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Congrats on your new home! Now you just have to figure out how you’re going to organize packing and moving everything without breaking the bank, your fragile lamp, or your back. That’s why I put together this list of easy moving and packing organization tips that will make your move as simple as possible
How do I know these tips will make your move dead simple? As a professional organizer, I have helped a lot of people organize their moves and done it on both ends. Need help moving into a new home, packing your belongings, or unpacking them at the other end – as in at your new home? We offer a bespoke packing and unpacking service to do just that, and Just Organized by Taya is ready when you are! Contact me to learn more!
In the meantime, sit back, grab a snack, and dive in, I have a lot to share!
Declutter and Sort First
Decluttering is an essential first step in the moving process. The more unused and unnecessary items you eliminate from your home, the less stuff you’ll have to pack up, haul across town, unload, and organize. I recommend clearing any clutter from your home as soon as you know you’ll be moving.
Be ruthless with your stuff. That coat you think is cute but haven’t worn in four months? Donate it.
The very first coffee maker you ever bought that flavors your morning brew with little pieces of rust? Trash it.
Doing a massive preliminary purge will have the single biggest impact on the efficiency and ease of your entire packing process.
Sort things by category.
Organize your belongings by category, not by room (note that the category part only applies to the organization process, not the unpacking—that’s a whole separate ordeal).
Instead of spending a day cleaning out your entire bedroom, spend an afternoon sorting through every article of clothing you own.
Scour every coat closet, dirty clothes hamper, and laundry room until you’ve got all your clothes in one place. Then sort.
Do the same thing for books, shoes, important papers, and the like.
Donate
If you’d like to donate your items, group them, together, and then determine how and where you are going to do so.
Set aside stuff to sell.
You probably have a few items you no longer want, but would love to get a little money for. If that’s the case, set these items aside and determine where you can sell them.
If it’s furniture, Craigslist or AptDeco might be your best bet. If it’s brand name clothing, you could try Poshmark or a local consignment store.
For specialty items like a gently used Coach purse or your collection of 90’s Beanie Babies, get on eBay or Mercari and list them there.
A Note About Moving Clutter
In their rush (and often even panic) to get everything packed to move, people often end up packing, and moving, things they simply do not need, and that will become nothing more than clutter in their new home. This is a huge mistake. Not only will you be creating more unpacking work for yourself on the other end, but you will also be unable to get off to that fresh new start that should accompany any move.
If you are struggling to decide what to move, or the thought of adding the work of decluttering to your already heavy moving schedule, the investment in getting the help of a professional organizer offers great ROI. We can not only serve as an extra pair of hands but also as the voice of reason that will help prevent emotion, fear of wasting money or just plain lack of time lead to you packing boxes full of stuff that should not be making the move. Why not book a Zoom call with us here (free of charge) so we can discuss just how we can help you?
Pick the right moving day.
Hire your movers at least a month in advance so you can plan accordingly. If you have a flexible schedule, play around with potential moving dates and try to find the cheapest time of month to make an appointment.
Moving companies are busiest on weekends, so if you can skip the Saturday chaos and schedule your move for a Tuesday, you might get a significant discount.
Map out the best way to get to your new home.
Whether you’re moving to Houston from out of state, across the country, across state lines, or just to a neighboring town, you’re going to need an efficient travel route so you don’t waste your move-in day sitting in gridlock traffic or pulling over three different times to type an address into your GPS.
Figure out the easiest, most efficient way to get where you’re going. Look up potential highway construction schedules ahead of time. And take traffic, detours, and necessary stops into account when you’re making your plan.
Create a master moving to-do list
When you move homes, you inevitably end up having 600 different things to do and remember. Don’t let all these tasks and important reminders, no matter how seemingly obvious, slip your mind.
Write them down somewhere. Put them in the Notes app on your phone, or go old-school with a giant yellow legal pad.
No detail is too insignificant. You just remembered the name of the little bookstore in town that will accept your used novels? Write it down.
You stuck that extra screw from the broken drawer next to the sink? Take note.
You have to return your cable box to your provider at least one day before you leave? Jot it down.
Put moving tasks on your calendar.
Take your moving organization a step further and spend an evening mapping out everything you have to do. Get an oversized calendar and mark the empty white boxes with important daily tasks to prepare for your move. For example:
Tuesday: Call the moving company.
Wednesday: Sort through toiletries.
Thursday: Buy new sheets. Donate or throw away the old ones.
An added bonus to using the calendar method is that breaking up your tasks by day makes them seem more manageable. Also, don’t forget to add “celebrate with wine” somewhere in there to give you something to look forward to.
