What To Do Before You Pack A Single Box
Moving to a new place can be a very exciting time. It can be the start of a new chapter in life, new opportunities, new places and things to discover. And possibly even a reinvention of your space's identity.
And with it comes so many questions...
What do I need to plan & schedule?
What supplies do I need to make this go as smoothly as possible?
When should I start packing?
How did I collect so much “stuff”?!
Can I manage this on my own, or should/can I hire help?
No matter how you slice it, moving is a big to-do. I want to help you to make it manageable, less stressful, and maintain the excitement for your new chapter all at the same time.
I’m going to break the process of a successful move down to 4 categories:
PLANNING
DECLUTTERING
PACKING
MOVING DAY
When you’re settled into your new house, townhouse, apartment, condo, cabin, you’ll reflect and say “dang, that wasn’t as bad as I was expecting”. Then you will be able to help your friends and family with the knowledge and experience you’ve gained, to make their transitions go smoothly as well.
Let’s dive in, so you can begin the destressing before you even get started worrying.
There is a lot to consider in advance of starting the physical move. Logistics. Planning is the first part of the process that allows you the opportunity to think through and outline everything you will need to do, and on what dates, in what timeframes that work best in relation to the move out and in dates. This will be your steady guide through the process, so take the time to write everything down.
How
do I organize my packing to avoid chaos?
What
should I pack first?
How
should I label boxes?
What should I plan for ahead of time, to make settling into the new place seamless with my daily life?
If
you decide to go the Google Sheet route to create and organize your master list, you can add an extension that will allow entries to automatically be sent
to your phone's calendar! Oh, technology sure does amazing things for us these days.
Start the list with broader categories, like the ones below, then fill in all the minute details that you’ll need to remember to address. Soon you will have a full and complete list to follow, and you will feel confident in moving forward.
When it comes to planning a move, there is no detail or to-do too small to write down on the master plan.
Larger items to add to the list will be:
Select your move out/move in date
Schedule movers/helpers: If you plan to use professionals, friends, or family to help with the process, select date(s) and schedule with everyone you expect to help with the process.
Schedule start & stop of services for future and current places
Outline Packing Process & Timeframe: Create a timeline and order your plan to pack things up.
Example:
Week 1 - Garage/Shed
Week 2 - Wrap breakables
& breakdown any furniture that requires it
Week 3 - Bedroom/Master
Bath/Start packing Go Bag
And so on, until every room has been listed in a timeframe that makes sense for you and your daily life, while keeping the moving date goal center of mind.
Cleaning plan for after packing, before move out
DECLUTTERING
The key to decluttering during a move is to identify what you don’t need. Moving is a prime opportunity to decrease the volume of stuff you may have. It’s the rare time to get eyes on literally everything in and around your home, so you can really start fresh in your new place.
What
do you not want or need in the new space?
What is worth moving and dealing with on the other end?
Just as you’d do a declutter of the space you’re consistently occupying, to keep things under control, you’ll want to declutter as you address each room that will be packed. Whether you choose to do it before or during the actual packing, is up to you. I’d recommend choosing which order you want to do it in, so it gets added to your master list the way you plan to follow it.
As you declutter a space, if you're doing it before packing, sort the remaining items into piles or sections for how you’d like to pack them when it’s time.
PACKING
Before
you start packing anything, make sure you have adequate boxes, totes, or whatever
you plan to pack things in, along with tape, plastic wrap, packing materials
for fragile items, and of course, labels. You can also use painter’s tape for labelling. Boy does
that come in handy for so many things in life!
As you
pack a box, label it with the room or location that it came from in the current
place and then itemize below with a general list (or specific if not too
lengthy) of the contents of the box. There are also Smart Labels,
which are a QR code & app based labeling system that you can also use for future
storage if you find the need.
If you'd like to simplify and avoid a trip to the store, and ensure you get the proper supplies, you can opt into a moving supply kit.
Now that you have your supplies, it's time to follow the packing part of the master list.
One Room at A Time
I’ve
moved several times in my life, and tried several methods for how I've addressed packing. Ultimately the one I’ve landed on as being the
most efficient is this:
Focus on completing one room at a time. Pack everything up that isn’t needed over the next month, 3 weeks, two weeks, one week, as you progress by priority through the place. Note that as you evaluate what you use in a month or less period, you start to recognize what you do and do not use or need on a regular basis, and this is where the decluttering really comes into play. The mental shift here is very helpful in decluttering for your new space.
Note: The importance of completing one room at a time, is that if things are left behind, you'll find once you think you've packed up every room, and are at the end of the packing process ready to move, there are still a lot of little things around that add up quickly into last minute " What should I do with this?!" items.
As you pack up each room, set aside items that are needed for your 5-day Go-Bag. When you’re done with that room, physically put those items in your Go-Bag and mark it off the list of “what I need for move out/in time”.
Once a room, closet, drawer, anywhere that is being packed is finished, grab that nifty painter’s tape and put a little piece on the door or drawer, to give yourself a quick visual queue that this spot has been emptied/packed. This is especially helpful in larger homes with lots of built-in storage spaces.
Pro Tips:
-If you have a Garage, pack that up first, so you can line those boxes and items along one side to make room for other boxes that get packed and can be moved down there for staging.
-Remember
that living minimally and in less than your ideally comfy environment with
boxes and things not where you’d generally have them, is temporary. Big picture:
You’re off on a new path!
MOVING DAY
If you’re just across town, and your move in and move out day is the same, you can get a restful night’s sleep the same day, knowing you did an excellent job in making this move smooth and successful. You’ll be that much closer to settling into your new home.
If
you’re moving across country, or perhaps even out of the country, well, you can
kind of have a mini vacation and breather in-between to really soak in the
gratitude for getting the opportunity you have given yourself for a fresh start
in a new place.
Enjoy settling into your new home. I wish you all the happiness in this new chapter.
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