Moving to a new house is one of the more stressful things people do over the course of their lives. Taking time off of work, packing up everything you own, paying for movers, and everything else that comes with moving, tends to upend peoples lives entirely for at least a few months. All of this can sometimes seem impossibly hard for first time homeowners, but here are 5 tips to follow when moving to a new house that make the process go more smoothly.
1. Take Time To De-Clutter Your Living Space
Before you take everything you own and try to move it to a brand new space, take time to go through what's in your home that you no longer have use for. Many of us don't realize how much wasted space we have in our homes, because it's occupied by things that we may own, but don't actually have any use for. As opposed to packing all of it just for the sake of having it, take time to think about things you own that it's time to get rid of. Doing this can make the moving process much lighter, and also help you get off on the right foot in your new home.
2. If You Have Kids, Strongly Consider Hiring a Sitter
Moving is stressful for just about anybody, but in particular it stresses children out. It can be confusing and very overwhelming for young children to have to help in the moving process. They’re not necessarily old enough to really understand why they have to move at all. It’s best to separate them from the moving process as much as possible, so they can come to be excited about living in a new house. On the day of your move, consider hiring a babysitter or having a relative take care of them for a bit. Once you’ve moved all your belongings and set up your new space a bit, your children will be more excited to see their new rooms and get to explore their new home/neighborhood.
3. Create a Timeline For Your Move
It doesn't have to be detailed down to the very last second, but it's important to have a list of events you can refer to when trying to navigate your move. It can often feel like everything is happening so fast, so try to have an idea of when each major step happens. This can be as simple as updating your calendar based on each step, or even setting reminders in your smartphone, just so that you don't get lost over the course of your move.
4. Have a Designated “Unpack First” Box
Everyone has certain belongings in their house that they can't live at night without. Consider separating all of those belongings and making sure it's the first thing you unpack when you get to your new home. It doesn't necessarily have to be a whole box, you could also try labeling certain items that you know you're going to need readily available as soon as you get to your new home, and making sure those get packed away first. This can really ease the stress of packing everything away, because now you're 100 percent sure of where your most necessary belongings will be.
5. Make Every Effort You Can to Protect Your Fragile Items
So many people make the mistake of not packing carefully enough when moving, and it leads to their most fragile belongings being damaged in the process. The last thing you want to find out when you arrive at your new home is that your expensive TV has a crack in it, or that your wedding china is smashed to pieces in a cardboard box. Take time to wrap fragile items in any kind of comforting material that can absorb damage caused by the move. This can simply mean wrapping them in blankets or cloth of some kind, or even taking the extra step to buy bubble wrap. Either way, it's essential to make the moving process successful.
Many of these steps can seem like obvious parts of planning to move to a new house, but it's really easy to forget about them when you're actually going through the process of it for the first time. Keeping small tips like this handy during your move will make the process, which is known to be extremely overwhelming for people, much more manageable and successful in the long run.
Written by Daniel Murray, Vanderblue Team Intern.
