Packing and Moving Tips

Okay, I have ONE moving tip....

HIRE MOVERS!

Just kidding, I have more tips and I'll get in to them shortly.  But seriously, hire movers, they will change your life...forever!

Our situation was a little tricky because we had to pack the entire house and move most things to storage (for about 6 months) and bring some things to my parent's house.  It was difficult to keep track of what was going where!

1.) Use recycled boxes:  We saved a ton of money by purchasing recycled boxes from a nearby storage place.  We are fortunate to also have a neighborhood listserve so we were able to get amazing [free!!] wardrober boxes from someone who recently moved in.

2.) Label every box: Not only did we write which room the box belongs in, we labeled exactly what's IN the box.  For example, "Kitchen - pots, pans, small plates".  This will make unpacking so much easier.  Also, if boxes are going two separate places, label the boxes uniquely.  For us, we had some boxes going in the Uhaul to go to my parent's house.  We taped a piece of bright orange paper and wrote "UHAUL" so the movers wouldn't take to storage by mistake.  So far, we haven't noticed any mix ups!

3.) Donate a TON before moving: We must have donated to Purple Heart about 4 times, took 2 trips to the local Habitat for Humanity, a visit to the dump, left things on the curb for neighbors....and we still had so much stuff.  It's amazing how much a family can accumulate after just 3 years.  You don't even realize it.  I can't even imagine after 20+ years of living in one house.  Donate, donate, donate...always!  I used to have a really hard time donating and letting go of things.  But just think of all the folks out there that could really benefit from the items.  It makes it much easier knowing it's going to a good home.  I'm excited to continue getting rid of clutter when we move back into our [new to us] house!

4.) Use large ziplock bags for food or liquid items: Soaps, conditioners, makeup, olive oil....pack everything in large ziplock bags so nothing leaks while boxed up.

5.) Wrap fragile items with paper: We bought that newspaper-ish paper (without the black ink) from the storage place and wrapped everything with it - pictures, mirrors, wine glasses, plates, pots, etc.  Worth every penny!

6.) Use Wardrobers, trash bags, or dry cleaning bags for clothing: We put as much clothing as possible in the wardrobers.  However, you can always keep clothes on the hanger, rubber band about 8-10 hangers and throw a garbage bag or dry cleaning back over the clothes.  It keeps everything on the hanger and protects it from getting dirty.  It makes unpacking a breeze!

7.) Hire movers: As a said before, hire movers...they are a game changer!  We seriously could NOT have done it without them.  They just know how to wrap things, pack things, and store things!  To us, it's worth any amount of money to have the movers just take care of it!

8.) If you have a dog, take him to doggie daycare the day of the move:  Our puppy is still very active and would not have done well if we neglected him for 6-8 hours that day.  We dropped him off at doggie daycare, picked him up around 4pm, and we had one TIRED pup that evening (and the next day!).  He was happy, we were happy, it was a win-win!  However, he was very confused when going back to our empty house...