A Practical Moving Checklist – the beginning of all moves
You don’t have to carry everything around your head. Get it out onto paper.
Create a list – moving date, packing deadlines, transfer of utilities, address change, parking arrangements, cleaning jobs, and all your small jobs – because they seem insignificant but they always turn into the big ones on move day.
Break your list into weekly chunks – it will be much easier to handle (tackle the infrequently used stuff first. Books, seasonal clothes, decoration, and spare kitchenware can usually be boxed up long before moving day helpful hints.
Save those couple of days before the move for the essentials – you don’t want to realize that your coffee maker is buried underneath 20 boxes at 7 am.
Decluttering before the moving boxes arrive
Use your upcoming move as an excuse to clean out all of your belongings. Go through every closet, cabinet, drawer, and corner and ask a simple question:
“Would I pay to move this?”
– if the answer is no, dispose of, donate, recycle, or sell it.
This is particularly useful with apartments with limited storage and tight hallways, staircases, and elevators. You will have fewer boxes to carry and unpack and avoid extracting things from the bottom of giant towers.
Move Room by Room
You want to be able to look in a box and see if it contains a strange mix of shoes, children’s toys, frying pans, bathroom towels, and everything else you’re carrying with you.
Unpack everything out of a room, then label the box with the room name and a brief description of its contents:
Kitchen-plates and glasses
That can save you several minutes in your new home when you are surrounded by twenty identical boxes.
Use strong boxes for heavier items. For books, smaller boxes will be much more manageable. For pillows, soft toys, and Light clothing, the larger boxes will be better.
Fill empty space with blankets, old towels, or pieces of paper so you won’t have a fragile box shifting when moving day arrives. It costs a lot of money to replace expensive breakables, so don’t take the risk.
Prepare a Moving Day Necessities Box
Keep this separate from everything else. Put toiletries, snacks, medications, chargers, cleaning supplies, important documents, basic tools, a change of clothes, and a bottle of water inside.
Mark this box as being a priority item.
The movers should be able to find this in the chaos without opening 80 boxes.
Likewise, it’s a good idea to keep your cellphone charger in your own bag rather than in the back of the moving truck. Running out of battery halfway through moving day isn’t pleasant.
Clear Communication to the Moving Company Chicago Location Details
Bad communication can cause a bunch of headaches.
Tell the movers what to expect on moving day, including staircases, elevators, narrow doors, parking restrictions, long distances, or access details.
If there’s a need to reserve the elevator or building security requires some paperwork, get in early. Many Chicago buildings also operate strict moving hour policies or need a certificate of insurance.
Be accurate about the size of your larger furniture as well. While it may look harmless when standing in the living room, the sofa looks considerably less so on the stairs.
Having this information available will allow your movers to be properly prepared.
Protect Against Damage to the Floors, Walls, and Doorways
Moving involves a lot of traffic.
There’s a lot of knocking, bumping, scraping, and dragging when a house is being shifted. Cover your floors if that’s relevant, especially in bad weather, and corner protectors where necessary. Keep doors wide open, carefully remove small objects from the routes, and don’t forget about the furniture being carried through hallways and narrow spaces.
This will especially be helpful in older or apartment buildings where narrow hallways and tight corners can make every movement tricky.
Keep Valuables with You
Stay away from putting passports, jewelry, cash, vital documents, valuable electronics, and irreplaceable items in a moving truck unless you’re compelled to do so.
Retain ownership of those belongings. Don’t leave anything to your house movers that you wouldn’t leave to a person arriving to fix your air conditioning.
If anything has sentimental value, pack it separately and deliver it personally if you can.
A family pet’s comfort has greater importance than a new refrigerator.
Make Children and Pets Part of the Plan
Moving day can be anxiety-provoking for children and inconvenient for pets.
Find somewhere quiet and safe where pets won’t get underfoot or open the doors to escape. This might be a neighbor, a friend, or a professional pet daycare.
Prepare a small bag of snacks, games, and clothes for your kid, and talk to them about what to expect in simple terms. If they are old enough, give them something useful to do like labeling boxes.
Even something basic like “your box will be found last” can help them feel less overwhelmed by everything.
Check Your New Home before the Truck Arrives
If you have the chance, visit the new home prior to moving day.
Make sure the utilities are working. Check the lighting, water, heating/cooling, and access to the property.
Estimate the width of stairwells and tight doorways, particularly if you’re bringing large furniture.
Pre-mark the placement of your furnishings in your new home by outlining a map of where your bigger items will go (so you don’t end up just telling the movers “put that somewhere over there”).
Don’t Bother Unpacking Everything in the First Night
There’s no need to unpack all your home belongings the first night.
Prioritize the necessities instead. Set up the bed. Build a basic bathroom setup. Put together a straightforward kitchen. Charge your devices.
You can leave the rest of your containers in the truck for the time being.
By following this guideline, it will be much easier to get through the unloading phase, and the next morning, there’ll be less work to do.
Moving is a very long-distance job, and it can be difficult, but the ultimate goal is to ensure surprises are kept to a minimum, and the whole move is much less stressful.