Moving 101: How to Make Moving a Breeze

Moving. The one word that your best friend with a truck hates to hear. The word moving brings to mind too many less than pleasant adjectives.

What if it could be different? What if moving could be a breeze?

Whether you’ve taken the plunge and bought your first home, or you’re simply moving from one residency to the next, moving doesn’t have to be a burden. Keep reading for simple tricks and tips – from expert advice to our checklist – to make your next move a breeze.

Moving with Only the Necessary

The first task to a simple move is to cut down on the clutter and purge yourself of the mountain of belongings in your current place that no longer have use or meaning. Maybe you’re fresh out of school, and all you have are the belongings in your room. In that sense, you may not need to be so quick with purging your closet of all those old clothes you no longer wear.

But if you’re here, you’re likely moving from one big space – such as an apartment or house – to the next. You’ve got plenty of things that need to be packed, which means you’ve got plenty of things that can be tossed, donated, or sold.

Moving Made Simple: Declutter

Before you can get to assembling and packing those boxes, take some time to rid yourself of the things in your house you wouldn’t be sad to see lost in the move. Go through your closets and dressers and sort those clothes that haven’t seen the light of day in years into piles. 

If they’re in decent shape, consider donating them. If you want a little extra cash before you move in, consider having a garage sale.

Do the same with toys, kitchenware, and just about anything else you might find in an apartment or house. Do you have decorations on the wall you bought back in college that no longer represent the real you? Maybe you have a dozen mix-matched knicknacks you inherited from all across your family the last time you moved into a home but have since bought and collected what you want.

Either way, go through your current space and decide what’s moving with you, what’s getting donated, what’s getting tossed, and what you might make an extra buck on.

Need a few tips for decluttering your home?

• Try starting one room at a time. What many find easiest is the closet. Check out our guide for decluttering your closet here.
• Involve everyone in the family! Give everyone a trash bag and set a timer. See how full each person can get their trash bag (from their own rooms) in a certain amount of time. 
  • You can do multiple rounds of this! Try a round for things to donate, one for things to sell in a garage sale, and another for items too worn out or damaged that should be thrown away.
• Start in small spurts: it can be difficult to make a decision to let go of an item when you’re exhausted. Take breaks and spread out your decluttering over a few days.
• Decide if external storage is right for those items you’d like to keep but only use once or twice a year. If you’re in the area and in need of a little or a lot of extra storage, check us out at Albuquerque Self Storage. If you’re not in the area, and want tips on how to choose the right storage facility, check out our self-storage guide here!

Moving is About Organization and Supplies

Moving Made Simple: The Supplies

Boxes, boxes, boxes…

We all get them when we order online, and for most of us, we don’t throw them away. Perfect! You’re already off to a good start. Chances are, your family and friends have plenty of boxes stowed away in their garage or attic they’d happily give away, too.

Need more boxes of varying sizes? Check out hardware stores like Lowes or Home Depot for boxes and other moving supplies.

Okay, okay, we won’t go into full detail for every piece of moving supplies. Check out this list below:

• Boxes of all sizes (small, medium, large)
• Packing supplies (you can use newspaper, or buy bubble wrap)
• Packing tape
• Moving blankets (for the big, fragile items like dressers and bookshelves
• Cheap bed sheets (to drape over couches and mattresses)
• Mattress Moving Bag
• Dollies
• Bungee cords
• Furniture sliders

Moving Made Simple: Organizing

You’ve done the hard work of what to keep and what to lose, now consider this organizational hack to make unpacking a breeze.

Sure, you could just throw everything in boxes and hope for the best, but you’re here because that method only makes things harder in the long run. It also lends to your most valuable items being lost or damaged.

Let’s breakdown our tips and tricks for organizing your move:

• Plan to start by room, creating an inventory of what you’re moving. This will not only help keep track of your items (especially if hiring professional movers) but will also help when unloading boxes at your new place. You’ll know exactly what is where when you’re too tired to unpack all of those boxes!
• Use a color-coded system! This is a tried and true tip, especially when moving from a multi-room home. It’s easy to spot different colors and know which room it belongs to. (Make yellow duct-tape around a box for the kitchen, orange for the master bedroom, etc.)
  • Bonus organization tip: if you want to know exactly which boxes have what, tape an individualized inventory to each box. It might come in handy when you’re too sore and tired to sort through the kitchen supplies for that one favorite spoon.
• Pack up room by room. This will keep things organized and keep things from getting mixed into other boxes.
• Use dresser drawers and keep clothes on hangers. You’ll thank us when you don’t have to re-fold and re-hang all of those clothes.
• Pack dishes and other breakables vertically to give them a better chance to survive the move. Also use your dish towels and other linens to stuff between them as packing material.
• Don’t pack all of your books into one box! This is not only a hazard as it’s far too heavy, but they’ll break through the bottom of your boxes. 
• Decide which boxes you’ll need right away. We all know the saying, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Well, we believe moving and unpacking doesn’t happen in a day, either. If you’re able to spread out your unpacking over a day or two, put the boxes that need to be readily grabbed near the front of your moving truck. 

Moving Made Simple: The Small Things Count!

There are many things we overlook when anticipating a move. These things may seem small, but they can add up to a stressful move.

Before moving, consider…

• Whether you need professional movers. Moving from a large home typically means plenty of large furniture. It might be time to hire the pros.
  • Likewise, moving across long distances could be worth hiring a professional hand.
• Giving your big ticket items a good clean. Dust off the book shelf and deep clean the fridge! 
• Where you will be staying during the move. If you’re not moving too far, chances are you’re moving in on the same day you can begin living there. But if you’re taking a long trip, or you have to wait a day or two, opt for more secure places to stay overnight with your moving trucks. 
  • Don’t forget a heavy duty lock on your moving truck!
• Loading the large and heavier items into the truck first.
• Creating a schedule for unpacking. Don’t try and do it all at once if you know that will be mentally and physically exhausting! Sure, get it out of the truck, but have a plan for unpacking room by room over the next few days or weeks.

Simple Moving

Moving doesn’t have to be the daunting task that has your friends cringing and your stress levels rising. With proper organization, supplies, and a few simple tricks, you can make your next move a breeze!And if you find you need to move your current space into storage while you wait for that perfect dream home to come onto the market, come see us at Albuquerque Self Storage today!