My top ten moving and packing tips
Summer is the season when people are most likely move or do a clean start with a renovation. During the past months I’ve written tons of articles on how to move successfully but this time around I’ve got to experiment the while process in person. so here is my top packing tips that’s useful for those who are to move and those who are to renovate as well.
Fact Nr. 1 packing and moving looks so easy,unless you need to do it in person. if you live in a place where you have managed to spend over 5 years, with family be prepared for the worst. even if you are not the hoarding type you will be absolutely full of stuff which:
– you used back in the day when you were pregnant or when your kids were babies
– you are full of baby toys and books and both you and your kid has long forgotten about these.
– you are full of clothes hardly or never worn
And most of these things you have successfully managed to stick to hidden places you long forgotten about
This all amounts to one thing: you are full of clutter
Fact nr. 2: it will take weeks to get ready
Once you get to know you are to move or renovate this should be at the very least a month before you start packing. And it will be barely enough! i live in a one bedroom flat and it took me 6 weeks to get the flat in the state to pack it all together after all the organizing, reorganizing and the close to endless packing and decluttering that needs to be done in every square meter of a flat or home.
Tip nr. 1: forget about the trash bags
i found packing stuff in trash bags a hilarious idea, until I got to try it in person. it’s horrid, they get holes easily and you end up not having a clue what’s in them. In addition you start to feel the urge to get rid of all of them. i started packing in trash bags but they ended up making me feel crazy so I rearranged everything neatly in boxes.
tip Nr. 2: don’t hunt for boxes, buy them in IKEA
they sell two sorts of paper moving boxes ,get the larger ones for your clothes,textiles and the smaller ones for heavier stuff such as books. They are cheap, easy to assemble and close even without any duct tape and most importantly,everything will look neat and well arranged. write on them so that you know their content.
Tip Nr. 3 start with decluttering your clothes and shoes
PS: check out my blog on types of clothes which need decluttering on the first place to make it easier to sort out all the clothes, shoes, accessories which you don’t use.
Women don’t wear around 40 to 70% of all the clothes, shoes, handbags out of ehat we own. so quite honestly there is not much use in having them in your closet. make categories such as :
* will wear
* won’ t ever wear / too small , too big, not wearable
* seasonal categories such as summer and winter clothes
* perhaps will wear
Get the first stash of clothes you wont ever wear and get rid of them by giving them away for friends,relatives, selling them or giving them to charity. then go through them one more time making the same categories. give them away or gift the clothes you wont wear. pack the seasonal boxes away to a storage place. And be very honest with yourself. if you don’t ever see yourself wearing a piece or a garment get rid of it it’s only occupying the much valued space you will need for something much more useful. i got rid of at least 30 kg of clothes and it made me very happy. Plus in the process I managed to find pieces I totally forgot about over the years. shoes and handbags are way easier to store and harder to gift away so you either sell them or put them in a storage place. You will be amazed how much free space you will end up with.
tip nr. 4: decluttering of all sorts of cosmetics
Another huge part of my decluttering process involved my cosmetics. this included all the cremes, cleansers,toners I’ve ever finished, test products, gift products, old products, product which I packed away because what if I will need them and so on. i’ ve managed to get rid of one huge handbag of products that wont ever be used, which dried in the process ,which were not good anymore and tons of bins,glasses, perfumes I’ve never used and clearly bought with a smell already destroyed by smelling of too man perfumes earlier. most of the cosmetics however were those which clearly were well over their expiry dates. kids’ 50 SPF sunbathing cremes we recon top of the list too!
Tip Nr. 5. The storage rooms and kitchen
Oh the storage rooms … They are the places we stash all sort of stuff we just don’t want to know of but are clearly too lazy to drop. Be brave and spend a couple of days unloading these including the clothes never worn the gifts we don’t wish to use or do anything with and all the cookery we just have no clue how to use. The kitchen is the other place where we are keen to stash stuff not to mention those places we put the opened bags of rice, flour, spices, teas and other ingredients used or long forgotten about. These places hide other dangers we must be aware of such as unwanted attention from moths, bugs and ants. You need to sort them through and frankly when it’s too late and they are infected, simply to get rid of all the open bags right then. then you need to go to IKEA or any other store selling very good glasses with extra strong lids and carry on storing everything that’s liked by bugs in these. I’ve managed to do half of this but I’ve yet to buy the glasses. Umm…
Also get rid of all the old jams and go through your fridge as well. get rid of stuff you haven’t used or over a month and they have been opened. Don’t even waste time to look into those either.
tip Nr 6.: take time to rest or you will go cray cray
You just cannot pack and declutter without rest for more than a few days in a row or you will go overdrive and it will frankly eat all your energy up. it would be wise to have your base elsewhere during this process so that you can forget about all the packing for a few days during a week. And also don’t forget to get a proper sleep
Tip nr. 7 : De-clutter and clean in the same time
In the process of decluttering use all your wet wipes to clean all the place that’s freed up. so you wont have to do all that later.
tip nr. 8: Find a way to get rid of unwanted furniture
We all tend to end up with furniture that’s too big, became useless, became overused and which we don’ t want to have but still keep them because we are too weak to drop them ( not that you can simply drop a piece of furniture). check out websites which offer to take unwanted and overused furniture away and get them out of your home. you will instantly feel relieved.
tip nr. 9. special boxes for fragile stuff
Get stronger plastic boxes for all the kitchen supplies and fragile stuff.
Because paper is too weak to store them.
Tip nr. 10: Keep the boxes of all electric appliances especially for your tv
These are especially hard to move and prone to damage so be mindful and keep their boxes at bay outside your flat in a storage place.
Extra tips:
If you have a bookshelf, chances are you have at least a dozen if not more books which are in there for no reason. If you want to keep them box them well and put them in a storage place outside your flat or living area, if not gift them away.
Put books in small but durable boxes Otherwise you won’t be able to carry them.
In case you are moving: take only the things you definitely need. get a good storage place for all the rest.
Mind the fridge and the freezer. get rid of its contents and clean it well before moving
make sure your new place has 4 things set before you move:
* a bed
* warm water
* internet
* heating
If you stick to all this you will have a good and relative.y effortless moving or renovation.
I did not include these but check well in advance with a moving company to make your moving as quick as possible. Make sure you arrange the exact time well in advance, at least a week before moving.
If you are moving abroad you need to do a hot pack which includes clothes, cosmetics and the bare essentials ( hair dryer, shampoo, body creme, face creme travel kits) which will be good for a week. Pack everything fragile in a special pack to make sure they survive the trip. Also use new boxes and make sure they are closed very well, before sending them off. Pay an extra for insurance.
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