Moving Tips
Two weeks left till moving day! Wow, even typing that is making me nervous. All the details have been falling – almost – perfectly into place, but it is still hard not to get anxious. Little Fox has done okay sleeping on trips, but I don’t know how she’ll feel about a new home! Our new place is also going to be smaller. Thankfully, we have about a week to move everything over and get set up. My mind is going crazy with all the ways I can organize our stuff.
It’s a little different this time, moving with a toddler instead of a newborn, but we are using many of the same tricks as last time. Let me share with you the best things we did (and will do again) to make moving homes as smooth as possible.
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Triangles in Boxes
I didn’t realize just how helpful this moving hack is until I did it to my first box. Now I can
’t go back. It is way easier to lift a box when you have a spot to hold it from! Cut a triangle about a third of the way down the box. It will be so much easier to carry. Diaper boxes already have this sort of handle in them, which makes them great for moving too.
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Packing Supply Kit
Make a packing supply kit with all the essentials: scissors, tape, permanent markers, and labels if you are using them. That way, as you go from room to room, you never lose your supplies! I didn’t use this last time and was always trying to figure out where I put the scissors down. Now that I have a year old, I know where the scissors are, and can make sure they are always out of reach. A quick add on to the moving tips – if you don’t want to make labels, use coloured electrical tape to colour code your boxes!
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Use Stretch Wrap/Shrink Wrap/Saran Wrap
I don’t think it matters which kind. I haven’t used heat to seal it because tape works fine. Using the clear wrap to cover things like drawer organizers is a must! It saves packing those small items loose and having your stuff get disorganized during the move. This time I’m using it for jewellery, my craft drawers, and utensils.
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Make use of Towels, Blankets, and Sweaters
These items can be used to wrap breakables like picture frames and mirrors. That way you aren’t buying packing paper to cushion these items. Socks can also be used to cushion these items in a box. Larger blankets can be used to pad furniture during a move too. My mother in law showed me how important this is when she moved a treasured furniture item from our apartment back to her place (we didn’t use it). At first I thought she was being over zealous. But roads are bumpy and blankets can help prevent scratching on furniture.
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Leave Clothes Hanging
I learned this trick when I was moving from my dorm room to my mother in law’s. She told me not to pack my clothing. Instead, she brought clear garbage bags and elastic bands. The elastics went around bunches on hangers, and then she put the garbage bags around the clothes to protect them. Although the garbage bag doesn’t need to be clear, I think it is helpful to use clear or translucent if you can. Then you don’t have to worry about mistaking your clothes or not being able to find them!
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Organize Your Cords
There are a couple ways you can do this. One is to save some toilet paper rolls, and put the folded up cords inside. That way you can write on the roll what the cord is for. Using colour coded electric tape is also easy. Just use a permanent marker to write on the tape. We are going to do a bit of both because we have way more cords then saved up toilet paper rolls. Well, plus I don’t want to use them all because crafting! The move is a good cause though… so we’ll see.
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Purge Everything You Don’t Need.
I know I mentioned this in my last post about Preparing to Move. However, this is really a big time and money saver. Why pack, move, and unpack something that you never use? I’m using this thought as the motivation to purge items that I was holding onto because “I might need it someday.” Especially with moving to a smaller place, it is important to get rid of things that are wasting precious storage space. This is definitely the most essential of the moving tips for a less stress move.
Moving Anxiety
These seven moving hacks are helpful ways to make a move easier. Yet even with all these tricks, it is easy to still feel anxious about moving. I am. I don’t know if it is the unknown, being over excited, or just a fear that things will go wrong. As a Christian, I know that everything will work out because God is with us. Yet I am still finding it hard to put my anxiety aside. It’s something I’m going to have to keep working on.
So how does moving make you feel? Do you get anxious? Let me know in the comments, and if there is anything you do to help with the feelings? And if you haven’t already, check out my last post on preparing to move!
