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Posted by Melissa Lynn Galland on Jul 14, 2017 8:00:00 AM
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Moving to a new home is both exciting and stress-inducing. While it’s easy to envision a comfortable life in your new space, the process to get there doesn’t feel so simple. Yes, it will require some hard work, but the rewards are well worth it. Having a plan in advance and sticking to it will make moving day less stressful.

Start Early

If you are building a new home, you have the benefit of knowing the floor plan well in advance. Use this knowledge to your advantage and determine where everything will be stored long before movers are asking you where each box should go.

Set one major goal per month and create a plan that will allow you to chip away at the work ahead. This piecemeal approach will make a huge task feel more like a collection of small projects. Everybody works differently, so choose an approach that feels right to you. Some ideas are:

  • Working on one room at a time
  • Focusing on specific categories (clothes, tools, art supplies, books, etc.)
  • Organizing by items you want to keep, sell, or donate

Stay Committed

However you decide to do it, stick to your plan. You might not want to spend a weekend weeding through books six months before you move, but you’ll be grateful you did. Moving to a new home comes with enough pressure and stress—why make it worse by scrambling at the last minute to do things you could have done months in advance?

Cull the Clutter

The longer you have lived in your existing home, the more stuff you will have. Chances are, you don’t want or need a lot of it. As you go through the items in your home, ask yourself:

  • Have I used this in the past year?
  • Do I plan to use it in the next year?
  • Will there be a place for it in my new home?

If you answer no to any of these questions, it’s probably not something you need to move with you. You can also make getting rid of stuff easier by approaching it in reverse. Make a list of the things that you absolutely must have. If the item you are considering tossing or keeping isn’t on that list, maybe you don’t really need it. 

Get Organized

If you are building a new home, you’ll know the dimensions of your closets, basement, garage, and other storage spaces. Use this information to purchase storage bins that will conveniently fit into the areas where they’ll be located. You can also plan the layout of your furniture so that you know exactly where the movers should put the sofa when they ask on moving day.

Clearly label everything you are moving so that you know what’s in the box and where it goes. If you want to be super organized, number your boxes and make an inventory. It’s a little extra work, but you’ll be glad you did it when it’s a chilly night and you know exactly where to find the blankets you packed three months ago.

Get Rid of Stuff

After identifying what you want to keep and what you are ready to part with, you have to actually get rid of the stuff you don’t want to move. You could donate everything, but because you have time, why not make a little money? Start by posting larger and more expensive items for sale on a platform like Facebook or Craigslist, then have a garage sale for all the smaller items and anything that has not yet sold. Right after the garage sale, pack everything up and take it to a donation center so that your big purge is over quickly.   

Make Moving Day a Breeze

If you’re hiring professional movers, work closely with them to create a plan. Some of the ways you can prepare to make this important day less stressful are:

  • Identify each room in the new house and label boxes and furniture accordingly
  • Plan the best route to avoid traffic
  • Make a master checklist so that you don’t forget anything
  • Do a final walkthrough and check every space for forgotten items
  • Take notes about where you put random things at the last minute
  • Keep all your hardware in one place to make reassembling items easier
  • Pack items you will immediately need in an overnight bag
  • Make the beds first so that you can crash when you’re ready
  • Schedule breaks in the day—you’ll need them!

Moving to a new home is always disruptive, but the better organized you are, the faster you’ll get settled into your new space.

Adair Homes helps reduce the stress of building a new home by walking you through every step of the process. With a predictable timeline, you can start planning your move up to a year in advance so that when you get the keys, you’ll be ready for moving day. Contact us today to get started.