By / Emily Adams

10 Tips to Make Moving Easier

Moving is exciting, with the promise of a fresh new beginning, new neighborhood, new friends, and a whole new life altogether! As you start preparing for the move, however, excitement soon gets replaced by stress. The sheer amount of work that lies ahead can be intimidating even to the most tireless and efficient being! We want to guide you in how to make moving easier.

Instead of letting the moving stress overwhelm you, take control of the situation and get organized for the move well in advance. To reduce the chaos and worry that accompany moving, there are a number of things you can do, such as preparing early and packing in an organized manner. Effective packing will make unpacking a breeze later on. We’ve compiled some important and extremely helpful tips on how to make moving easier. So relax, take a deep breath and get started on these. You’ll thank yourself later as you and your belongings make it in one piece and without the stress and anxiety that often accompany a move!

Start Packing in Advance R

First and foremost, preparing for a move well in advance and in an organized manner is one of the best ways of making moving easier. Assuming it’s not a last-minute decision, you have 1-2 months or more to prepare for the move. We recommend you start packing little by little with items that are not needed on a day-to-day basis. Doing this will help avoid confusion and panic that can otherwise compel you to spend exorbitantly on last minute moving arrangements or worse, damage your belongings in the process.

Moreover, packing in advance and in an effective manner will also make unpacking and setting up your new place a lot easier, as compared to just hastily dumping things together and having to sort through the huge mess later. Continue reading for more tips on how to make moving easier.

Sort, De-Clutter, and Organize

Moving seems hard because of the sheer amount of stuff we own, which has to be packed, moved, unpacked and set up again in the new place. But, moving doesn’t have to be so hard, and we are here to help make moving easier and seamless. How about sparing ourselves the trouble of packing and moving items that we don’t use but are hoarding simply because we’re too lazy (or let’s just take the easy excuse and say ‘too busy’) to throw out? Every item you move will cost money or take up space that could be used to move more important items, so why not discard unnecessary items BEFORE the move?

Browse through your belongings and sort them in three piles: retain, discard, and give away or sell. An important follow-up to this process is to actually discard the stuff that has been designated thus before you have a change of heart and decide to keep that old sweater from high school and other similar stuff that doesn’t fit anymore. Additionally, to make moving easier, arrange items that you want to donate to be picked up by charity organizations or drop them there yourself. The other alternative is to hold a garage sale of these items or sell them online. This would also help clear space, making it easier to think more clearly and giving you more room to efficiently pack and store items that have made it to the ‘retain’ category.

Pack and Label Boxes by Room

The simplest way to make moving easier and to ease not only your packing effort but to also speed up and simplify unpacking at your new house is to pack label boxes room-by-room. For instance, all items from the bedroom go into one or more boxes labeled ‘bedroom’- this is key in making your move easier. Additionally, include the contents of each box on its label. When you unload boxes on arrival at your new place, take each box to its labeled room, so you don’t have to move boxes from room to room while unpacking.

A fun alternative is to color-code your boxes by the room. If you’ve enlisted the help of friends for the move, it would be easier for them as well as you to unload color-coded boxes in their respective rooms in your new home.

Most importantly, to avoid boxes from giving way and tearing, use small boxes for heavier items and large ones for lighter items.

Easy Packing and Unpacking

Another important but easy tip to make moving easier is to move dressers without emptying their contents. Simply tape drawers shut with the items within untouched. At your new place, you just need to peel the tape off the dresser, and it will be ready to be used with items stacked almost as they were prior to the move. Similarly, if you have items arranged in organizers, such as kitchen cabinet drawers, you can simply remove the organizers from the drawers and stack them in boxes to move them. When you arrive at your new place, remove organizers from the boxes and place them in the drawers in your new kitchen.

If you have clothes hanging on hangers in closets, you can place them as they are with hangers in boxes or labeled garbage bags. To avoid crumpling, fold them together in one or two halves or simply roll them into a bundle, with the hangers on.

