Moving can be stressful. As a pro organizer who recently downsized and moved across the country, here are my favorite tips to keep your packing and move organized and stress-free.
My family and I recently moved from Florida to Michigan.
To make it more challenging, we downsized from a sprawling single-level ranch-style home to a 100+-year-old 2-story home.
The layouts were completely different and we knew some things would have to go, which was a challenge.
Here are ways that helped us in our move, and whether you are moving to smaller home or a larger one, will help you, too!
Moving tip #1: Declutter BEFORE you move.
Start a month or more before your actual move.
This is the most important thing you can do to make your move go smoothly. Seriously.
We all tend to hang on to things that we no longer use or even notice. They take up valuable space in our homes that could be better filled with items you do use or love.
So, before you start packing, take a good look around your home. Grab several boxes and label one DONATE and one SELL.
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Now is the time to start buying/saving sturdy moving boxes, packing dispenser and tape, and Sharpie markers. You WILL go through a lot more packing items than you think.
So budget for them and start buying them sooner rather than later.
By the way, if you get your boxes through U-Haul and don’t use all of them, U-Haul will buy back the unused ones.
Plan on using your extra towels, washcloths, and linens to wrap around fragile/breakable items, as well as bubble wrap. Place disposable coffee filters between plates and around glasses to keep them from chipping and breaking.
Another item that will save you a ton of time and stress is stretch plastic wrapping film. Use it to wrap around dressers and cabinets so the doors stay shut while loading, unloading, and during the move.
As you begin to declutter, you’ll have a better idea of how many and what size boxes you’ll need.
I know this sounds overwhelming, but focus on one space at a time.
In the living room, declutter the display shelves, the end table drawers, the old DVDs you no longer watch, etc. In the dining room, ask yourself if you are ever REALLY going to use grandma’s complete setting for 8 china, which is taking up the entire hutch. Do you use all those tablecloths and linen napkins?
In the kitchen, do you really use all of those casserole dishes? The task-specific gadgets taking up cupboard space? When did you last use that fondue pot?
Do you really need all of the extra bed sheets, towels, and cleaning supplies crammed in your linen closet?
Sort out those items you know you no longer want or items that simply won’t fit in your new space into your donate/sell/trash boxes.
Then put them in the garbage can, sell them in a garage sale, online marketplace, or donate to your family, friends, or favorite local charities ASAP. Don’t wait. Get them out of the house.
To help you get started, download my FREE list of 50 items to declutter RIGHT NOW!
Moving tip #2: Make your home feel more spacious AND pack up all the personal items before you start showing your home.
Okay, you have decluttered and your space is looking much better. Now it is time to put your house on the market and move on to your new home.
The housing market is very different today (end of 2022) than it was at the beginning of the year. With more homes for sale, higher interest rates, and inflation, there is a perfect storm for houses to not sell as quickly as they did the past few years.
So, make your house irresistible to potential buyers.
Realtors suggest that you take down and pack up your personal photos and memorabilia.
When you have showings or an open house, pack up the pet items, too. Put away the dog bed, litter box, and food bowls. As much as you love your pets, others may not have or want pets. So seeing pet supplies and toys can be a real turn-off for some folks.
Doing this makes your home more neutral and easier for buyers to envision their own items in the space.
And clear the space – make it feel more spacious!
Moving tip #3: So, where do you put all the stuff you need to take down, but don’t want to get rid of, you ask?
Now is the perfect time to get your move organized!
Look around. Do you really need the extra chairs in your family room for the next month or so?
What about the bookcase crammed in the corner of your kid’s room? Can the memorabilia and odds and ends be packed up and the bookcase removed to make that room seem bigger?
If it’s summer, can you pack up your winter clothes and gear, making your closet seem more spacious?
Can you pare down your wardrobe for a few months, and pack up most of your shoes, purses, and other items?
Besides the packing boxes, don’t forget about using vacuum garment bags to store bulkier clothes and bedding items!
Start boxing up those things first.
Make sure you take the time to write an inventory on each box AND the location where the box is going in your new home (master bedroom, kitchen, etc.)
The inventory doesn’t have to be every item in the box. “Living room photos in frames”, “small kitchen tools and gadgets,” etc.
The key is to write enough info so you will know where to look for things once you move.
So where do you store all this stuff, including furniture?
Well, we packed ours into our 2-car garage. Our realtor said that is a perfectly acceptable practice. Most potential buyers will only take a peek in the garage anyway as they are touring the house, and will not be put off by stuff being stored in there.
Now, I will say, my husband is the Tetris champ of packing. He can compact everything down into the smallest space possible. So it worked out great for us.
Here is our extra furniture and packed boxes (and teenage son, who worked really hard moving stuff. 🙂) If you can’t move things on your own, ask friends for help or hire some local movers or teens.
It really will make a difference to potential buyers.
