Starting with large furniture items helps your home take shape, and gives you a place to unpack your smaller items. Photo: idogcow viz Flickr
It’s important to have a method behind the moving day madness. From start to finish, planning is key; and, unpacking is no exception. Below, we give you some tips to help you construct your unpacking game plan.
Start with large pieces of furniture. Have a special area to place boxes as they are being unloaded (like the living room) and focus on moving in the big pieces of furniture. Plan ahead for each room before you get moving. Do a walk-through of each room and visualize where you want the furniture placed. Be sure to communicate clearly to the people who are helping you move the furniture from the moving truck. Once you have the large pieces of furniture in place, you can gradually unpack the smaller items.
Unpack everyday items that you’ll use soon. If you followed the tips in our other post Packing Tips for Your Next Move, then you probably packed the items that you will use soon last so they are easily accessible during the trip and once you arrive. These boxes should be the first to be unpacked. Be sure to include the following items:
Avoid a clothing chaos the first morning in your new home, unpack clothes after you arrive. Photo: Magnus D. via Flickr
Clothing comes next. Living out of boxes is unpleasant, but it’s especially unpleasant when it comes to clothes. The last thing you want is to be forced to wear plaid with polka dots the first time you step out of your new home because you couldn’t find anything else. Take some time to unpack your clothes before you get to the rest of the boxes. You will be glad you did.
Leave the small stuff for the end. Now that you’ve conquered the large pieces of furniture, the items you will be using immediately, and your clothing is unpacked, you are ready to get to the rest of your items. Start by putting the boxes into the rooms in which they belong. Once they are in their corresponding rooms, you can begin to unpack. Take it one room at a time to avoid getting overwhelmed. Don’t move on to the next room until you have completed the one you’re working on.
Don’t give up. If you push through the job and get your house unpacked you will have such a great weight lifted from your shoulders. It can be tempting to “get to those” boxes later, but before you know it, a year has passed. Make it your goal to finish your unpacking within a week’s time. This still gives you some leeway to take breaks and focus on something else (we all need breaks). But, don’t let it extend past your predetermined timeline.
Follow these tips and you will be well on your way to being unpacked and settled into your new home.
Do you have any special tips for unpacking your items in your new home? Let us know below in the comments!
