A Moving Experience - The Packing Has Begun
With our house sold and the final negotions going on for the house we are purchasing - along with a looming closing date 5 weeks away - we have begun to think about packing. Our first step; come up with a plan.
We probably aren't going to use our dining room between now and the time we move so we've made that our staging area for items to be moved. I dis-assembled our dining room table by removing the legs and we've stacked the chairs up, and stood the table top on end to conserve space. I placed the legs of the table under the stacked chairs so we aren't tripping over them, they aren't falling over on our 1 or 3 year old, etc.
Now we have a room to stack boxes, put unused furniture, sort through items we'll keep and sell during a moving sale, etc. The dining room is also close to the front door, which should expedite loading of moving vehicles.
Here are some things I've been doing to stay organized during the move:
1) Use plastic zip type sandwich and food storage bags handy to keep loose items like screws, curtain rod mounts, etc. together. You could even slip in an index card with a description of the items in the bag so you know what you've got when you put everything back together.
2) Keep some blue masking tape handy. I use it to tape curtain rods together, tape drawers or loose sideboard doors closed, etc. I also wrap it around the bags used in tip #1 above and tape the baggie of screws, mounts, etc. to the item they belong with.
3) Vacuum area rugs before you roll them up and put them away. BONUS TIP - vacuum both sides of the rug so you aren't taking old dirt with you and the rug you handle won't be as dirty. I figure this will save us time setting up in the new house because the rolled up rug should stay pretty clean.
We probably aren't going to use our dining room between now and the time we move so we've made that our staging area for items to be moved. I dis-assembled our dining room table by removing the legs and we've stacked the chairs up, and stood the table top on end to conserve space. I placed the legs of the table under the stacked chairs so we aren't tripping over them, they aren't falling over on our 1 or 3 year old, etc.
Now we have a room to stack boxes, put unused furniture, sort through items we'll keep and sell during a moving sale, etc. The dining room is also close to the front door, which should expedite loading of moving vehicles.
Here are some things I've been doing to stay organized during the move:
1) Use plastic zip type sandwich and food storage bags handy to keep loose items like screws, curtain rod mounts, etc. together. You could even slip in an index card with a description of the items in the bag so you know what you've got when you put everything back together.
2) Keep some blue masking tape handy. I use it to tape curtain rods together, tape drawers or loose sideboard doors closed, etc. I also wrap it around the bags used in tip #1 above and tape the baggie of screws, mounts, etc. to the item they belong with.
3) Vacuum area rugs before you roll them up and put them away. BONUS TIP - vacuum both sides of the rug so you aren't taking old dirt with you and the rug you handle won't be as dirty. I figure this will save us time setting up in the new house because the rolled up rug should stay pretty clean.
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Comment by Leah on September 19, 2008 at 2:46pm - save all your newspapers, plus any old clothes you don't want can be used as handy last minute packing for breakables!
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Comment by Erin Nash on September 24, 2008 at 12:42pm - One good thing about being a military family-they pack all of our stuff for us. Everything is free, although we are advised to take anything we don't want broken with us in our car.
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Comment by Sheila Avalos on September 25, 2008 at 10:43am - We have been packing for a month now! Fixing walls, cleaning and putting stuff in storage! Once the painting of the hallway is done the relator will put my home on the market but he said he already has an interested party! After the home is in solid escrow I will start seriously looking for a new home. Eating off paper plates!!!
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Comment by Sheila Avalos on September 25, 2008 at 10:45am
- Working 45 hours, 3 kids still at home (school and work for them) and then I come down with shingles (stress the doc said). Its hard to get a home ready for sale...my 20 year old daughter said never again!!
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Comment by J Lo on September 25, 2008 at 11:02am - Sheila, you are much braver than I. We were able to get an agreement on our house and find a suitable one the very next day! If I had to putty and patch, I don't know what I would do. We are at the paper-plate stage, however, and with 2 kids under 3 years old, the past 4 and a half weeks have been an adventure! Closing and moving on Monday - wish us luck!
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Comment by Sheila Avalos on September 25, 2008 at 1:39pm
- J Lo...wishing you luck and hope it all goes smoothly! My realtor said he will try to time it so both houses, mine and the one I buy, closes with in 15 mins of each other and I have 2 day get out of the house clause. yeah...I will believe that when I see it happen!
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Comment by J Lo on September 26, 2008 at 9:12am
- Good luck with that clause. Our first closing is at 9:30 and the next is at 11:15 the same day, but 2 towns apart. The logistics on this one aren't pretty, as we've got 3 cars, a moving truck, a trailer, two little girls, two cats, and helpers to put in limbo for probably 4 hours while we do walk-throughs, closings, etc. Did I mention there is a potential hurricaine headed our way? What fun!
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Comment by Sheila Avalos on September 26, 2008 at 11:17am
- Oh my J Lo!! Good Luck!! Please keep us updated! I have most of my stuffed packed in boxes and some of it stored. I am staying in the Redding area...maybe off the grid if its not too far out.
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Comment by Sheila Avalos on September 26, 2008 at 11:18am
- PS...I can't be too far off the grid..I have to be able to get internet connection and not dial up!! I'm spoiled since I got DSL many many years ago (before divorce), but it's not as fast as it should be due to I'm in the fringe of the service.
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