Here I am– sitting on my little balcony one and a half months after having moved {{yet again}}. But this time, it was a cross country move from sunny Scottsdale, Arizona to the beautiful and charming south. If you have been following along for awhile now, you know that this is the 13th place I’ve lived in the last 10 years. That means moving in and out of apartments, houses, long stay airbnb’s (thx covid & baseball), storage units, etc. TWENTY SIX TIMES if not more. God help me.
But along the way, I have picked up a thing or two about moving techniques, what packing products are the best products, what is a waste of time/money & when a splurge is ~necessary~. Buckle up.
Let’s start with the basics when packing.
- PURGE YOUR SPACE. In the weeks leading up to your move, get rid of/donate things you don’t need. I can’t tell you how many times I have started to move thinking I had gone through my things only to find that a week in I am STILL moving bins of makeup I haven’t touched in a year, clothing that last fit me in college and shoes that have seen better days. If you haven’t actively used it in the last 3-6 months- Marie Kondo that ish.
- SET A FEW CLEAR TUBS OUT. This saved us big time on our recent move, because lucky for us, we were moving, but didn’t know when and where. We just knew we had to be out of the house by end of March. The clear tubs gave us the opportunity to determine what things we would need to use {especially in the kitchen} between packing and actually moving. Few things are worse than needing something only to find out it’s packed deep in one of your heaviest boxes. Then when it was go-time, we just popped a lid on the clear tubs and carried them out with the rest of the load.
- START WITH DECOR. If anyone loves home decor, it’s me. In the past, I have been back and forth on leaving it up until the end to make it still feel like home or taking it down at the start. Depending on your timeline and headspace, I would consider taking all of your decor down first- here’s why. Although you can quickly remove decor if need be, it always takes longer than you think. You need to wrap the delicate frames with bubble wrap so they don’t get damaged, repair the holes, organize all your knickknacks & it also gives you the opportunity to see how many boxes you really will need. Another benefit: it can be done slowly over time- well before the move out date. Trust me, you’ll need all the time you can get.
- PACK ROOM BY ROOM. Anyone else with a short attention span go to clean the house and then before you know it you have micro piles all over the house resulting in overwhelm and even more of a mess? Because yeah, same. Don’t do this when moving because it’s already a stressful, messy time, we don’t need to create more messes. When packing, start in kitchen- without a doubt it always takes the longest- then move to the family room, dining room, bathrooms, laundry room, extra bedrooms, the backyard, linen/storage closets, then the primary bedroom.
- GATHER ALL OF YOUR MOVING BOXES INTO ONE ROOM. This allows you to reduce clutter throughout your home and also gives you a chance to see what still needs to be done, how big of a storage unit you may need {if you’re taking that route} and how big of a moving truck you will need.
- PACK CLOTHING ON THE HANGERS. If you have space for this, I would HIGHLY recommend packing your clothes on their hangers. This time around we got these great blue moving bags on amazon that were large & flexible allowing us to pack our clothes on the hangers and it saved us SO much time with both packing and unpacking at the new place.
- UTILIZE TASK RABBIT. My husband and I both agree one of the best {& budget-friendly} things we did this time around was hire a task rabbit to clean our house for us so that we didn’t have to. Cleaning takes SO much time in the move out process and if you are looking to get that deposit back, a good clean is a must. Always look for coupons and type “move out cleaning” into the app and it will give you a list of people that do that kind of work. You can even hire someone to help you move as well! Don’t forget to read reviews.
- FIND A GOOD, SAFE STORAGE UNIT. This is super important if you are going to be moving your items into a storage unit. In Arizona, an air conditioned storage unit is crucial. For unloading purposes, the first floor is also ideal. You may be surprised, but storage unit thieves aren’t all that uncommon. Get a good lock and read the reviews. Lots of companies also offer specials like “first month free,” etc. We went with Life storage this time around and so far have been happy with it! Another great option to consider are portable storage units- although usually a bit pricier, they come to you, which allows you to only move one time- praise be. If you are moving things into a storage unit and are going to a temporary living situation and want to make it feel homey, I have some tips for you on that too.
- USE THE RIGHT PRODUCTS. For a full list of moving necessities, keep scrolling. But one thing I do want to touch on is moving boxes definitely can add up if you are trying to stay within a certain budget. One way to save is to join a neighborhood facebook group or browse facebook marketplace to see if your neighbors have clean moving boxes that you can re-use.
- PUT ON SOME GOOD MUSIC AND DRINK SOME WINE. lmao. This isn’t a want, it’s a need. The process is stressful, try to make it as fun as possible.
Onto the Moving Necessities…
What you will need to invest in for your move does depend on how often you do it, but if you are anything like us and move a lot, or just want to invest in some good products that can double as storage in the new place, these Amazon items below are a total game changer. For convenience, you can purchase your boxes on Amazon, but we have also always had great luck at Home Depot (or facebook marketplace).
- Purchasing these blue bags this time around for clothing and decor were SUCH A MOVE. Like I mentioned earlier, this made it so that we could pack our clothes on hangers & they were perfect for all of our faux greenery, wreaths, etc.
- We use these space saver bags year round & they are a great way to also transfer your comforters and pillows to keep them clean during the move.
- This push cart dolly helped us immensely. This time around, Tyler and I moved the majority of our stuff by ourselves so when it came to moving our washer, dryer, dressers, etc. this was a must-have.
- We have a Tuft + Needle Mint Mattress so although it is SO COMFY, it is heavy af to move & can easily snag and get dirty when moving. So in order to protect that at all costs, this moving mattress cover is just what the doc ordered.
- To shop all of our tried and true moving items, you can visit my Amazon storefront here.
Moving can be so stressful, so I truly hope these tips and tricks are as helpful to you as they have been for me over the last several years. Happy moving and cheers to new beginnings!
xx A
