process, but also plan some time to get out for a quick walk or something if you can.
Rocha & Co. Photographh did a great job of capturing our final family photos in our home!