Moving out of a home can be stressful as we all know, but moving into a new house has its own challenges. Where to put things, how to stay organized, how to avoid still having packed boxes six months later, and various other issues tend to crop up as soon as we put the key in the new front door.
Here are a few tips:
1. The first step is pretty obvious, but it’s still worth mentioning. If your new home is not brand new, you may not feel very comfortable until you have cleaned certain areas yourself, such as the bathroom. Give the bathroom a good cleaning and put fresh toilet paper, soap, and hand towels (or paper towels) in the bath, so your family isn’t collecting other people’s germs. You’ll be much more relaxed after getting this out of the way.
2. As you bring boxes and other items into the house, place them in the space where they belong. If all your boxes are carefully labeled, you’ll have no problem sorting them into the proper spaces. If not labeled, peek inside and take them to the appropriate place.
3. Don’t set things down and leave them where they fall. It really is easier to just go ahead and put boxes not only in the proper room, but in the area where its items belong. Place boxes containing dishes near the appropriate cabinets, for example, or place boxes of towels in the linen closet until you have time to unpack them and put them on the shelves.
4. Once everything is inside, begin putting away as many items as possible. Start by getting large items into place so you’ll have more room to work. You can always rearrange to perfection later, but for now, get things into some kind of order.
5. As you unpack a box, break it down flat so it won’t take up so much room. If your new area practices recycling for such items, take any boxes that you don’t intend to keep for future use directly to the recycling bin.
6. Clean up other items as you go. Throw away (or recycle) newspaper, other packing materials, bags and anything else you don’t need, right away to limit clutter.