Mastering the Art of Moving

There are few tasks that I dread worse than moving. The hassle, the disorganization, the chaos of it all is enough to send even the most balanced person into an absolute tizzy. 

 

I recently completed a major move (my 7th in 12 years, and this one with a two-year-old in tow, no less!) and wanted to stay organized so that the process was as quick and hassle-free as possible. There were two things that I did that helped me keep it all together when our life was in boxes, and I really wanted to share Out of Office readers who may have a move in their future: 

 

1. Makes copies or scans of important documents. I had a folder with copies of the movers’ documents, including an inventory of what they packed on the truck. I also kept copies of our neighbors’ phone numbers at our old house (in case we need them to check on anything for us), and copies of contact information for all household service providers – like the cable company, electric company and the like. I cut out the contact information from old bills or business cards, taped them to a single sheet of paper so that they’d all be in one place, and made copies for both me and my husband. I made the same kind of documents for the new house, too, so that we could get in touch with providers easily to confirm appointments and check the status of our accounts. I also made copies of documents confirming that services had been disconnected at the old location. This helpful tip came from my fellow blogger Kellie who had been charged for cable services well after the disconnection date in her paperwork. Thanks to the copies she’d kept on hand, Kellie was able to mail them the disconnection documents and get the money refunded - hooray! It may also be good idea to make copies of things like driver’s licenses, passports, old tax records, paycheck stubs and other official documents. Often you need these to get new car tags, start new services at your house and get set up in your new city. And yet these documents always seem to be the last things that surface after a move!
    
2. Create a diagram of where you want to place furniture in the new house. This makes it easier on you and on the movers. At your last walk-through before the move, measure the rooms so you know the exact dimensions of the space you’re working with. I like using grid paper to draw the room to scale (as best I could – I’m no architect!). Then I drew in the big pieces of furniture (beds, dressers, chests of drawers, couches, tables) to see where they would fit best in the new space. Just be sure to account for door openings!   

 

If I had this to do over again, I would have laminated the grid paper and done the diagram of each room using dry erase markers so I could easily erase what didn’t work. Otherwise, you find yourself burning through a lot of pencil erasers!

 

I hate to bury this little jewel so far down in the post, but perhaps my best tip is this: don’t pack the scissors!  Keep them in a purse or overnight bag. Otherwise, you’ll arrive at your new house with no way to start unpacking easily!  

 

Guest blogger Stephanie Buttrill recently shared with us how to make your yard sale a success, and no doubt, as you pack, you’ll find things to purge. If you’re still having trouble figuring out where to begin this daunting task, check out this moving checklist from our friends at Real Simple. Like they say, “You may not be able to move mountains, but you can plan an organized move with a little help from this step-by-step timeline.”

 

When you get settled (and I have no doubt that our crafty, creative, industrious readers will get settled in no time flat) let your friends know where to find you! Check out this post to see how to make change of address cards like Kellie did when she made the move from Tennessee to Texas. 

 

Readers, do you have other good tips or tricks for making moving day (or moving month, in some cases) as painless as possible? Share them here, because us bloggers and your fellow readers could sure use them when the next move rolls around!

 

 

Related FedEx Office Solutions: Copying, Lamination, Scanning

 

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