Moving is a lot of work and can be quite stressful. To make the effort worth it for you, make sure that you end up in a house that suits your needs ideally. Spend some time trying to figure out exactly what is not working about your current home so your new home is just what you need.
Figure Out What Is Enough And Get There
Whether you’re downsizing or upsizing, don’t move stuff you don’t love. As possible, go through your home and mark the items you know you want to take because they are beautiful and memorable.
Be ready to sell, donate or trash everything else. Have a yard sale, a moving sale, or hire an estate sale company to take care of what remains when you move out. If it isn’t worth it to you to lug it out to the truck, don’t plan to move it.
Clean Out Your Storage Tubs
Start with your plastic storage tubs. Enter your storage room or locker with
- a cardboard box, free from recycling drop off locations, for things you want to sell
- a white trash bag for items that can be donated
- a black trash bag for trash
Make it a goal to empty out your plastic storage tubs so you can move the possessions that you intend to thoroughly enjoy in your new house.
Make sure you also go through the drawers and fixed storage spaces in your home. Go through the kitchen and get rid of duplicates. If you have a favorite spoon and three others, donate the three others and keep your favorite. This is not about minimalism; it’s about overcoming the inertia that gets in the way once you’re settled in a house. It’s really easy to let your possessions take possession of you. Moving is your time to shed the power of inertia.
Get Professional Help
When you are ready to sell your house, make sure you get a professional valuation before you even start talking about it. If you mention in passing that you are selling your home, someone will ask you about it. Do not hand out verbal quotes on a selling price before you have a professional assessment of the property.
If your home needs work or serious updates, get quotes from contractors so you have a good understanding of what these updates will cost. You can get some insultingly low offers on repairs that will not cost nearly as much if you do them yourself or get a professional to take care of them. Use this information as part of your counteroffer, or get the repairs made before you list the property.
Also Check out: Plastic Storage Containers: A Revolution in Material Handling
Make A Map
If you know the house you’re moving into, make a map of the rooms and pay attention to dimensions. Measure the furniture you want to take with you and make sure it will fit in your mapped room. Consider investing in gridded paper and creating forms that you can move around on your map to get things in the right spot.
Enjoy this process. Take the time to visualize how you will function in each room, with your favorite items, on a daily basis. This visualization process can help you to settle in more quickly.
Updates to Make Before You Move In
If you can get the time in your moving schedule, consider updating your new home if needed. While it’s possible to paint individual rooms pretty easily once you’re settled in, if you need to replace or repair flooring, you want to do it before you move in.
Again, work with professionals. Hire someone to give you a quote on your flooring needs, both for the installation and for materials that need to be purchased. If you need to clean out your former home, hire someone to take care of that while you clean your new home so you know it is done right.
Moving can be incredibly freeing if you do it with intention. Be prepared to be ruthless about what you do not take with you. Celebrate the freedom of taking just what you love to your new home. What you leave behind can make life much better both for you and for the person who receives the item.
