needing advice doing self move
Question:
Help! I just found out I'm moving at the end of the month. We'll do a self-move (we always do)... any hints/suggestions? I'm excited... I love the new place, it is about 2x the size of this one, and... this'll give me a chance to declutter while packing.
Answer:
_Sort as you pack. Only pack what you use, need or love.
_Good luck on the move and congrats on the bigger space. Moving is a great
decluttering opportunity. The reason I have so much clutter is that we've
lived in the same house for 14 years. My advice, based on experience, is to
not stint on boxes, tape and packing materials. Having plenty of boxes avoids
mixing up categories of items in the same box and helps with sorting. Most
importantly, start packing NOW so you don't get exhausted and frantic, and you
can declutter in a coherent way. If you're too rushed at the end you might be
tempted just to toss things into the boxes to move instead of decluttering
them. And have fun!!!
_Start packing now. It is a lot easier mentally and physically when
you are not rushed.
Sort as you pack. Use a spare box or basket to carry things you find
in the wrong room into the correct room before packing them. Always
have a trash bag nearby so you can toss out anything you need to as
you pack.
Label all boxes for the room it needs to be put in at the new place.
Write on at least the top and one side, but two sides is better. This
way you can put it in the correct room to start with, so unpacking
will be easier.
Many of the things you pack will need to be washed when
they are unpacked so every time you pack something ask yourself some
questions:
Do I like the item enough to wash it and put it away in the new house?
I haven't used this in over a year, do I really need this?
One way to avoid all the "packing material" to keep breakables from
breaking is to use all your clean towels, washcloths, and other linens
instead of the usual newspaper or packing peanuts. This also saves
you from having to wash all the plates and things as you unpack it at
your new home. We did that last time we moved and it was so easy to
just put the dishes on the shelves, re-fold the linens, and put them
into the linen closet.
Many of your kitchen things can be packed early with a little
planning. Separate your most used cooking things from all the rest,
and pack those things you don't use often. You can choose to pack all
your plates and glasses and use paper products until after you move,
or you can choose to pack everything except one plate, one bowl, one
glass, & one coffee mug per person and wash them often until moving
day.
The day before moving day pack your bathroom things. Do this with a
trash can nearby and throw away anything that is past it's expiration
date. Also throw away all cosmetics that are over a year old because
they do chemically degrade over time and can cause you health problems
if you use them. You can pack everything except soap, toothpaste,
toothbrushes, de-odorant, and other toiletries that are needed in the
morning. If you have more than one bathroom take all the morning
necessaries into one bathroom so you will have everything that needs
packing at the last minute in one room.
Do not pack the clothing that are in dressers or chest of drawers.
Instead, put the furniture on the truck by taking all the drawers out,
put the main part of furniture onto the truck, then put the drawers
back into the dresser/chest of drawers. At the new place, unload it
the same way.
Clothing on hangers can be moved by separating them into bunches and
putting a plastic trash bag over each bunch. Just make a hole in the
center bottom of the bag and slip the hanger tops through the hole
with the bag covering the clothes. Stack the bags flat on the truck
for moving.
If you have children that are old enough, teach them how to pack
breakable items and let them pack their own rooms. Younger kids can
help by bringing you the tape, boxes, and other packing supplies.
Kids can help with the final cleaning too, just assign each of them
jobs they are capable of doing while you work on cleaning things that
really need an adult, like cleaning the oven.
On moving day remember that you won't have spare energy to waste on
trying to cook while your stuff is still in boxes, so have enough cash
to order pizza or something and plenty of drinks.
Don't forget to drink plenty of water if it is hot on moving day.
_boxes need more room than shelves and cupboards. Honest.
Throughout a move, I collect boxes from supermarkets etc. The largest
convenient container for moving is a banana box - anything bigger needs
two people and gets too heavy with almost anything when you start to
move it about and stack it.
If you haven't done so, clean and completely empty the car. You'll need
the space.
Review the rules of lifting heavy objects. Now. Your back will thank
you.
I start by designating an area for the boxes with the books. Relatively
small boxes, too - and I pack as they are on the shelves - work,
reference, different categories etc. Paperwork goes in the same
category.
Take down the shelves. Dedicate one box (close-shutting, think
Tupperware) WITH GOOD LABELLING for all the pins and screws that come
out of your furniture. (You can tape them to the individual pieces of
furniture in small plastic bags, too, but I'm always afraid they'll tear
off or spill out, so it's the box for me. This box will remain in plain
sight throughout the move and go with me in the car.
