Did you know that, according to the statistics moving is the most important cause of stress after death? Incredible, isn’t it?
Have you ever had the opportunity to leave a home to move to the next?
Have you ever help your family or friends on this crazy adventure?
Do you have plans to move into a new house soon?
Anyway, you will all agree with me! Some preparation is needed!
How to get started?
Follow my advice!
Anticipate this move months in advance :
In my opinion, it would take 6 months to organize and anticipate for D-day.
During these 6 months, it is essential to avoid systematic entry of new objects into the house that you leave.
It’s simple, everything you bring back in this place will have to come out packed a few months later so stop the bleeding as quickly as possible ;).
Then, look at the situation and start to build lists that will help you along the way:
- What do I like in this home that I leave and that I want to reproduce in my new home?
- What is bothering me everyday and that I’d like to change with this move?
- What objects do I use frequently and which I can not do without?
- And what are the objects that I can get rid of immediately without missing them once in the new housing?
All these questions will help you start slowly but surely, sorting before the move.
Better to eliminate upstream than downstream:
A move can be expensive! From a money point of view, if you use a moving company, but especially in energy, when you’ll figure out the number of boxes to move and their weight!
To avoid money and energy loss, it is strongly recommended to eliminate a maximum of bulky and useless objects when packing your boxes! It’s not once you unpack them that you should tackle it!
It will be too late, because you will be already exhausted by the move and relieved to be in your new “home”. All non-sorted boxes will stay months or years in your storage areas without anyone having the courage to open it!
To avoid recreating clutter nests in your new home, use the weeks before moving to put in your moving boxes ONLY the things you really need once installed on the other side.
Boxes of things to donate, all the stuff sold and all the waste you’ll bring in a recycling park will be as many kilos as you won’t have to move unnecessarily and many hours you won’t have to pay movers for!
Imagine yourself in your new home:
It is essential to adapt your belongings to your new home.
- If you see that the big dining room table will not fit in your new home, you don’t need to move it. Why not selling it to the people who will occupy this place after you?
- If you leave a home with built-in furniture, you will need to invest in wardrobes and storage systems to store the contents you’re about to move. Why not using the money earned by selling some furniture to buy new, more suitable one?
- If there’s a high kitchen island in your news place on which you can eat with your family, perhaps you could sell the 6 chairs that will not serve you anymore. Why not trading them for 6 high stools in a second-hand shop?
Check that everything you bring with you will find a place in the new home. If you have a doubt, don’t take it!
Remember that anything you move hoping you’ll give it, sell it or throw it after your move will rot in your cellars and attics for years!
So, focus on your new needs and list the storage systems and accessories that you will or will not need in the coming months and make sure that everything is ready for the D-day.
Fill your moving boxes smartly:
This is where we recognize practical minds! A bit like at the checkout of a supermarket when we look at the shopping cart!
- It is necessary to pack your objects according to the place they will be dispatched in and to indicate the name of this room on the box.
- Then you must collect all the objects of a same category and pack them in similar boxes to find everything at once when unpacking. This implies that these objects must be collected and sorted before being packed ;). What seems simple but is not when you tend to have everything everywhere!
- List the contents on the box with a large marker, this will allow you to keep filling those half-empty boxes, days before the big departure with the small objects found at the last minute.
Be logical! The further you are from the date of departure, the more you must pack things that you do not use very often and that you can do without it during many weeks (souvenirs, papers, off-season clothes, camping gear, etc.) and that will land in storage areas.
The closer you are to the date of departure, the more you can start packing everyday objects, which will end up in living areas, ending with the contents of the kitchen and the bathroom (ideally the day before).
Do not forget that all the boxes brought on site the previous weeks will no longer have to be moved the same day! So, you can focus on heavy and bulky objects and (fridge, washing machine, beds, wardrobes, …) when leaving the previous housing.
And finally, don’t underestimate the latest tasks:
By dint of projecting into the new home, we forget the last details before being able to return the keys of the home we’re leaving!
Do not neglect the time needed to clean… once the furniture is moved, you will be surprised how much dirt there is!
Don’t forget that you must also empty out the outdoor spaces and storage areas such as carports, garden sheds, cellars … And it’s often areas that we forget!
Do not lose sight of the time it takes for you to repaint some walls before the next tenant or to repair the few details damaged during your stay in this accommodation.
In short, before you can unpack your boxes and settle in, you’ll still have to spend a few hours in the old house and this can be frustrating if it had not been planned ;).
Good luck to everyone!
And if you panic, call me!
I will help you sort upstream, make the right decisions and ask the right questions!
Elodie WERY
We strongly recommend that you visit Elodie Wery’s website
Elodie Wery initiated the concept of Home Organizing in our country. Sorting a room of your home or in the entire home has no secrets for her. We are delighted to count her among our Guests on this blog.
Feel free to contact her by email or visit her website to learn more about Home Organizing or find out how she can help you tidy up your cocoon! You can also follow her YouTube channel, she talks among other things about moving.
