Moving is hard. It feels like you have to pack up your whole life into boxes, just to reverse the whole process a few days later. You have to handle address transfers, coordinate bill changes, figure out a new route to work, and find a new spot for the kitty litter.
Fortunately, there are many things you can do to make the experience less painful. So let’s jump into some moving tips for your new home in Grand Rapids, and put the excitement back in the experience!
1. Start Purging Early
Whenever you live in a home for a while, STUFF seems to magically appear. When you start to look through your house, you’ll probably find 14 stacks of paper that you don’t remember making. A half-full, dried out container of spackle from the one time you patched a wall. 7 toothbrushes, for some unexplained reason.
As soon as you’re thinking about moving, start purging.
By starting sooner, you maintain your sanity. Purging one room might take an hour, or it might take 15 minutes. If you knock out one room at a time, you can have a much more manageable space in just a few days.
2. Begin by Packing Your Least-Used Stuff
Once you’ve purged, begin by boxing up your seasonal gear. Organize your Christmas decorations, and those tablecloths you only use for the 4th of July. If it’s summer, get your coats and boots into an organized area, and box everything up.
As your moving day nears, narrow your focus further. For instance, if you’re a big reader, just pull out the next three books on your list. Pack the rest. Tackle the area under your bathroom sink, and box up your extra soap, toilet paper, and towels.
One of the best moving tips is to take it slow and steady. If you do a little bit each day, you won’t be frantic and miserable the night before your move.
3. Organize by Room… Based on Your NEW Home
In most cases, you won’t be moving to a house or apartment with the EXACT same layout as your current home. Maybe your new place has a bigger living room. Maybe you have to downsize your office, and now only have room for a desk. Perhaps you need to account for an extra bathroom.
As you box up your stuff, keep your new home in mind. Most people moving in Grand Rapids group their things by their CURRENT home, which leads to a lot of extra work later. While you probably won’t get it exactly right, you will still save a lot of time.
4. Label Every Box (on the Top and Sides)
This moving tip seems annoying when you’re packing up. It feels like a lot of extra work to put multiple labels on every box, and frankly, it’s hard to write on the side of a box that’s sitting on the floor.
It is worth every second.
On each box, write what is in it (School Books) and where it will go (Living Room). This will remove all confusion on moving day, and drastically speed up the process. Also, if you have people helping you out, they won’t have to guess about anything… they can just dig in.
This single tip can reduce your time spent moving boxes by 30%. It prevents logjams in doorways, giant piles in inconvenient places, and a thousand ‘Where does this go?‘ questions.
5. Sleep Well, Eat Food, Drink Water, and Start Early
If you’re going to be doing a lot of the heavy lifting yourself, do your body a favor. Don’t stay up until 4 AM surfing Facebook, and wake up 3 hours later to move. Don’t eat an entire Bloomin’ Onion the night before, or have a huge party that will leave you with a headache.
Moving day is hard.
It is physically difficult, mentally straining, and emotionally challenging. If you’re tired and cranky, it will be even worse.
So get as much sleep as you can. Make sure you eat decent meals, and drink some extra water. And if at all possible, start early. You’ll have much more energy from 9 AM – 3 PM than you will from 3 PM – 9 PM. Hit it hard in the morning.
So, with these moving tips in hand, get packed, prepped, and ready to go. Enjoy your new home in Grand Rapids!