They will be able to better envision their things in the space rather than seeing yours.
But what if you don’t have a garage or need extra space to store things?
Here is a radical (perhaps controversial) idea.
Rent a storage unit on a month-by-month basis and store your stuff there.
That’s what we eventually did!
With 2 teenage daughters sharing one room and my husband using my son’s room as his office while our son was away at college, our multi-use rooms felt more crowded than they really were.
Renting a storage unit can be a smart idea for short-term storage of items you want to keep.
It’s especially good if you have furniture that you need to store. It’s also a great way to clear out your attic/basement and store only what you are going to take with you.
Because we knew it would only be for a few months, we were able to budget for it, and it was the best decision we made because our house sold within a month.
Moving tip #4: And finally, pack up the rest of your items, room by room.
It makes it so much easier and less stressful if you work on packing one space at a time.
And as you are packing, take another hard look at each item. Do you REALLY want to take this with you?
If possible, take room and doorway measurements at your new home so you can make sure the items you want to take will fit in your new space. (I love this laser tape measure – easy for one person to use for large spaces!)
After we did our original decluttering, we actually decided to get rid of quite a few more items as we were packing.
Once you’re on a roll, you might find this esy to do, too!
We got rid of a few furniture pieces that we weren’t super fond of or were too big and bulky for our new space, so we wouldn’t have to move them.
My daughters had a desk they had used for years that they decided to leave behind. Once we moved they ordered a new desk that works much better for them.
We did the same with a giant entertainment armoire that we have lugged around for years. It was perfectly fine but just didn’t fit our style anymore. We sold it on our local Facebook marketplace and the new owner was tickled pink with it.
It’s okay to keep on decluttering as you do your final packing.
We did a big dump/recycling run the week before we left with things like old paint cans, printers and monitors that no longer worked, a zillion flimsy plastic flower pots that I had saved from gardening adventures over the years, etc.
We also donated bar stools and bookcases to our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore (which is an AMAZING place).
Moving tip #5: Clean as you go.
As you begin boxing up and paring down rooms, do a good cleaning as you go.
It saves so much time, in the long run, to clean as you pack because you won’t be frantically trying to finish packing up the moving truck and getting ready for the buyer’s final walk-through all on moving day.
I have been there and done that before, and it isn’t fun!
Use a Swiffer duster or dryer sheets to get all the dust off the baseboards, cabinets, and shelving.
I also highly recommend Magic Erasers and The Pink Stuff for good cleaning results.
Vacuum once big pieces of furniture have been moved. You’ll be shocked at how many dust bunnies have accumulated under beds and the entertainment center, no matter how often you clean. No judgment here! We found giant ones!
Now is the time to use leftover paint to touch up those scuff marks where the chair has banged against the wall. Do a good cleaning of the door jambs and walls around light switches, where dirty hands have left their marks.
This is also a great time to dust light fixtures and ceiling fans. This is my favorite high-reach duster.
After everything is out of the house, you’ll only need to do a quick sweep-up to be done!
Moving tip #6: Make a 1st night box.
Moving day will be long, exhausting, and a bit chaotic no matter how well-prepared you are.
So, for everyone’s well-being, make that evening as stress-free as possible.
Just moving across town?
As you are packing, grab a box and label it 1st night. It either needs to go in your car with you or be the LAST thing loaded on your moving truck, so it will be the first thing unpacked.
This box should have the things you will need right away when you get to your new home.
Pack a roll of toilet paper for each bathroom, paper towels, hand soap, disinfecting wipes, rags and other cleaning supplies to clean the new spaces while they are empty, toiletries (deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, body wash, etc), hand towels, washcloths for each family member, pajamas and a change of clothes for the next day, bedding, blow up mattresses or sleeping bags, scissors/box cutter to open sealed boxes, garbage bags, and lightbulbs. Also bring paper plates, plastic utensils and cups. If you need that cup of joe in the morning, also pack your coffee pot, coffee, and filters as well as non-refrigerated snacks like granola bars or trail mix.
Moving tip #7: But what if you are moving farther away?
Moving across the country takes a bit more planning.
We moved from Tampa, Florida to mid-Michigan.
My husband drove our 26′ moving truck, towing my daughter’s car (stuffed full of my plants and other odds and ends), and I drove our minivan loaded with my pets, kids, and coolers of cold food. Our trip took 3 days since we had to stop more often for gas with the large truck.
Moving with a large truck also has the challenge of finding hotels with parking available for oversized vehicles. So call ahead and ask to make sure.
Don’t wait until you are already tired and ready to stop for the night.
Estimate how far you will be able to travel each day to plan for your hotel stops.
A good rule of thumb is to figure about 50 miles for every hour you are on the road. Since most highway speeds are between 55 and 70mph, you will take into account those stops for gas, eating, and bathroom breaks.
