Best Moving Tips
 

We bought a house with my Mother-in-law. We get to move in slowly, but can't do it too slowly because we need to have our current home fixed up and ready to put on the market either to rent or sell by mid-October.

We have not moved with children before. When DH and I moved into this house, we did not have much. We certainly had not accumulated much yet.
I have been decluttering a lot the last two years, but we still have so much stuff.

Since we do have the luxury of moving in a little slowly, like over two weeks or so, what would you do first?
Like seriously, starting from scratch?
Would you do a room at a time? Clean and line shelves? Purchase rugs before or after you move in? (funds are a but limited until we do not have two mortgages.) We could paint a little, but not much. What would you move first? Which room would you set up first?


We are moving my MIL in first to get her stuff out of storage and that won't be until this weekend, but I can do a few things over the next few days.

Re: Best Moving Tips
 

We moved about 1.5 years ago, and we moved slowly, too.

Things I wish we'd done:
1) Painted before we moved in. Seriously. All other decorating, I'm glad we waited, but whatever paint is currently on our walls is SO easily scuffed that I wish we'd taken the time to repaint, especially now that we have a toddler :facepalm
2) Thrown more stuff away-- I decluttered a lot, but there's still a lot of stuff we moved that we didn't truly need.

Things I'm glad we did:
1) Choose a day that we would be sleeping in the new house. That was my "deadline" for packing up essentials. I lived out of a suitcase for a bit.
2) Hiring a moving truck (we have a piano).
3) Hiring someone to clean our old apartment before we moved.
4) Kept boxes with stuff from just one room-- made unpacking a lot easier.

Re: Best Moving Tips
 

Do any updates first.

Clean the kitchen and bathrooms. Wipe out cabinets.

Move your storage items first. Christmas decorations, off season clothing, etc. Move everything from the kitchen except necessities. Cook as if you're on vacation in a condo. Easy.

Get rid of LOTS. I don't regret a single discard. Not a one.

Re: Best Moving Tips
 

My best moving tip is planning ahead for unpacking. Label kitchen cabinets with what goes where, and label your boxes as well (ex. "Dinner plates/bowls" "Drinking glasses" "pots and pans"). This will enable you to have help unpacking if needed.

Don't fold clothes - put garbage bags over the clothes on hangers in your closet like garment bags (make a small hole in the bottom for the hanger). Then at the new house rip off the garbage bag after you hang them up in the closet.

First, I would focus on the kitchen b/c it takes hours to pack.

I would also purge as much as possible - set a date for Salvation Army or whoever does charity pick-up in your area to come the week before your move so you can put out items you don't need. If you are able to clear out a spare room or something, designate it your 'moving room' to put boxes and such.

Re: Best Moving Tips
 

This is all so helpful. Keep the ideas coming.

If I post a picture somewhere else, could you all help me figure out how to set up a big room for school and mixed use?

Re: Best Moving Tips
 

Between 2012 and 2015, we moved our family 3x. I would never wish that on anyone!! The moves overall were positive, I just hate packing and unpacking.
I would highly recommend painting first if you can. If you can only do a little, choose either the rooms/areas that would be hardest to paint once you’re moved in, or maybe the higher impact spaces - like the foyer (first impression) or great room where you’ll spend a lot of time. Or, you could consider painting your kids’ bedrooms if that’s important to you or them; maybe it would help them feel more settled or excited about the move.
Definitely pack with unpacking in mind. Label boxes well, especially for the kitchen. If the budget allows, hire movers for your larger items.
I literally had no clue what all my husband had stuffed in the attic of our first house. So the day that a neighbor helped him unload the attic in prep to load the moving truck...I came home and was stunned by the amount of stuff we had to deal with. So the more you can declutter on the front end, the better!! I wish I’d had the time and energy to do more of that before each move we’ve made.



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Re: Best Moving Tips
 

All of our moves have been without pressure of a time frame.

I agree with doing all the work you want to do immediately BEFORE you move in. SO. MUCH. Easier. And paint your heart out. DO NOT leave any painting to after the move in. Truth is once you move in any future paint jobs will never happen. :shifty Said from far too much experience. :shifty

But truthfully once we got the house ready for move in, the actual move in has never been drawn out too much. It's VERY hard to live between houses. What you need is ALWAYS at the other house. So honestly once we start we just plow through to the end.

How far is the new house from the old house?

---------- Post added at 01:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:16 AM ----------

As to your specific questions. Yes. If budget doesn't allow for anything else, definitely do a deep clean of every surface before moving in.

My 2nd priority would be painting as much as possible.

When you say rugs, do you mean floor to floor carpeting? If so and if possible it's much easier to replace carpet in an empty house BUT if the budget doesn't allow it before move in I'd clean (if you have access to a steam cleaner) and deal with it until budget does.

For the actual move in, I did a room at a time. Easy to pack up on area and drive it over and immediately put it in place (since I had the luxury of a local move).

Re: Best Moving Tips
 

Part of what I did that helped me on our last love is that I just committed to decluttering on both ends. When ever I would pack something I would say do I *really*need this? And then when I was unpacking I would say the same thing do I really want this to take up space here.

Just committing to doing it on both ends took some of the must clear everything out before hand stress off of me. And letmedo a better job of getting the packing and moving done

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Re: Best Moving Tips
 

OH YES!!!! I agree wholeheartedly!!! Decluttering was VITAL to my success in every. single. move. PLUS there's no other time that you literally place your fingers on EVERY single item you own!!! Perfect chance to re-evaluate what really brings value to your life and your home. Don't move anything you don't need and love to your new home. :heart

Re: Best Moving Tips
 

DH and I have been married for 26 years, and we move a lot. Here's my best moving advice:

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

Do not divorce, nor kill, your husband during this move and for several months before or afterward.

You only think I'm kidding....:shifty

Re: Best Moving Tips
 

Oh my goodness this!! We have moved 5 times in 12years and it’s exhausting. Another thing is if you know one of you handles the stress of packing and unpacking better than the other own the task and run with it. My DH gets so so wound short and impatient with a houseful of boxes. When we move I get him out of the house on errands or at his new job doing inprocessing as fast as possible. I can have all our stuff (12k ish pounds including furniture) unpacked and set up in at most two weeks.

Re: Best Moving Tips
 

I would also support doing EVERYTHING you possibly can in the new place BEFORE moving in. This includes deep cleaning, repairs, painting....washing light diffusing glass on light fixtures, cleaning eaves....all of those annoying but necessary things. Then, I would move in to the new house with the basics for each member of the family members. This would include all clothes worn in the last year, for kids...this would be different, all toiletries and towels that are required for 1 week plus extra for laundry day, bedroom furniture, sheets, living room furniture, Kitchen essentials: pots and pans, dishes, mixing bowls, cutlery.....

While you are living with only the essentials you will become aware of other things you "need" or use that are missing...keep a list and bring those on a future trip. Give everything else careful consideration. Do you love it? Yes, Then bring it but display or use it. Be ruthless with the kids toys and donate/throw out what you can. If there are items that you are on the fence about then box it and put it away in the new house to review at a future date. If you have no need to look in the box then donate it after 6 months or a year.

You are being given a huge gift here to get organized and simplify. I am sooooo jealous. I would highly recommend that you live minimally in the new place for as long as possible to help you make the move lighter and easier.....Keeping in mind that you are joining two households....so I would choose the best item from one of the households and donate or sell the other.....This may also make you some money to put toward house renos, painting or purchases.