Tips for Quick & Efficient Unpacking After a Move
Moving is tough. Dragging boxes and heavy furniture to the truck, driving it all the way to your new destination and then unloading makes for a day of back-breaking work. Upon bringing in the last box, you’ll probably feel like rejoicing, but wait a moment on uncorking the celebratory champagne. You have a lot of unpacking to do.
Fortunately, unpacking can be a breeze when you plan ahead. Use these moving tips for easy unpacking in your new home.
How to Pack for a Move
You need a game plan for your move to ensure the unpacking portion goes smoothly. One of our top tips for moving is labeling each box carefully with which room it goes to and a short description of its contents. For example, you might label a box “Kitchen — plates and bowls.” When the box is unloaded, it goes immediately to the kitchen, and you’re not stuck looking through boxes when you want a bowl of cereal the next morning.
Also, keep in mind you don’t have to box up everything. For instance, leave your clothes on their hangers and carry them over to the new house that way. When you arrive, all you need to do is hang them in the closet. Heavy duty rubber bands can keep the hangers together, making it easier to transport them.
Tackle One Room at a Time
It may be tempting to tear open boxes willy-nilly, but it’s much more efficient to use discipline. Do one room at a time, and stay on that room until you’ve unpacked all the boxes.
Here’s a suggested order for the rooms, putting your top-priority, most-trafficked rooms first:
- Kitchen
- Bathrooms
- Bedrooms
- Living room
- Dining room
- Garage
Take Friends up on Offers to Unpack
Some people prefer to do all the unpacking themselves, reasoning they will know where things should go. But most likely, you’ll move everything anyway within the next few weeks, so take advantage of any offers to help. Assign friends the less-important rooms to unpack, such as the dining room or garage.
Do It Right Away
The longer you wait to unpack, the harder it will be to tackle. It’s best to do it immediately. Even if you don’t finish everything in one night, the momentum from getting many boxes done will motivate you into the next day.
How to Make Moving Easier
Of course, you can always hire help to make the unpacking process easy. IFR offers rental solutions that can help you save clutter in the moving van and do the unpacking for you. When you rent from IFR, they’ll deliver a home full of furniture, housewares and electronics, unpacked, set up and ready for you to move right in.
photo credit: TE-BLOG_-Moving-day-boxes_-08_23_2011_iStock_000008388519Medium1 via photopin (license)
