We are moving....

[minniecarousel]

When neighbors moved, we saw the moving company deliver a ton of rubbermaid-type containers. It was a local move, so I'm sure they rented them from the moving company. Better than buying a ton of these containers. Sounds like it would only work for a local move.

 

[C.Ann]

Do not let the movers,yourself or anyone else write Miscellaneous on any box!!!

And always write the room that the box came from on it then you have an idea what is in it and where it should go in the new house.

I was going to say the same thing! Don't have any Miscellaneous boxes and don't have any junk boxes. For us, these boxes never get unpacked. We still have two closets in our house with these misc. boxes in them and we have been in this house for 2 years!

If you haven't worn it or used it in a year or two, get rid of it.

Make sure boxes have specific labels on them. If you open a kitchen box, you shouldn't find a pair of shoes, a fish bowl, a hairbrush and ONE kitchen item.

When you're packing your truck, Pod, whatever your moving vessel is, get the smallest size that will hold your stuff. You really want it to be very tight in there once everything is packed so there will be less room for shifting.

We used PODS the last time we moved and it was the best thing we've ever done when it comes to moving. They drop it off at your house, you fill it up, and then they take it away. When you're ready for it, they bring it to your new location. It was so much easier, and less stress, hassle, and aggrivation than renting a truck!

We also don't take any clothes off of hangers. If they are already on hangers, they stay on them. We just layed them across the top of everything in the POD. Then we they delivered the POD, we pulled out the stack of clothes on hangers, and hung them up. I would go insane if I had to rehang everything once I got there. What a waste of time!

These are all very good rules to follow.. When DD and her family (and I) moved from their old house to the new one, things were going smooth as silk - when I was packing all of the boxes and labeling them.. Then in the midst of the moving, my youngest brother died suddenly as a result of an accident on his way to work and I wasn't much use in the packing department after that... A few other people took over and it was "toss it all in a box/tote and close it up"..

What can I say? Four years later and the majority of that stuff is still in the attic of the new house - still not unpacked.. Every once in awhile someone will go up and dig around in a box to find something, but it really just has to be dumped out on the floor and gone through piece by piece..

Every year when I pack and unpack for the lake, everything goes in a boxes or totes that are clearly marked - otherwise I don't think I would ever come here again!

Good luck with the move!

 

[manning]

The most important thing if using a moving company...take impotant papers and high valued items with you.

What a lot of people don't realize is they are not necessarily the only load on the truck. That truck is dropping off and picking up loads along the way and sometimes a wrong box gets unloaded. Also very small loads can sit at origin for awhile waiting for a truck going to/thru destination that has room to carry it. Moving companies don't like to move near empty trucks.

 

[walden]

burn it all and start over
Im moving in 14 days. Best advice I have, get colored dots. Then pick a color for each room (blue kitchen, yellow bedroom...). That way you can just put a dot on the doors in the new place and the movers will know where to put stuff. .

One caution on the colored dots because I thought they were a great idea too. They only work if your movers are not red/green color blind. Yes, what are the chances of getting 2 out of 3 movers who were color blind? Luckily I was at the new house when the movers arrived but had to look at every single red, pink or green box dot and tell them which room to put it in and we then had to go back and move a few. The blue and yellow dotted boxes did end up in the right rooms.

I sincerely wished I'd used numbers instead on that move!

When you get to your new location, the FIRST thing to unpack is your bed. Put the sheets on it and have it ready to go for when you get tired. The last thing you want to be doing when you are exhausted from a long day of moving boxes is trying to find your favorite pillow.

Key items like toiletries, pillows, pajamas, a few important kitchen items (coffee pot!) get packed last and the box gets labeled "OPEN ME FIRST."

Yes. The first night survival box is so important! Also have prescription meds, a first aid kit and all important papers in a bag that you move yourself.

 

[Disneylover79]

Well my parents came over yesterday and we got SO much packed....now I need to get more boxes to pack the bedroom and the bathroom...I can't wait to get out of here..keep the advice coming..I thank you all for them

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

My movers were thrilled last time that I had a pack room. Everything that needed to go on the truck was in one room. This time I did one room of boxes and one of funiture. Seems to make things go faster too.

 

[dismom2]

We've moved a few times.

