The Captain and I have moved exactly 2.5 million times. Lie. Okay, but we have actually moved 8 times in 8 years. I hate/love moving. I hate it because it's moving. The packing and boxes and dust. I love it because it's a new start, cleansing, and a damn good excuse to decorate. With The Captain's job we have moved around a decent amount and sometimes, like now, into a place for 6 months or less so it's hard to imagine decorating and unpacking only to have to pack it back up in a few months... Which is why we waste no time. My living space is usually unpacked within a few days and sort of decorated within a week, within 2 we are finished. This isn't bragging, this is simply letting you in on the secret. Power through. The quicker you are feeling settled the better you feel and the more enjoyable your temporary time is! Here are a few of my handy dandy moving tips!!
1. Make a solid checklist of every credit card/subscription/magazine etc etc that needs to be moved to the new address on one piece of paper. I also include the utilities to be shut off and utilities to be turned on with room to write any notes. Write your new address on the list so you will never be caught without it when making these changes. And dude, be a grown up. Forward your mail. It costs 1.05 and you can sign up to get Crate & Barrel, West Elm, and Lowes coupons. Score.
2. Try your best to organize boxes by room and be super descriptive about their contents. I mean, come on, if you are gonna toss random crap into boxes you want to know what's in them. There is nothing worse than running around thinking, where the hell is the one thing that I need to put the other thing together… oh, but that definitely won't be an issue if you follow number 3, below.
3. Tape any loose hardware or unique hanging gadgets to the item. This will make life so much easier. With our platform bed, Mohawk's crib, etc we seriously stuffed the hardware in a ziplock and taped that son-a-bitch right to the furniture. GooGone can take care of any sticky residue.
2. Unpack the Kitchen and the kiddos room first. I would think that this is pretty common sense, but the kitchen is by far the worst room to unpack, so much paper and breakable junk. It's also super important to eat and drink during a move and if your kitchen is all set you will feel better sitting down to have a meal of food. Now transitioning a kid, especially a bambino, is hard enough to do, so having their room set up as close to, if not exactly as it was in the last house gives them some normalcy and sets you up for success.
3. Contain the disaster to 1 or 2 spaces. If your entire house is chaos you are gonna lose your mind! So we always reserve a few spaces to be the hot damn mess of our house, usually the guest room and the garage. You put whatever you need to in these rooms and slowly, on your own time, clean up and empty out the rooms. If you do a little each day they will be cleaned up quickly and you will still get to live in somewhat normal conditions.
4. Hang shit up, quick. The reason is two fold. [1]Pictures and art work take up precious storage space ANNNDDD [2] once pictures are up your house will feel more like home. BOOM. And not to worry, I'm working to have a post on hanging gallery walls soon!!
5. Buy yourself something pretty. Seriously, buy yourself something for the new place, a fresh start of sorts. I decided to start our bedroom revamp with a few pieces of new bedding. And whether it's big or small it will make you feel better.
Have any moving tips to share!? I know a bunch of you readers are seasoned movers comment with your advice for any newbies!!!!!
