Once upon a time, I helped my friend, Adelaide, move out of her apartment and into her house. She and her husband did all the moving themselves with the help of friends. Now, I hate moving, there is absolutely nothing to like about it, but that was by far the easiest move I have ever been involved with. And though every move has an element of stress, Adelaide actually seemed quite calm on moving day and I would determine that it was because they were so well-prepared.
The Packing Adelaide and her husband had all of their belongings packed up before their moving help arrived. Winning point for them right there. Extra points because they have a small child and that couldn’t have been easy. But here’s where the real planning came in - she knew exactly what items she wanted in which room of the new house and packed accordingly. The boxes weren’t labeled ‘clothes’ or ‘books.’ They were labeled ‘orange room’ or ‘living room.’ Seems like a simple idea but that’s the first time I’ve run across someone who labeled their boxes that way.
The Moving This is where the rest of us came in. On moving day, Adelaide had the moving truck ready and we all helped to pack it up. Here is another demonstration of preparedness - they had already planned out how they wanted the moving truck packed up. Items to be packed first were out and readily accessible, everything fit in well, nothing was smashed. More delicate items or oddly-sized items were packed into cars. Loading everything up took, at most, an hour and a half.
The Unpacking Remember those labeled boxes? That made unpacking the moving van a breeze. We knew which room was which so all we had to do was read the label and then take it to that room. Usually moving boxes are just piled up in the garage or living room for the new house-owners to take care of later, which leaves an unsightly stack that looks impossible to conquer. And it’s usually in the way. But room-labeled boxes mean that there are lots of smaller box piles and they’re all in the room they’ll end up in anyway so it’s a win all-around. Adelaide orchestrated where the furniture was supposed to go so we had a nice flow going. Overall, unpacking the moving van took about forty-five minutes. The whole process went so quickly, I had extra time to help her unpack her kitchen items.
Are you moving soon? I would highly recommend taking some tips from Adelaide who apparently is a moving expert. I know that I will definitely be changing some of my moving habits when I upgrade from my tiny apartment.
