I moved seven times in the States along. I consider myself an expert in moving. I wrote up a list of tips for moving way back in 1996. Here is an updated version:
1. Get rid of more stuff.
If you are thinking about moving, start getting rid of your old stuff. Donate it. Freecycle it. Whatever you do, do not think you will cleanup and decide what to throw out after you move. Especially as you get close to the end of moving the moving day, it is very tempting to give up on cleanup and just pack stuff in boxes even if you think you may throw them out after the move. You will never do it. Just more junk to store in the next place.
2. Plan furniture placement and room usage before you move.
This is the fun part. You get to play architect / interior designer. I actually consider this part a major part of searching for the next place. Ideally when you pick your next home, a lot of the decision process includes your thoughts on how the new place is to be used. Whey plan ahead? See next tip:
3. Pack to unpack.
This is the key to a quick move and a quick recover. By recover, I mean how fast can you get back to living normally after the move. For the last few moves, it takes me less than one week to get back to normal living in my new places. Since you know what should go where in the new place, pack your stuff accordingly. Label each box (and furniture on the moving date) by destination/room. Your mover will also love you for doing this. A lot of time will otherwise be wasted by the mover asking you where things go. Color code the boxes and furniture. Tape up color coding at each room in the new place for the movers.
4. Clean the bathroom and shower the day before if possible.
If schedule allows, go and deep clean the bathroom and shower before moving day. After a long day of moving, the last thing you want to do is to jump into a dirty shower. The best thing you can do is to be able to relax in a clean bathroom after the move.
5. Label our audio/visual/computer cable connections.
If you have any reasonable amount of sound or home theatre or computer stuff in the house, label or map out all the connections before the move. It will save you a lot of time in trying to figure how to hook things backup after the move. Pack all the cables in one big box after labeling them.
6. Do have other family members (nor friends) around to help during moving day.
Only your know where you want things to go. Anyone else at the scene will always try to help and end up confusing the movers. Enough said. They can come help before/after, but don’t slow the move down during.
7. Boxes, bubble wraps, and tape.
You can never have too much of them. They are expensive. Try freecycle or “borrow” moving boxes from work. You need them. You will always need more than you think.
8. Buy rubbermaid type boxes (the large 12/18/22 gallon size)
Buy them when they are on sale. They cost too much, but they do make great waterproof storage boxes. I used to have a basement full of them to store old stuff. But, if you are an advance mover like myself, I don’t have old stuff anymore. Live simply. Get rid of everything you don’t need right now.
9. Take pictures before, during, and after.
Why not document the event? Moving is one of the major stresses in life, I read somewhere. I believe it. But if you follow these tips, you may even start to enjoy it.
That’s it. Not too hard. Spend most of your time on planning and packing and throwing stuff out. Good luck Moving!