Check to see if you have the original boxes for your electronics.
You might think your flat screen TV could withstand a 30-minute drive across town in a cardboard box, but alas, it’s a fragile piece of technology. The best way to transport your electronics is in the original boxes they arrived in when you purchased them.
Check to see if you stashed these boxes somewhere — attic? Garage? If you don’t have them, make a list of what you’ll need to buy or borrow to properly cushion your stuff.
Quilted blankets, bubble wrap, and sturdy tape all work well to protect TVs and similarly delicate items.
Go to the hardware store.
How, you might ask, is one trip to the hardware store even possible?
Here’s how: lists.
Make one, and make it really thorough and detailed. Sit down with your family, partner, or roommates and brainstorm every possible item you will need to help you get through the moving process.
Again, nothing is too insignificant. Packing tape, cardboard boxes, packing paper, extra screws, putty, a measuring tape, a new industrial-size broom, you name it. Buy it all in one big haul.
Don’t forget the “just in case” items when you’re making your master hardware store list. Stock up now on extra supplies like light bulbs (check your lamps to verify the type you need), extension cords, and power strips so you’ll be set to go when you start moving things in.
Schedule disconnect times.
Call your cable, internet, electricity, and gas providers at least a week ahead of your move to figure out when you need to shut everything off. Make sure you leave enough time in your schedule to gather any necessary items — like cords, remotes, or cable boxes — you may need to return.
Pack ahead.
Packing little by little is far less stressful than trying to tackle it all in one day. As early as a couple months out, start packing the stuff you know you won’t be using.
This can be anything from off-season clothing to books you’ve already read to mementos, pictures (here’s how to store and preserve old photographs), and keepsakes.
Pack decorative items a few weeks out.
Pack up all your art and decorative items several weeks before you move. These pieces can be some of the trickiest to store because they’re fragile and often oddly shaped, so having a bit of extra time to figure out how to properly cushion them is crucial.
Sure, your walls and mantels will look a bit stark, but when you’re running around the house a week before the move feeling like you’re about to lose your mind, you’ll be so glad your grandma’s landscape painting is already nestled in its precious bubble wrap.
Change your address a week before you move.
This is one of those things everyone forgets to do until they’re two weeks into life in a new home and they realize their Amazon Prime shipment still hasn’t arrived. Change your address ahead of time so your bills, credit card statements, and packages can arrive on time and without hassle.
Label moving boxes
The key to finding your stuff easily is labeling all your packed boxes accurately and clearly. When you’re stacking boxes in a van or car you won’t be able to see their tops, so make sure you label the sides as well. But don’t stop there.
Label the boxes by category and by room (for example, Books, Library and Books, Bedroom) to speed up the unloading process.
If you’re more of a visual learner, use color-coded electrical tape to label your boxes.
rolls of yellow, orange, red, pink, green, and blue color-coded moving tape with rooms printed on it are on top of a packed box
If you want to take your box labeling a step further, create a number system.
As you pack up a box, take note of every single item inside of it. Write the list in a Google doc, or in your favorite notes app, and then give the box a number.
This genius strategy has two major benefits:
- You can go straight to box #16 with the plunger instead of digging through every “Bathroom” box just to find it.
- You’ll know the total number of boxes you’re transporting, so you can check to see if one goes missing or is stolen.
Protect fragile items with packing paper, bubble wrap, or blankets.
Remember that packing paper you put on your master list when you stocked up on supplies at the hardware store?
Use it to pad all your fragile dishware and decorative items. Stuff it inside glasses, wrap it around vases and bowls, and shove it between your dishes and the side of your boxes.
Make sure you wrap each of your fragile items separately, so they’re fully cushioned. If you don’t have packing paper, opt for bubble wrap or a quilted blanket.
Pack dishes vertically.
Don’t stack your dishes horizontally inside a box. Instead, wrap your plates and bowls in packing paper, gently place them into a box on their sides like records, and then fill the empty spaces with bubble wrap to prevent cracking and breaking.
Pack a clear plastic box with things you’ll need right away.
This can include toilet paper, a shower curtain, hand soap, towels, sheets, snacks, or whatever else you think you’ll need for the first day or night in your new home.
Having a few essential items on hand will make you feel more comfortable and prepared to tackle unpacking everything else.
Pack a personal overnight bag.
Chances are you won’t get anything much unpacked in the first day, so bring whatever you need to feel relaxed and settled on your first night.
A change of clothes, your toiletries, a water bottle, and your laptop can go a long way in making your new place feel more like home.
Stop buying groceries a week before you leave.
