Moving can be extremely stressful. A couple weeks ago, we moved out of our very first rental house, right down the street, to our second rental house. Thank goodness we were only moving down the street and we were able to quickly do a lot of trips and get things done in basically a day or two. However, most people don’t typically move down the street. Whether it’s an apartment, house, dorm etc. There are a number of things you can do when it comes to moving that will make your life so much easier and in-turn make your move a whole lot less stressful.
I’ve moved quite a bit the last 5 years or so. My first big move was moving from Vermont to Cleveland, OH into my first dorm. That was quite an adjustment of not knowing what I would need, what I shouldn’t bring and how to pack everything. I documented my college experience of moving in multiple YouTube videos such as College Packing Tips & How I Packed. I highly recommend you check out that video along with my other college videos if you’re moving into a dorm or your first apartment.
After moving in to the dorm, I moved back home for the summer, moved back to the dorm in the fall and then that summer moved into my very first apartment. Two years later, moved back home after graduating college and more recently August 2017, I moved from Vermont to Sydney, Australia. I’ll have a blog post relating more to moving to a different country, but this post is geared towards individuals that are moving (somewhat) locally ie. not having to fly to your new house.
Be Organized and Make Lists
As with mostly everything, when you’re organized, it makes everything better and less stressful. Depending on how much time you have, start early with organizing everything. I like to think of myself as the queen of lists. I make lists for just about anything and everything. For moving, making lists is really great to put things into perspective of what needs to be done and when. It’s also a visual reminder of everything so you can figure out what to do and when to do it by- which I think is super helpful.
I recommend making lists for different categories such as What You Need to Do Overall, Things to Go Through, Areas to Clean, Things to Fix Up Before Moving Out etc. Especially for rental properties, you have to make sure the place is nearly spotless or at least how you received the place before moving out. This means fixing any of the walls, lots and lots of cleaning and replacing things where you found them when you move in.
Purge
When you’re moving, it’s the perfect time to get rid of unnecessary items or things that you don’t use or want anymore. Label a box for donate, trash, and sell and start slowly going through your items. I would recommend doing this a few weeks or even a month before your move. The more stuff you get rid of, the less stuff you’ll actually have to move. Trust me, go through your things and get rid of some stuff, you’ll thank yourself later.
There are many different outlets for selling items, especially if you’re in the U.S. apps like Poshmark are great for selling gently used clothes and shoes. You can click the link to check out my Poshmark closet and how I use the app to sell some of my items!
I also love the Facebook Marketplace for selling larger items or furniture pieces. When deciding between donating and selling items, I take a few things into account such as the quality of the item. If there are any stains or a lot of wear, I will definitely donate the item. I also think of the value of the item and if it’s worth selling it at all. Lastly, I think if it’s worth the time and most importantly, the effort to sell the item. Donating is something that is nearly immediate, just dropping the items off and you can immediately get those items out of the house. With selling, a lot of times items don’t sell immediately so there’s a chance that those items may be still in your possession even after moving- this is why I recommend start purging early on before you move.
Pack, But Don’t Pack Everything
I know traditionally packing up everything in the traditional brown cardboard boxes seems like the way to go when it comes to moving. For some items, packing items in boxes and bins is smart, especially when it comes to kitchen items and other knickknacks. However, when it comes to clothes, DO NOT PACK IN BOXES.
How are you clothes set up in your current space? Are they going to still be hung up or put in those same drawers when you get to the new place? Save yourself the time and the hassle and leave the clothes on the hangers and leave those clothes in their drawers. Simply take the clothes and either put them in a trash bag with the hanger poking out or if you want get a box with a rod in it to keep your clothes hanging. This will save you so much time with having to sort through your clothes and rehanging everything up.
Also for clothes in drawers or anything in drawers, I recommend just simply taking the drawer out of the dresser or furniture and keeping everything in the drawer when moving. When you take the drawer out, you won’t have to worry about it falling out of the furniture piece, but when you get to your new home, all you have to do is put the drawer back in. Once again, so much less time spent sorting and organizing!
Label
For the items that you did put in boxes, labelling is really helpful. I’ve mentioned this in my college packing tips, but labelling was great when I was moving into my dorm for the first time. I labelled boxes with kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and so on and that way when people brought the boxes in, they knew exactly where to place them and I knew exactly what was in each box. This is definitely helpful for not only yourself, but if you have people helping you out. So I highly recommend taking the time to quickly stick a label or some duct tape and use a Sharpie to label your boxes.
Make a Day Out of It
Moving can be super tedious and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. However, ask your friends to help you, even if it’s for an hour or two. Either loading the trucks, trailers or cars with items or helping with unloading, that’s all you need help with. Once everything is unloaded in your new place, you can spend the time organizing, but the heavy lifting is great to have friends helping.
Get some wine, pizza, snacks, whatever and make it fun. Play some music and make it a more enjoyable experience.
Although moving can be awful- it doesn’t have to be. I hope you learned some tips and tricks when it comes to moving stress-free. Are you moving or have you moved recently? What are some of your tricks when it comes to moving? Let me know in the comments down below!
