I grew up in the same home pretty much my whole childhood and adolescence. I longed to be able to move to a new environment. I got my wish around 19 when I was getting married. In the past 9 years, I’ve lived in 8 homes, 3 of which were mortgaged. Needless to say, I know a little bit about living out of a box.
When time to prepare for a move, my husband and I will collect boxes locally that would otherwise be used for recycle. I begin packing up anything that I know I wont be using from that time until we’re in our new home. It’s very important to label not only what room the items will be going in at the next home, but some of the important things that are inside (bathroom scale, bathroom rugs etc…).
About a week before we’re ready to move, I set out 1 weeks worth of clothes and hold onto the laundry basket to keep them in for transporting the laundry to the new home. I keep out one box for various toiletries and purchase paper plates and cups. Everything else gets packed.
When it’s time to occupy the new home, everything goes in the garage except the box of toiletries, and the paper plates and cups. As the furniture gets moved it, we consider pulling a box or two at a time for the room we want to work in. The reason for this is, the last thing we want to look at after a long day of moving is boxes and packing equipment everywhere.
My goal is usually to have our bedroom completed first. It’s important for me to feel that I have a finished space to relax at the end of a busy day. In the very least having a bed completely made up is nice. Before kids, I was able to have everything unpacked and put away within 48 hours. Since having children…come to think of it, I still have unpacked boxes over a year later. I hope someone will find these tips helpful.
(Melissa is a Families.com Christian Blogger. Read her blogs at: http://members.families.com/mj7/blog)