How to Plan an Organized Move

With twelve days until the big move, I’ve just started organizing how I’m going to pack things up at the apartment. In the past four years, I’ve had to move my old office three times and I’ve helped my boss move her own apartment another three times. Combine my own move back in February 2008 and that is SEVEN TIMES IN FOUR YEARS! This is a much smaller apartment to pack, but I still want to use the same principles that I always use, and you can apply this to any move – big or small.

If I’ve learned a thing or two over all these crazy moves, it is that you need to go into it with an action plan and you have to have everything organized in advance. The last thing you want to be doing is worry about what goes where on the other end.

I know that some people would just throw everything in a bunch of boxes and call it a day, but if I’m taking the time to pull everything off the shelves, I may as well sorted it and purge what I can.

Not unlike when I did my Spring Cleaning this year, I’ve set up bins for Goodwill, Giving Away and Garbage. In the few hours on Saturday morning that I got started on this, I had already packed a box of things to give away and I’ve threw out about half a large garbage bag of odds and ends. If there is ever a time to evaluate what you truly need, now is the time to do it. I’m going from having my own apartment to sharing with Garrett, which means I won’t have a full closet to myself, or get to hog all the storage. Compromise sometimes means throwing out those old VHS tapes that you’ve been holding on to. (Why did I do this? Did I think VHS would make a comeback? I don’t even have a VCR anymore!)

I also want to make sure that everything I’m packing away is clean. I’m dusting and washing up like crazy. I don’t want to have to get there and start washing every vase that I own before I can put it on top of the kitchen cabinets. Its better to get that stuff done now and pack it away nicely in tissue paper and be able to set it up right away.

By cleaning in stages like this, I will be able to get everything nice and clean for the new place, with cleaning up the old place for the new tenant (Its my friend Justin!) Even if it wasn’t a friend who was moving in after me, I’d want to make sure that the next person coming in is able to start things off on the right foot, instead of worrying about washing the floors.

As you can tell by this blog, I love to cook and bake, which is why I’m really excited to have a new kitchen. The counter tops, cabinets and laminate floor are all new, which is fantastic, but the amount of counter space is pretty much just as limited as it was before (and you can see how small that is here).

To make up for this, I decided to take my beloved kitchen cart, but before I can move it anywhere I have to make some repairs. Its gotten a bit wobbly over the years and I would hate to see it fall apart on the move. There are a few other pieces of furniture that need some repairs as well and I’d rather do these now too, than have to figure them out at the new place.

When I’m packing things up I make sure to CLEARLY label each box on at least 2 sides and the top. I don’t want to be hunting down the bed sheets in “Misc.” boxes on my first night there. I know that some experts suggest colour coding and making complicated label names, but for me I want to keep it simple with “Kitchen – White Dishes” or “Kitchen – Panty: Teas and Cake Mixes” in black magic marker. I want anyone who picks up a box to know exactly where it goes without having to consult a chart.

After packing everything up and driving it to our new town and then dragging it into the new apartment,  there will be little energy left for getting to the boxes right away. However there are a few important boxes that I’ll need on that first night that I want to make sure standout.  I’m labeling them with big red stickers and lots of stars, to make sure that they don’t get put inside a stack of boxes to be sorted later.

Here are the 5 boxes that are essential for that first day/night there:

I also want to make sure that my tool box is out in clear view for any repairs we need to do or for hanging pictures.

Even with all the stress of a move, you still want to make it fun. This is a new adventure that we’re starting and I want to keep it exciting, instead of causing headaches. If you have friends helping move, be sure to have a number on hand for a good pizza place at the new place, and maybe pick up a case of beer or pop to have there too for a quick wrap up celebration after the end of a long day.