5 (More) Moving Tips to Make Life Easier

-

I've decided that no matter how organized you are, moving is a pain in the butt. Still, planning and organization goes a long way to making the move easier.

As a follow up to Top 10 Tips for Packing Early for a Move here are five more tips I found helpful.

1. Take notes. Alphabetizing makes me happy, but I knew that as I packed up my CDs, that ABC-order I so love would get a little mixed up in the boxes. To solve this problem, I used paper placeholders to mark the beginnings and ends of shelves within the box. If I opened a random box, all I had to do was look at the first placeholder to tell me where to shelve that stack of CDs. "Shelf 4 begins with Jet," for example.



2. Take pictures. Books are one thing I don't alphabetize. I arrange books by genre and, of course, group books by the same author. Having a picture of my bookshelf before I packed up my books made all the difference. All I had to do was pull it up on the computer and I could glance it at it from time to time to ensure each book went into its designated place.

3. Clean bedding, curtains, rugs, etc. Immediately before the move is the perfect time to steam, shampoo or launder those items that might otherwise arrive at your new house less than pristine. Everything we took down went immediately into the wash. That meant as soon as curtains came off the rods, into the machine they went. While the bed was stripped off all bedding, we went to work vacuuming and steaming it.

Don't forget small appliances and knick-knacks. While I am obsessive-compulsive about organization, I am far more lax when it comes to cleanliness. This means little things like the spice rack, the paper towel holder and the utensil holder don't get cleaned nearly as much as they should. I wanted everything like-new again for the new house, so I spent some serious scrub-time to shine everything up.


Invest in a steamer! It makes a world of difference in keeping furniture clean.


4. Keep handy a portable file tote with any papers you may need in the next month. My move happened to coincide with a whole bureaucratic mess to deal with, so that file tote was my life-saver. It's also a good way to keep coupons in one safe place. I have a large four-drawer file cabinet, but making the file tote my go-to spot for papers just simplified things.

5. Stock up on household essentials and grocery shop for far more food than you think you need -- preferably a variety of easy-to-prepare items. At the end of a long day of moving, running to the store for pack of paper towels or a gallon of milk is the last thing you want to worry about. And easy-to-prepare doesn't have to be frozen. Think fixings for sandwiches, cheese, rice and dry beans for burritos, and fruit and granola bars for quick snacks.

Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 27, 2015 at 6:06 PM

    Thanks!!!! I feel like I was reading an article written by me. I really love organizing in the same way you do. I also have a long while to wait until I move. So I decided to get super organized and start preparing early. Thanks for the tips from both your articles.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Halloween Decorations: How to Stuff a Life-Size Michael Myers

-
Image
Michael Myers is our grand finale of decorations, the big kahuna. The Michael Myers tradition started our first year in our first home. Aaron had the brilliant idea of stuffing Michael and placing him in my office window, which faced the yard. You had to walk right past the window to get to our door. You couldn't miss Michael; even people driving by on the street would slow to check him out. On Halloween, Michael amused many and frightened some. A few groups wondered out loud if he was real. Suddenly Michael would move (thanks to Aaron hididng in the office) and screams would ensue. Eventually, Aaron closed the blinds, quickly un-stuffed Michael, stuffed himself inside and hid behind the front door. I would answer and Aaron would creep out or jump out. More screams. The next day, we had a knock at our door. A group of kids asked Aaron if he could put the costume back on and chase them. But of course! The group waited outside, expecting Aaron to come out the front door
Keep on Reading on

Top 10 Tips for Packing Early for a Move

-
Image
I think I'm having the most organized move of my life, and that includes all future moves. I should be; this move is taking forever to actually happen. The tenants at my future home stopped paying rent over two months ago, and apparently that's how long it can take to evict someone in California. It's a frustrating saga I won't get into it. I thought I would, however, share some of my tips for an organized move, especially tips on what you can do well in advance of actually moving. 1. Create a box or basket of moving supplies. You want one place to hold packing tape, scissors, your labeling pen, etc. You also want an organizational system for all the pins, pens, screws and batteries you'll come across. (Make sure to separate the working batteries from the dead.) I like to use little jewelry boxes and small plastic containers to hold these items. After each box is sealed and labeled, the packing tape and Sharpie are immediately returned to this baske
Keep on Reading on

Outdoor Oasis: How to Turn a Futon into a Porch Couch

-
Image
I refer to my back porch as my outdoor oasis, not because it's the most beautiful or detailed, but simply because the furniture is comfortable and the atmosphere is peaceful. It's where I go to unwind, relax and read. And now thanks to a recent project to turn a futon into a porch couch, I have the ultimate reading and napping spot. Last year, I wrote about getting rid of my busted up outdoor furniture, updating the salvageable and buying a futon to to use as my new outdoor couch . Shortly after I painted the $20 queen-size, solid-wood futon with outdoor white paint, I got busy getting ready for my move and never updated with the final result. I love it.
Keep on Reading on