This might sound like a good time for decluttering, but you will find
that a month isn't all that long if you have lots of stuff. If you
possibly can, don't move in one go. Try to get into the new place at
least a weekend before you move the main part of your posessions clean
it before you bring anything into it, and take photos to document the
state of carpets etc when renting; then go back, do the cleaning in the
old place, collect anything that's over, hand the keys to the landlord,
THEN move into the new place. Remember to ensure there will be
electricity in the new place, *especially* when moving at night.
Books and papers (see above) are easy - they are square, they stack
well, but oh, my. Consider enlisting the help of a neighbour now who
will allow you to keep valuables, things that MUST NOT get lost and
things that won't otherwise survive in *their* flat while you're
throwing everything in boxes and whirling about. I keep a lot of that
sort of stuff in my car - but nowhere in the flat is really safe at that
point in my experience.
If you can't outwinter fragiles and knick knack, now is nevertheless a
good time to pack them - you've still got plenty of time, you've got
sturdy containers. set aside an area where - on pain of death - you will
not stack anything on top of it. A kitchen cabinet is ideal. Count
important documents into the category of *don't want to find this at the
bottom of the pile.* Ditto jewelry.
Take a large stack of clean T-shirts, towels and socks into the kitchen
and start packing boxes with fragile stuff. Keep an oven tray, and
enough pots to cook (depending on family size and habits, obviously);
plus one plate per person (plus one spare) etc - if you can, old stuff
you don't mind throwing away. Same for cutlery, mugs, glasses. Keep on
kitchen counter or inside kitchen cabinets - you don't want to stack
anything on top of them. Get a marker and some coloured sticky tape so
you can tell a fragile box at a glance from one that isn't.
Don't buy anything new for the freezer and only the bare necessities for
the fridge. You don't want to move stuff that needs cooling.
While you pack the contents of your larder, have a good look at sell-by
dates. Also consider whether the stuff at the bottom which you haven't
eaten for so long will ever get eaten. Throw away, make up a box to give
to the neighbours, pack the rest.
Do NOT pack your cleaning stuff. Or the kettle.
Pack CDs and other media (tapes, videos) and stack them - marked - on
top of your books. Remember to put them aside before loading the van.
Time for the rest of the clothes. Depending on your timescale, only
throw out the things that are at the bottom of the cupboard which you
*never* wear, or be a bit more thorough.
By now your flat will look half-empty, with boxes everywhere. Good.
If you have a hobby, pack everything concerned with it in one place.
Consider how you will transport your electrical appliances. For me the
last thing to get packed is my computer - so I don't just keep the boxes
for that around, but also the box for the cables. And I make a backup
ahead of time and keep that on me/in the car/with neighbour.
And now it's time for all those things you can't really place and
might wish you didn't own. If you have time to sort, sort - you probably
*won't* have time, so it's better to put things into boxes, because that
will give you an idea of what you haven't done. Get a large plastic
crate for the bathroom - bathroom stuff might leak or get sticky, and
you don't want mess on top of everything. You're stressed enough.
Keep at it. Run around like headless chicken, but keep packing.
When you're stacking the van, make sure the heavy things go on the
bottom (large appliances, and all those books) - AND LOAD BOTH SIDES
EVENLY. The last van I drove was uneven, and it drove very, very badly.
Never mind I almost didn't get it out of the village (very steep ramp,
very heavy and not well motorized van at one in the morning), I was
scared I'd flip the darn thing.
Your sack truck is your friend.
When you unpack at the new place, put all the fragile stuff onto the
kitchen counters. Stack all the books near where the shelves are
supposed to go. Stack the shelves there. Try to put other furniture and
boxes approximately where they are supposed to go.
Clean the old place, collect fragiles, and you can start rearranging
things in the new place and finding out what you absolutely MUST buy to
make that place work. Something will break, something will get lost,
something you hate will get carried around - but if you did things right
you've got a large stack of well-labelled boxes that only contain the
things you really need them to contain (and you know where they are
going); and only a small number of 'I don't know what's in there and
right now I don't care' boxes, which you can sort through at leisure.
This is the system that worked for me so far. The absolute worst move
I've done was being thrown out of my flat and having to move within
three days - into a caravan where I could stack everything with great
difficulty - and with a collarbone that was not completely healed and at
the end of it protesting loudly. The easiest move was one where I had a
fortnight to make a move of three miles. No van, just a car - but I
could pack things, take them over, unpack, do the next load - at the end
of the time I had nothing left to do in the new place.
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