By Vince Mancuso, Storage.com
Storage.com is your number one ally when moving to a new home. We’re here to provide you with useful moving tips and hacks, or additional storage whenever necessary.
Whether you’ve had months or weeks to plan, moving day can be stressful. Boxes can get misplaced, fragile items can break, and things can definitely go wrong—but even if they don’t, you’re likely to be tense with so many to-do’s and details to coordinate. Rather than sweat it out, here are some helpful hints you can follow on moving day to make the process go as smoothly as possible.
1. Before moving day arrives, make sure you have a playbook in mind. This may mean walking through your new house or apartment and mentally planning out what boxes and items need to go in each room. Also, for those who are renting, this is a good time to take photos of the new place before moving for proof of any pre-existing damage or issues to protect your security deposit.
2. Have all of your clothes and loose items packed before professional movers or your friends and family show up. Not only is this the decent thing to do, packing ahead of time reduces any last-minute shuffles that result in lost or broken items. When packing your boxes, use different colored duct tape for each room of the house, and clearly mark what’s inside the box and what room it belongs in. For inventory purposes, you should number off your boxes as well to make sure you have all your things once you’re moved in. Pro tip: you can pack all your hanging clothes by easily fitting them in a garbage bag with the hangers poking out of the top.
3. Have a separate survival box and bag set aside either in your car or near the door of your moving truck. The box should have items you’ll need or want right away, including cooking and eating utensils, toiletry items, pajamas, and a couple of outfits to get you through the unpacking process. Also, you’ll want to make sure you have your laptop or tablet and your phone charger packed in there so they’re easy to access. A couple of things many people don’t think about is placing trash bags and a box cutter in this pack to help clean up the unpacking process as you go.
4. Be considerate of those helping you. If you’ve hired movers, make sure you or a family member are overseeing the move in case any accidents or last-minute changes occur. If friends are helping you out, make sure you have drinks available and are aware of any specials going on at nearby pizza places—pizza is relatively cheap and feeds a lot of people. During the move, designate an area as a snack station with fuel-foods such as bottled water, trail mix, veggies, or even protein bars. Lastly, you can really go above and beyond in appreciation by giving them first dibs on anything you may be looking to sell or donate during the move.
5. Keep a boom box or portable speaker unpacked to provide music to motivate your moving day efforts. You can even make a playlist of your favorite upbeat songs to keep you “moving” through the day.
6. Set some milestones and reward yourself and your helpers when you reach each goal. For example, after each room is cleared out and clean, treat yourself to a snack, piece of candy, or a drink.
7. If you’re moving with kids and/or pets, it’s best to find a sitter for moving day. It’s not that you don’t love the little tikes, but they may get in the way or, worse, get hurt in the shuffle. For those little ones who love to help, pack a small shoebox with some of their toys to send along with them, letting them know it’s an important job to move their things into their new home later on.
8. Once all your boxes, furniture, and other items are safely moved into your new home and all your help has left, close the door, sit on the floor, and take a deep breath. In the quiet, enjoy this moment. You did it. Welcome to your new home!
