Are You Prepared For The Move?

I'm feeling slightly overwhelmed lately.  I'm not going to lie (not a good practice for anyone to fall into) however, moving isn't easy.  So, I thought I would write about it since moving and self storage often go hand in hand.  Many years ago, my Mother taught me this wonderful trick, pack what you own in plastic totes.  They don't fall apart, don't collect mildew, don't have to be taped and re-taped each time you want to search for something and they are easy to carry.  You can normally use a dry/erase marker on them and if not, write with permanent marker on masking tape because the masking tape removes easy.  So, totes have been my friends for a long time.  I would highly recommend stocking up when you see them go on sale.

Once you have those in place, you can begin to sort through items to keep and items to toss/sell/give away.  Because I had already packed our items in totes during the last move, I took two empty totes and we brought out one tote at a time and went through each item, three totes: keep, toss, throw.  Doing it that way made it go so much more quickly.  Once we were finished, we took clothes we no longer needed to the donation center, thew away what we couldn't give away and then gave away the items we didn't need.  This drastically reduced the amount of items we knew we would ship later.

Once you have "purged" your household, the easiest thing to do is rent a storage unit.  Yep, that's the business we are in but let me tell you, it truly is the best way to prepare for a move.  You can then begin to pack the items you are keeping in the totes and place them in a storage unit so you can focus on staging your home or pre-cleaning your apartment prior to move-out.  Prior to moving there is often much cleaning involved.  "What?!" You may exclaim, "I'm a very clean person!".  Well, you would be very amazed once you begin to move items around how much dust hides from your eyesight.  And, what about filling nail holes from the pictures which adorned your walls?  Then there is the touch up paint job that follows. Oh, and have you dusted your baseboards in a while? It all takes time.

Saving all of these items until moving weekend can be very exhausting.  Plus, if you are working and have little time during the week, you will suddenly feel panicked, overwhelmed and stressed while trying to juggle it all.  And this is where I have been finding myself as of late.  This is with everything you see above in place and with the exception of part of the pre-cleaning and touch-up painting.  I'm ahead of the game but still wanted the pre-cleaning and painting finished by now. I know, I know, I really should be patting myself and my son on the backs.  High fives are in order.  But, as the old adage says, "It's not over til the fat lady sings".  So, in my eyes, I still have a lot to accomplish in a short amount of time.

If you find yourself preparing for a move, I would highly suggest making a priority list.  Here are the most important things to list:

1)  Purchase several totes
2)  Place totes in each room
3) Start with the front room and make your way to the back, there is a method to this madness.  People have a tendency to pack more junk in the back of the house out of a person's sight. You put the things that mean a lot to you out for everyone to see. So, once you have packed the kitchen, living room and front bathroom, you are ready to get rid of everything.  This will make packing and purging things in the back part of the house much easier.
4)Rent a storage unit and start taking your totes to the unit
5) Assess what cleaning needs to take place in your home
6) Assess the painting that also needs to take place
7) Make your shopping list
8) Go through one room at a time until finished
9) At this point, you may even decide to go through items again, if so, the great news is that you can open your storage unit, go to the tote you want to go through and take care of it at the storage facility.  Most have dumpsters you can use.  Take a few extra totes with you when you go in the event you purge more items.
10) Relax, you have accomplished a lot.  Take yourself out for a nice meal, gourmet cup of coffee or a movie.

All in all, moving is stressful and no matter how much planning you do, it will be impossible to knock out that feeling of being a little overwhelmed.  However, if you put a list in place and have the materials handy that you need to get the job accomplished, you will have a feeling of structure and order and will be able to accomplish this huge endeavor and you will succeed and be able to enjoy the move a lot more than you would have had you not planned at all.

Have a great week!

Michelle Armstrong
Manager
Star Storage
816-765-7300