To save you the guilt of throwing away perfectly decent food, stop buying groceries a week or two before you’re scheduled to move. Try to make meals at home to use all the food you have left.
If you don’t finish everything, invite a friend or two over to see if they need some half-finished spices or boxes of pasta.
For anything you can’t get rid of, toss it and don’t look back.
Take pictures of your electronics.
Before you take them apart and pack them up, take a few pictures of the back of your electronic devices — the cord situations, if you will.
Having these pictures will make it that much easier to set up your TV or monitor as soon as you move in — no fretting necessary.
Put your storage bins and luggage to use.
Instead of trying to figure out how to pack up all your woven seagrass baskets, linen bins, and carry-on suitcases, store stuff inside them.
Think clothes and shoes for sturdy suitcases, and hand towels and pillowcases for lightweight, open-top bins and baskets.
Make copies of important papers.
Pack a separate box or briefcase with copies of all your important documents in case of an emergency.
Though it might be a tedious project to scan or copy every birth certificate, passport, social security card, proof of insurance paper, and tax claim, you don’t want to risk damaging the only version of your papers in transit. They’re too precious.
Set aside cleaning supplies for moving day.
Build a mini cleanup kit so you can do one final sweep through your home on moving day.
Set aside a broom, mop, dustpan, duster, sponge, cleaning products, paper towels, and old rags for wiping the grimy, hidden surfaces you could never get to when all your stuff was in the way.
Defrost your fridge at least one day before you move.
Who wants to wake up to a grungy, mildewy fridge in their new home?
No one. No one at all.
Take time to thoroughly clean your fridge and wipe away all the liquid before you haul it to your new home. Or leave it behind for ther next oxxupants, who will truly appreciate the fasct that you did this. They may never get to tell you that but it’s a great way to earn good karma points for your new adventure in living.
Load boxes from the same rooms together.
Stack and load boxes in groups according to the rooms indicated on the labels. Put all the kitchen stuff together, all the bedroom stuff together, and all the living room stuff together.
That way, you can unload all the boxes from the same rooms at the same time, which makes unpacking everything a cinch.
Load heavy furniture into the moving truck first.
Have the person with the highest Tetris score be in charge of figuring out how to fit everything in the back of the moving truck in the most efficient way possible.
Load your heavy furniture first, like sofas and sectionals. Then finish with lighter items, like your DIY nightstand and folding chairs that double as clothes hangers.
Be gentle with everything, as most seemingly wooden items are not actually made from wood, but particle board.
Don’t be afraid to flip things over, either — couches actually transport well on their sides and save a ton of space in the process.
Delegate tasks when you’re unloading the moving truck.
Figure out ahead of time who will be the chief of moving day. Whoever feels comfortable taking charge of the unloading and organization process (and inevitably answering 400 different questions) should assume this position.
Delegate every little task so no one is wasting time or sitting around with nothing to do. With all hands on deck, your unpacking process will fly by.
Keep Ziploc bags handy.
Keep a stash of Ziploc bags in your purse or backpack for the big moving day. You can use the bags to store doorknobs, tiny screws and brackets, luggage keys, or other small, easily forgettable items.
Make the beds first.
Set up and make your beds as soon as you move in. That way, instead of worry about tucking in your dust ruffle, or finding the right set of sheets at the end of a long night, you can just crash out right away.
Be a good host.
Make sure you take care of the people who help you move, regardless of whether or not they’re being paid to do it.
Provide beverages and snacks for everyone, break for pizza, or pay for everyone’s dinner and get it delivered using a food ordering app.
Elevate Your Moving Experience with Just Organized by Taya
As you prepare for your next chapter, Just Organized by Taya is here to ensure a smooth transition. We specialize in decluttering your current space, thoughtfully packing your belongings, and setting up your new home with care and organization. Here’s how we make your move exceptional:
- Decluttering Mastery: We help you sort through your belongings, deciding what to keep, donate, or discard, making your move lighter and more meaningful.
- Tailored Packing: Our team carefully packs your treasures, ensuring everything is organized and secure for the journey ahead.
- Unpacking and Organizing: Upon arrival at your new home, we meticulously unpack and organize your items, transforming your new space into a welcoming and harmonious environment.
- Custom Solutions: We provide personalized strategies to meet your specific needs, ensuring your moving process is as stress-free and efficient as possible.
- Peace of Mind: Enjoy the comfort of knowing your move is in the hands of experienced professionals dedicated to making your transition seamless.
Let Just Organized by Taya guide you to a beautifully organized start in your new home. Contact us here to discuss how we can help you.
Working with Taya and her team is easy. You can book an appointment easily on her website, or contact her directly at 832-271-7608
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