The Ultimate Guide to an Organized Move
*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Is there anything more exciting AND stressful than moving? You’re going someplace new and starting fresh, but you have to pack up your whole life and live in chaos for a few days to possibly several weeks. After having helped several clients prepare for moves, and having had several moves myself personally, I wanted to share my step by step guide to make this move as smooth as possible. There is a one page checklist at the end of this post that you can save for future reference.
Before You Start Packing…
Purge, purge, purge! Be ruthless. Don’t pack anything that you don’t want in your new home.
Set up new utilities at new home. Whether you need to call the old ones and cancel, or just have them transferred, make sure you’re taking care of old and new. This includes electricity, water, gas, internet, cable/satellite, mail, lawncare…
The Packing Stage
Set up a packing kit with all the supplies you will need.
Having a kit of everything will make it much easier to move from room to room, and it will be simple to quickly pack a couple boxes whenever you have time. You will need:
Scissors
Packing Tape
A sharpie or 2
Many different colors of duct tape. A different color for every room
Bubble wrap
Pack one room at a time.
We’re not packing by category, but by room. It will make unpacking so much quicker. The goal when we get to the new place is to get everything out of boxes and put away, then you can play with rearranging and decorating.
Label every box on the corners with colored tape for the room it goes in and on the sides with all the contents of that box.
I mean, write every single thing you put in there. It will keep you from losing anything.
If it’s fragile, write FRAGILE on every side.
You don’t want to write it once and then grab the opposite end, not see it, and throw around your glass sculpture from Italy like it’s a box of stuffed animals.
Pack a first night kit.
No matter how much unpacking you get done, you will be exhausted! The absolute last thing you’ll want to do is dig around boxes to find all the things you need. Instead, pack a first night bin so you don’t have to think about it. This kit should include:
Sheet sets for everyone in the family
1 towel for everyone in the family
1 shower curtain, if needed
A roll of paper towels & 1 roll of toilet paper
PJs for everyone
Hand soap & Cleaning supplies
Toiletries, toothbrushes
Scissors (just in case you do need to open a box or 2)
Use extra beach towels, hand towels, socks, and throw blankets as padding material while packing.
It will save you so much space and money. I especially love putting socks over drinking glasses and wine glasses.
Use suitcases with wheels to put heavy things like books.
Use plastic wrap on all furniture. It will keep it cleaner and safer.
Use trash bags to bundle hanging clothes.
Use styrofoam plates in between real plates to pad them while packing.
Tape the screws in a ziplock bag to anything you take apart.
Use washi tape or masking tape to label cords you unplug.
Vacuum storage bags are a big space saver.
Wrap up your bins of toys, toiletries, or silverware with plastic wrap rather than emptying them out and packing them away.
It will be a much quicker and easier way to unpack them.
Unpacking Stage
*Remember, we’re just unpacking here to empty all the boxes. You can play around with placement and decor later.
Put every box in its color-coded room.
First things to set up are the beds for all sleeping there the first night and one bathroom.
Then, unpack the kitchen.
Next, all the bathrooms.
Then move on to the the living room and breakfast room/nook.
Then the bedrooms from youngest to oldest.
Finally, unpack everything else… guest room, dining, media room, study…
I leave with this thought… a move signifies a new beginning. Whatever that beginning is, make the best of it. That first night, order a pizza and eat it on the floor of your new home. Take a family picture on that first day to document this memory. Moves are often a bit crazy and sometimes stressful, but I encourage you to enjoy it as much as possible!
