Moving Guide: Moving Day

The time is finally here. Your bags are all packed, the house is clean, the truck has pulled in front of your current home, and your plan is ready to go for the day. For our last piece of moving tips, please read ahead. This should help solidify the last steps of your move.

The Night Before Your Move

Moving Day

The Weeks After the Move

THE NIGHT BEFORE YOUR MOVE 

Finalize Moving Checklist

Things you might want to save for the night before the move: 

• Pictures of the house’s final condition for your records. These might be useful if your landlord attempts to claim additional damages following your move-out.
• Defrosting and cleaning the freezer, which might just mean unplugging it and opening the door. 
• Spot clean anything that got dirty in between now and the time you last cleaned it 

Gather Your Transitional Items

Get your go-bag. Clothes for the next couple of days, shampoo, soap, a few days of necessary medication. Gathering anything you might need between now and the time of unloading boxes can begin in earnest. Be sure to load these bags into the car as soon as possible. If that is before bed tonight all the better. 

Have Your Route Ready to Go

Know your route now. If you can drive it prior to the move, that would be for the best. You want to know how rough the road is, if there are any construction detours or any other blockages that might make it difficult for the moving truck to get by. No one has ever been hurt by having more information available going into a move. Do your due diligence now, and you won’t be surprised in the morning. 

Plan for All Traffic 

The best laid plans of mice and men are entirely undercut by mid-afternoon traffic. Be sure to stay entirely on top of your traffic game and have a plan to deal with everything you are going to encounter on the day of. Regular traffic is not the only thing you will need to deal with, however. You will also be dealing with foot traffic. Make sure that there are cleared exit and entry points with as few obstacles in your path as possible. We want a seamless transition from each room to the door. You’re better off clearing that path tonight than tomorrow. 

MOVING DAY 

This is it. The culminations of eight weeks' worth of planning and prep work has been for. Now is the time to execute. Here are pretty much all the things that you will want to make sure you remember to do on the final moving day. 

Organize All the Things

While the movers, or your burly friends, are unloading your overflowing moving truck, now is the best time to make sure all the moving boxes are in their appropriate place. That means: 

• Put boxes in their clearly labeled place. Movers may not know which room which is, so no matter how you label you will still need to do some last-minute shuffling to find everything you need. 
• Do not start unpacking boxes quite yet. While the piles of boxes in your new home might be making you uncomfortable, it is always better to fully unload the truck before starting to unpack the boxes. This keeps everyone working and allows everything to be done the fastest. 

Make Sure You Didn’t Break Anything

Things can get a bit hectic in the shuffle, and walls might get bashed. Make note of it now, you don’t want to be left with that bill later. This is much more important if you are renting. Landlords are like that. If you own, it’s easier to make repairs early before that hole in the wall becomes the Achilles heel. 

THE WEEKS AFTER THE MOVE

That’s it. The move is over. Now it’s on to settling in. That can be a trickier than it first appears. Some of the last things that you will want to take care of. 

Take a Nap

Seriously, moving is consistently listed as one of the most stressful events in life. Now that all your stuff is accounted for, in your new home, and in the process of being set-up, take a minute. Go see a movie, go visit a park, have a nice dinner with friends and family -- outside your home. Decompressing after a major life event is incredibly important.

Break Down Boxes

You are surely done unpacking now. The time has come to break the moving boxes down, take them to recycling, and get your house in order. It isn’t a fun job, but it is neat to watch the boxes get removed. 

Decorate Slowly

The walls will be there tomorrow. The pictures will go up. The paintings will be hung, the sculptures placed. There is no need to try to skip to the end right now. Take your time, this is your new home. It isn’t going anywhere. 

Throw a “Party”

The astute reader will notice party is in quotes. Maybe don’t throw an actual party as that’s a whole other load of stress. Instead, invite some friends over, have some pizza, and work towards a productive goal. That could be anything from painting the living room to setting up furniture.

Having a low-key event will really help put a cap on your moving experience and will be far more relaxing than a higher stress affair.