Still make that 1st night box, but you need to add a bit more…
Use your suitcases to pack enough clothes for the days you’ll be on the road, including comfortable clothes to wear in the car as well as pajamas for hotel nights. Put them in your car, not the moving truck, so you will have easy access to them when you get to your hotel.
Moving tip #8: Moving with pets
Whether you are staying local or moving across the country, the process can be very stressful for your pets.
Everything in their old home is getting put in boxes, things are getting moved around, and they know something is up.
On moving day, try to keep your pets in a safe place while packing.
We have two cats and a medium-sized dog.
On moving day, put your animals in carriers, crates, or a space where they won’t be disturbed. Bathroom or closet already emptied? Put their bedding, food, water, litterbox, etc. in there along with a sign on the door to let people know they are in there.
Or if there really isn’t a safe place to keep them, put them in a carrier or crate, so they can be safely and somewhat comfortably contained.
We had a large and small dog crate, so we put the big one in our closet for our 2 cats. It was big enough to have their soft blanket, food and water bowls, and their travel sifting litterbox, plus there was some room for them to stretch out and walk around.
We did the same with our dog. He was in his sleeping crate with food and water. He was more cramped in there, so we made sure to take him out on his leash for walks several times throughout the day.
We had his crate in the bathroom with the door shut, but even though he loves his crate and sleeps in it every night and while we are gone, he was very anxious and whiny because he could hear lots of strange noises, extra people’s voices, etc.
We found that if we left the bathroom door open so he could see what was going on and gave him his Kong ball with some peanut butter in it, he was much more relaxed and calm.
How to move the animals once you are ready to go – especially on a long trip.
Our cats have never traveled (other than to the vet), so we set up the small crate in the van for our drive. We got a travel litter box with sifting bags. They had their bedding, food, and water, too, so even though it was a small space, they had all they needed.
Our dog had his car harness so he was safely buckled into a seat next to my daughter or he got to ride in the moving truck between my husband and other daughter (there were 3 seatbelts on the giant seat!). We had his small dog bed and he did great. He pottied while on his leash at rest stops and the hotel grounds and did great. We always have a container of poop bags attached to his leash, so clean up was easy.
We would let the cats out to sit with us at hotels. They needed to stretch their legs, too. At night, we kept them in the bathroom, along with their bed, food, water, and travel litter box.
In the morning we just needed to feed them, throw away the used litter bag, and put them back in their carrier, while we moved our suitcases and crates back to the van.
One downside of traveling with pets
They can’t stay in a car alone with the vehicle turned off.
It can be a nice break to get out of the car and eat inside a sit-down restaurant while traveling or have everyone go to the bathroom or take a walk break when at a rest stop all at the same time to save travel time, but you can’t leave your pets in the car alone.
So plan on eating meals in your vehicle (which was pb&j sandwiches or fast food), and taking longer at rest stops, especially since you’ll also want your dog to get out and stretch their legs and potty, too.
Try to find hotels that offer free breakfast.
That way you can stagger eating breakfast while loading up the car and pets.
We would get carry-out for dinner once we got to the hotel in the evening. Quite often, there are usually plenty of restaurant or grocery store choices near hotels located off major roads. It is nice to get healthy food and relax after a long day on the road.
Our lunches were often at truck stops because it was easiest to park the truck there.
But, most of them these days are clean and have several fast food and grocery choices. Many of the truck stops we stopped at had restaurants like Subway or Wendy’s, and they stocked lots of choices in their store section, like fresh fruit cups, cheese and crackers packs, etc.
So, with planning, you can still eat healthy on the road. But, to be honest, we did splurge on some things we don’t normally get, too. Hello, Cheetos and Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies…
Ah, well… go ahead, you’ve put in a lot of hard work already with your move, so a little indulgence will be fine! 😊
Moving tip #9: Don’t get overwhelmed!
As a pro organizer, I have seen so many clients feel so overwhelmed and paralyzed by all that needs to be done in decluttering and organizing, that they literally cannot do anything.
They don’t know where to start.
And that’s where having a plan is SO important.
As soon as you begin thinking about moving, start formulating your timeline.
Having a plan in place will help you focus on what needs to be done and when, so you won’t feel stressed and overwhelmed with all you need to do.
Keep in mind the time it will take to make your home show-ready for potential buyers as well as the time it will take to sort through and make decisions about your belongings.
Moving can be stressful, but with a little planning, it can be a fun and exciting way to start a new adventure.
Here we are, doing just that!
Moving tip #10: More help.
Here is an article that I and other professional organizers contributed to in Inspection Support Network that will give you even more ways to get organized before your move:
Home Organizing Before Selling: Tips from the Experts
Here are some more of my favorite ways to help you get organized once you move:
Organize your kitchen cabinets
Organize your bathroom
Get your kids’ rooms organized
Organize the garage
You’ve got this, my friend!
Once you are done, you will then be able to enjoy your new home!
