. Pre-Moving Preparations

If there is a chance that you might move (but maybe not for a while), what do you do?  This very circumstance can happens to you from time to time.   You put your house up for sale knowing that the market is volatile and it might be months, it might be weeks, or it might happen tomorrow.

And, in between times, what are you to do?  The pressures of moving are many, you need to be ready to be out of a house in 30 days or less, and yet you want to maintain a semblance of “ordinary living” in the meantime.

May I suggest a successful plan for pre-packing and living out of boxes that works very well?

1)  Begin gathering boxes. They should be easy to open and close, stackable, and sturdy.  My favorite sources are those found at copy centers (copy paper boxes which are sometimes free for the asking) and produce boxes (usually free if you’re friendly with your produce stocker at the local grocery store).  Both of these boxes meet the requirements:  easy to open and close, stackable, and sturdy.

If free boxes are not available, purchase the best you can afford.  Try to keep them the same size, shape, and durability.  This makes them easy to stack and store.

2)  Begin going through your closets and cupboards.  Discard and give away every possible item you really, really don’t need.  You will be surprised how much you will pack, move, unpack and then wonder why you went to all that trouble when you could have just given it away now instead of later.  Be ruthless.  Give away, give away, give away!

3)  After your grand giveaway is done (good job!), put away items that you want to keep but which are not necessary to your every day living. These include treasures, less-read books (which should be kept in the smaller boxes so they will be easy to lift and move), craft supplies, out-of-season clothing, and unused toys. It is best to keep like with like.  Don’t mix books, toys, fabric, and papers in one box because retrieving becomes more complicated.

4)  Label the boxes with large letters with a permanent marking pen indicating the contents.  It just might be you will need something before you actually move and you want to easily locate it.

5)  Stack these boxes along a bedroom wall, in the garage, or in the basement (if you are lucky enough to have one).  Try to keep all the boxes together.  This facilitates rummaging through them to find something you have packed.  If you pack someone’s treasures, of course, there will be some mixing of items, but keep each person’s items in separate boxes (even if some of the boxes aren’t completely full yet).

6)  Start all over again packing more things away.  Once the first items are gone, you will still see many other things which really aren’t necessary to your everyday functioning and could easily be stowed.

7)  Finally, for the third time, go through your house and pack away things that you really, really don’t need.  This process makes your home look neater, bigger, and less-cluttered.  These are real benefits when persuading a potential buyer your house is just the right one.  A neat, orderly house is very appealing and besides, with this all this pre-packing you have half of your packing done and you will have far less housework.

Good luck with your potential move.  Remember, when the decision to move is made, begin packing NOW!  (There will be enough stress making arrangements, renting a truck,  and finding a new place to live.  Don’t let packing be part of the problem.  Instead make it part of the solution.)

Find more helpful ideas in the House of Order Handbook.