I think it's Rubbermaid-- they make colored boxes for different holidays, so we have our Halloween stuff in orange and black boxes, Christmas decor in the green and red, and Easter in pink ones.

The most important thing is to be organized, and get rid of everything you don't need, use or wear anymore. We usually donate everything, but a lot of people do yard sales to earn extra money, which is a great idea.

I wouldn't use stickers for boxes in case they fall off. I use large sharpie markers to mark the boxes, and keep like boxes together in the truck.

I always keep old sheets and comforters when I buy new ones, and those work well for wrapping around furniture and large breakables. I use paper towels to wrap small breakables. I put newspaper on the bottom and top of the box for extra cushion. And write "breakables" largely on all sides of the boxes that you want handled extra carefully. Label really well, and label all sides.

Make sure to keep out everything you will will need...you have to think of everything--even those 'just in case' items.

Moving is a lot of work, but you can make unpacking less stressful.

Good luck with the move. Hope it all goes smoothly for you.

 

[minkydog]

Dont pack the can opener untill the day you move, then put it in your purse for easy acess (I speak from experance).

Absolutely! We have moved a bunch of times and the thing we learned earlly on is to pack the real necessities in our car. On one of our moves the packers wrapped & packed the trash from our Burger King lunch.

Things that you will need the first 2-3 hours in your new home are:
toilet paper
Clorox wipes
hand soap
paper towels

cell phone charger
Can opener
cooler for ice(your fridge might not be cold for another 24 hours)
plastic cups, plates, and utensils
salt & pepper

DVDs for the kids
shower curtain with hooks
bar of soap
coupla towels

 

[bettymae1121]

Anyone got any tips on packing,loading the truck, or unpacking...

Yes. Hire someone to do it for you!

Seriously, the last time I moved I swore I'd hire packers/movers for the next one. Somethings are just worth the money!

 

[Disney Doll]

Here's what I did.

Started to box things immediately when I knew we were moving. I started with the "unnecessary" things...china and crystal...I knew I wasn't going to be throwing a formal dinner party withiin the next couple of months during the middle of moving! I also pulled all the pictures and decorations off the walls and pack them almost immediately.

I labeled the boxes with what was in them and what room they belonged in. ie - China plates/dining room. With regard to labellling rooms...probably easier to label the "non-obvious" rooms in the new house with #1, #2 etc. rather than dots or colors or whatever. Then you can write on the box Room #1 and the movers know to put it in the room with #1 on the piece of papaer on the door. Presumably, they'd be able to find the kitchen without numbering it!

If possible, do not empty all your dresser drawers. Just take them out of the dressers annd move them that way. Probably more do-able if you are moving yourself or using a pod to move, rather than if you are using movers. We moved ourselves from our 1st apartment to our first home, and this was a beautiful idea.

Again, because we were moving ourselves, and our 1st apartment and 1st home were actually not far from each other, I would go back and forth between the 2 and every time I did I would bring a few boxes with me. I had 2rooms upstairs that we were not going to immediately use, so everything went up there, with all the same boxes grouped together in different areas of the room (ie-all the kitchen boxes in the right hand corner of the room, all the dining room boxes in the left hand corner of the room). It made it very easy to unpack, and the house didn't appeared all confusingly cluttered.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Don't?


Okay---we just moved over the summer, so I can say that.


Declutter before you go. Unpacking will go better.

Don't assume that just because it is labeled to go to Room X, that it will end up there. Despite our boxes being bilingual---unloading got to a point of chaos where hubby wasn't getting listened to. . No biggy!

I would have decluttered MORE, but circumstances did not allow. That I decluttered as much as I did was a miracle.

Kids were assigned boxes and could only pack what fit...allowing them to learn how to declutter. I labeled boxes that they needed help unpacking with "Dont open without mom"--anything without that, they could unpack themselves.

Have a very distinct and preferably closable area that the movers cannot touch. This is where your transition items and clothes/toiletries, etc will go. I didn't leave town for another week...so I also had air mattesses, baby equipment and transition toys for the kids.

We paid $1 per pound for stuff we intended to throw out but could not get to. I have 100 pounds of papers to shred still. Bit I couldn't shred it before we left. And I couldn't just toss it. So I reiterate---declutter!

And I concur with hiring someone...but am still kind serious about that not moving at all suggestion. Hah!