Rent Portable Storage Containers for Moving

Renting moving containers will help simplify and make moving easier. For instance, Cool Box’s Portable Storage containers make loading extremely easy as they are placed at ground-level, so you never have to deal with dragging your stuff up and down a ramp like a traditional moving truck. Furthermore, you can store your items in our containers for as long as you need during a move. You can keep the container on your property, or you can even have us store it at one of our secure yards for no additional rental cost.

In addition, our units are insulated to protect your belongings from the harshness of any climate. The temperature in our units is 10-15 degrees cooler than outside during summer to protect your items from excess heat, and 10-15 degrees warmer in the winter to keep your stuff cozy.

Moreover, our portable storage containers are so designed that they are easy to maneuver and fit in standard driveways and parking spaces, including tight ones. All in all, Cool Box portable storage units are designed to relieve the stress and worry that accompany a move, making your moving experience much easier and even enjoyable!

Use Padding & Clothes to Wrap Fragile Items

To make moving easier, protect vases, figurines, dishes, and other fragile items with padding before packing these in boxes so they arrive unscathed at the destination. You can use different types of protective material like bubble wrap and moving blankets or even household linen, like towels, blankets, and sheets to wrap them. Furthermore, by using clothes to provide padding for delicate items, you don’t have to make additional room for packing the said clothes in a separate box, thus using space efficiently in your portable storage unit. Old newspapers and socks can, too, come in handy especially when wrapping glassware and crockery.

Similarly, wrap your laptop with soft bedding or clothes before placing it in the laptop bag. In addition, it’s highly recommended to use padding or blankets for your television set and other electronic gadgets like tablets, PCs, and even chargers.

Keep Valuable Items with You

Lastly, to make moving easier it’s important to keep all valuables and electronic items with you at all times during the move. You should always photograph your electronics before dismantling them! When you get to your new home, use the photos for reference when putting the wires and various components back together.

Keep small parts of equipment such as nuts and bolts or other small hardware that belong to things like flat-screen TV mounts in a zip-lock bag and attach the bag to the back of the item that it belongs to.

Crucial Miscellaneous Tasks

Seemingly small but significant tasks often get overlooked in the moving chaos. These include things like setting up your forwarding address and notifying the post office and important contacts of the change in residence. Also ensure you have notified the local utility companies of your move (in your old and new cities). In addition, to make moving easier let your internet service provider know well in advance when you would be moving out to discontinue the service and prevent unnecessary billing for the next pay cycle.

Some other minor but essential tasks to make moving easier include consuming or giving away all perishable food and defrosting the fridge a day prior to your move. Lastly, remember to take photo evidence of your clean old home and new home before moving in; you never want to lose out on getting your security deposit back. Check out our checklist to moving to ensure you’ve covered it all!

Pack a Bag of Essentials

To make moving easier, pack a bag of essential items like a change of clothes for everyone, toiletries, medications, important documents, snacks, cleaning supplies, light bulbs, phone charger, and a flashlight, just in case. Keep this bag with you so you have immediate access to these items during and after the move. Don’t forget to include a set of keys to your new home too.

Let the Kids Enjoy at your Parents’ or Close Friends’

Children are often excited at the thought of moving and like to assist you in preparing for it by helping you sort and pack stuff. However, on the day of the move when you will be loading boxes and heavy furniture in the moving storage container, it would be best to keep them out of harm’s way. If possible, send them over to your parents’ or to a close relative or friend’s place a day prior. Children usually welcome the opportunity of staying over at someone’s place. Let them enjoy their time away from the moving chaos while you focus on the move.

If you have pets, they too can get in the way and be injured. Move them to a good lodging facility one or two days before the move so they are safe and being cared for by professionals while you’re busy ensuring a smooth and uneventful move. Don’t forget to pick them up after the move or as soon as you’ve settled in!

We hope our tips to make moving easier will help simplify your move, making it easy and worry-free. Cool Box’s Portable Storage containers will further facilitate in enhancing your moving experience. Fill out our ‘Instant Online Quote Form’ today for an estimate of your expenditures on Cool Box portable storage containers. Or if you have any questions, simply contact us to talk to one of our relocation and moving specialists.