If you follow me on social media, you know that I recently moved (in March) after spending 176 days in the hotel looking for our next home for our large family. Let me just say, packing up a family of our size and a dog was no easy task. And oh, did I mention we were in the midst of sending our oldest daughter to college as a freshman, and our youngest was 5 months.
Not only was that season extremely busy, but we were also up to our ears with packing everything so that we could easily grab everything from our storage unit when we needed it, because we knew we would be working with limited space in the hotel room.
Once we were settled into the hotel and our storage units (three of them) were locked and loaded, there was a huge sigh of relief, as we knew we had a break from the headache that can come with moving. During this time, we had many people ask us how we did it, and wanted some tips since we were moving with a large family. Here’s the tea on all of it…
Declutter first - When it was time to put our house on the market, we entered a huge decluttering season. We rented a dumpster and began to purge. This is not only good for the presentation of the home while on the market, but also perfect for our packing process. Decluttering gave us the peace of mind knowing that most of the things left in the house were going to be things we packed away, so that was a check off our list. Addendum - My husband had a much harder time throwing away some things…LOL!
One Room At A Time - Moving can feel overwhelming, and it's especially frustrating when it feels like every room is turned upside down. I learned it's best to pack one room at a time. When you do this, you feel accomplished, but there is less of a mess.
Pack The Entire Kitchen - I know the kitchen is always tough, but I promise if you completely pack the kitchen and only leave a boiler, skillet and crock pot, you will be good to go. With this, purchase paper goods, including utensils. You may think you can just leave a limited amount of dishes available, and you can. But if you use this method, you can save yourself time, which is of the essence when you are in the midst of moving.
Schedule Movers - Listen, I know it seems like fun, easier and cheaper if you call up a few friends, grab a 24 pack of beers, water, pizza and wings, but it's more hectic this way. It's best to hire companies like JC Movers & Lumper Service Inc to assist you with your moving needs. Moving with professionals provides peace of mind, and they are much more strategic with how they arrange items, so that you don't have to spend extra trips in a Uhaul.
Thinking Ahead
Consider how you can make moving a lot less stressful and easier on the entire family. For me, I would hire movers that will also pack for me. I know this may seem a little too personal, but I have reached a point where I like to do things that can help alleviate stress on me. This is one of those things. Companies like Chicago Labor Movers provide a packing service for those like me, who want the stress of moving to be as easy as possible. Although we did not do this, I understand how much time and stress this would have saved us.
As you plan your next move, begin mind mapping how you plan to move organize your move away that produces less stress and more excitement for the change to come!
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