Moving comes with a whole host of mixed emotions. On the one hand, upgrading and finding your dream home is tremendously exciting — but on the other, packing up and transporting your entire life is an inherently stressful process! Even with perfect planning, it’s impossible to predict every single little variable that could happen. In anticipation of the big day when you finally join us at The Canyons™, we’ve put together a short list of strategies to make the move as seamless as possible.
Overprepare
Planning, planning, planning makes perfect! Okay, cowboy — we know that this isn’t your first rodeo, but even the most seasoned ranch hand sometimes glosses over the finer details in the rush of moving day. So before you even begin to think about wrapping that first mug, make sure you’ve assembled all the necessary bits and pieces first. Most moving companies will sell you flattened cardboard boxes of varying sizes, and banker’s boxes — constructed out of sturdier cardboard than traditional moving boxes — are perfect for heavy loads like books or precious and fragile kitchen items you don’t want to risk damaging. Beyond boxes, be sure to have lots of wrapping paper on hand to keep anything from breaking during transportation. You could always raid the recycling for last week’s newspaper, but we favor a roll of packing paper which holds up better and looks far less chaotic to boot.
Pack a Go-Bag
Speaking of planning: A few days before you move, you may want to spend an afternoon packing a bag with your everyday necessities. Prepare for your first night in your new home with a few days of clean clothes, toiletries for everyone, and a tablet or book to keep the kids entertained — and to give yourself the occasional break! With any luck move-in day will go off without a hitch, but you don’t want to be rooting around in the back of the moving truck for your favorite nighttime hoodie or toothbrush. If you’re going to be up late putting the final pieces of your move into place, be sure there’s not a single obstacle between you and your first night of well-earned sleep in your lovely new bedroom at The Canyons™. Pre-packing this bag is sure to smooth out the process just when you need a little helping hand. Thanks, self!
Label
A few simple strategies — based in common sense understanding of your own personal requirements — will further alleviate moving day battiness. You’ll want to pack the belongings that you use least frequently first, lowering the chance that you lose track of a necessity. Beginning with the very first box, establish a color-coded labeling system that corresponds to the room in your new home in which each specific box will need to be unpacked. Think pink for the kitchen, blue for the primary bedroom, etc. Make sure to label both the sides and the top of each box so you’ll never have any question about where they’re headed. As a bonus, proper labeling decreases the possibility that any of these boxes will be stored upside down and damage its contents.
Finally, consider pre-shipping your whole family’s bikes to The Canyons™. Sure, you could toss them in the back of the moving van — but with miles of biking and hiking trails right out the front door of your new home, you might not want to wait to unload. Good luck, safe travels, and we can’t wait to run into you at The Exchange Coffee House™ if you need a mid-move caffeine boost!