Today I am sharing my top 5 moving tips to make your next move as stress-free as possible!
For the last 15 years, I have moved every 1-2 years, so I consider myself somewhat of a moving expert. 🙂 This last move was a big one for us, we said goodbye to Colorado and made the trek back to Toledo, Ohio. This was a daunting task, but I am lucky to have such generous parents who offered to fly out and help us make the journey.
Before we put our Denver home up for sale, we packed up a shipping container to get a head start on packing and prepare for the open house. We rented a U-Haul to get our remaining possessions to Ohio. Chris drove the truck and my Dad and I drove our personal cars. We made a last minute decision to send my Mom and Evelyn (1 year old daughter) home on a plane and it was definitely the right choice! She would not have done well on the 20 hour drive!
5 Tips for a Stress-Free Move:
Start Stockpiling Packing Materials
You are going to need a lot of boxes! Ask around your office to see if anyone recently moved and has boxes they are willing to part with. Your office may even have large boxes that you can have. Another great resource for moving boxes is at nearby stores. I have scored some nice boxes from the local Walmart by asking workers if they had any unwanted boxes that I could grab on my way out.
Do you get paper ads in your mailbox? Start saving those to use to wrap valuables. I will also keep leftover bubble wrap and paper from deliveries we receive from Amazon and other stores.
Get a head start on packing
If you are selling your home, get a head start on the packing and box up 25% of your belongings. Decluttering your home is an important part of selling it. Starting your packing early is a great way to get your stuff out of the house!
Pack/Toss/Donate
Make sure you are only packing up what you want to keep. Create piles to donate and toss instead of boxing up unwanted possessions. The space available in your moving truck is valuable and you don’t want to waste it with stuff you will be throwing in the garbage once it is unpacked. Check your local area for non-profits that pick up donated materials from your home. Salvation Army is one example of an organization that allows scheduled pickups.
Color Code Moving Boxes
- Red: Kitchen (goes to storage)
- Yellow: Living rooms (goes to storage)
- Green: Goes into our new house
This made packing and unpacking the truck pretty easy. All of the boxes going in storage (red and yellow) went into the truck first and all of the boxes staying with us at my in-laws (green) went in last. This saved a lot of time looking at each box and trying to decipher if we should keep or store its contents.
Hire Professional Cleaners!
When the truck is all packed up you are going to be exhausted – trust me. Line up a cleaning service to complete a deep clean in your house once you are out. They will clean your appliances, bathrooms, floors, etc to ensure the house is ready to go for its new owners.
Our move went very smoothly and we even made it back to Ohio in time for my Dad’s 60th birthday party!
Want to check out the place we are calling home while we get settled in Toledo? Check it out!
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