The decision to move is a major life choice. The desire to box up your entire life from one location and transport it somewhere else in the hope of new employment, a better life, and improved health and safety all have a huge impact on you and your family.
Did you know? The average American family moves about 12 times throughout their life. From the first move from the family home into a college dorm, apartment, or a friend’s couch; to the final home of retirement, the effort that goes into moving is a lot to consider.
When you move, you gather your entire life and transport it to a new home, which could be hundreds of miles away. Then, you have to unpack everything and organize it so your new house becomes your new home.
While it might be easy to bundle up the random bits and bobs of an aspiring college student, or even a young person looking for their first apartment, the entire process can easily become a daunting prospect. Early on in life, it might be easy to move everything yourself or with the help of friends and family, but once a person and their family have settled down, the sheer amount of stuff that needs to be moved means it’s time to call in the professionals.
Long distance moving companies like this company do more than just moving. They provide the materials and expertise needed to ensure a quick and safe relocation. While having the help of such a company is great, you can also prepare on your own for moving day.
Get Rid of As Much as Possible
Before you start getting ready to pack up your life to take to a new location, make sure you get rid of whatever you can beforehand. Old toys, broken furniture, clothes you never wear – anything and everything you don’t need or that’s been collecting dust in the attic or basement should be placed in either a sale or donated. If you’re downsizing into a smaller home take stock of what you have that won’t fit and either place it in storage or get rid of it as well.
It can be hard to analyze your entire life’s possessions to decide what you need and don’t require any longer, but that’s part of moving. Your first few moves into a college dorm or single bedroom apartment probably didn’t involve a lot of stuff. A family, however, tends to have a lot of collected materials in a variety of formats. Taking a good hard look at what you need and don’t need might be difficult, but it has to happen sooner or later anyway, and getting rid of junk before a move is always a good idea.
Pack Smarter, Not Harder
Properly packing up for the move is one of the biggest, easiest ways to ensure the day goes as efficient and fast as possible. It’s, unfortunately, also the most difficult part so, since it has to get done anyway, it might as well be done correctly.
One of the most important parts of packing is to make every spare bit of space count. This means more than just using the right boxes and containers for storage and moving, though most companies will happily provide those as part of their services. It’s not just the boxes, but how you organize the boxes that can make a big difference. For example, towels and other soft items that aren’t clothes are great for padding items that don’t quite fit into a box neatly on their own. Pots tend to be the worst offender for this. Putting a bunch of pots into a box is the classic square peg, round hole situation, only in reverse this time. Make as much space as possible count for holding stuff when moving to ensure fewer boxes and thus faster moving.
Start Packing Early
This can be one of the most aggravating parts about moving. As tempting as it might be to wait until a few days before the move, the sooner you can start, the easier and more efficient that packing will be overall. The tricky part here is gathering enough boxes, material, and, above all, knowing what to box up ahead of time. Items you haven’t been able to get rid of yet, but plan to, can go first. Or, better yet, they can be shoved into storage for a future yard sale. Extra clothes are another safe bet so the sooner you can start packing, the sooner it can be loaded up into a truck. Don’t forget that many companies will provide packing materials and boxes to help with the move.
Organize by Rooms
This is one of the benefits of packing early. Make sure to get ahead as much as possible, preferably everything, by room. So, your kitchen items should all be packed together, your bedroom items together in a separate group of boxes, and so on. This will ensure that everything is properly sorted and ready to load onto the truck by room, and eventually unload into the right rooms for easier unpacking as well. Make sure when labeling boxes to label three sides and the top to make easy to tell what goes where.
Pack Like its Groceries
Heavier stuff on the bottom whenever possible, and put heavier items closer to the front of the truck to maintain good balance. This will make the boxes easier to lift and haul around, and it is also easier to unload. It prevents the issue of some boxes being really light or being too heavy. Equal weight distribution makes it a lot easier to just stack up the boxes and not worry about crushing anything. Pro tip: Don’t forget to label the fragile stuff.
Have Enough Equipment
Nothing will slow down a move more than running to the store for more tape. Make sure before the big day to have plenty of tape, box cutters, and the like to hand. A few moving carts are a good idea as well, though the company will almost certainly provide these as well. Staying stocked on supplies means not only an easier loading, but also an easier unloading.
Keep Dressers and Hangars Loaded
This easy trick kills three birds with one stone. For one, rather than emptying dresser drawers to load up everything, simply remove the drawers and box them up separately. This is great because removing drawers makes moving large furniture a lot easier, and it also keeps everything secured and organized for later unpacking. The same goes for clothes on hangers. Instead of removing them from the hangars, folding them, and boxing them up, just load them all up hangars and all.
Generally speaking, making larger furniture as light as possible will make moving it easier. This means faster loading and unloading and helps keep stuff organized by having as much of your stuff sorted by weight and room as possible.
Utilize Suitcases
Since suitcases are naturally sturdy, they are useful for storing heavier items when you move. There’s really no point in leaving them empty either, so you may as well add them to the stuff you’re concerned might not do well in a box. Just remember to ensure everything is carefully covered with bubble wrap or even towels to make sure it stays safe. Most moving companies will happily supply packing materials such as bubble wrap, and if you’re using your suitcases to help move that means fewer boxes that need loading on to the truck. It also means fewer boxes to get rid of once you’ve unpacked and settled into your new home.
Safety First
The current pandemic has drastically altered safety practices, and many companies are just one of many businesses that have adapted to handle the crisis. Moving companies like California Movers and other movers and packers are implementing all safety measures as put forth by the Center for Disease Control and local and state requirements. Our trucks are wiped down inside and out with disinfectants recommended by the CDC to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Our employees also maintain social distancing and wear personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, throughout the moving process. Such materials are promptly disposed of between jobs to further prevent the potential spread of the disease.
Companies are aware of the risk of transmitting diseases through relocation, which is why we are especially careful to adhere to all safety guidelines to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19. By practicing social distancing and ensuring the use of personal protective equipment and disinfectants, moving companies like California Movers help ensure the greatest possible health and safety to their employees and the people they help move.
Moving is a lot of work, whether it be into a college dorm or a new family home. Making sure you have everything organized and ready is just one of the crucial steps into ensuring a safe and quick move. The sooner you can load up everything and unload it, the sooner you can settle into your new life.
