When she moves, she moves...

I go crazy!

No, I promise this post isn't going to be as bad as a Ricky Martin song. I just hope it's as entertaining as William Hung's rendition. Don't you just love his gumption? He's my hero :)

So, you probably understand  have no idea what I'm talking about today. Let me make it plain and simple for you: MOVING! More specifically, moving without stress!


Yes, wonderful readers of mine, we are going to be talking about moving and the exciting process that it is. Or the horrible process it is.

I'm sure some of you hate it...meaning 99.9% of you. But if you are like me, then you look forward to it as a new and thrilling opportunity. If you are like my husband, then you despise it with every inch of your being. But if you are like me, then you look for an opportunity "to move" on a daily basis.

You know, "Hmm I could move this room around and change that furniture arrangement to this."

or

"Hmm, I wonder what the dining room would look like if I switched it with the living room."

Yup, once again, I'm crazy--I know.

But anyways, today I thought it would be fun if I doled out some of our moving tips. Plus, just to let you in on a little secret: we have set our moving date! Yup! No more of this living-in-two-places thing. We have decided that come April 22nd we want our predominate residence to be our new house.  You may be asking yourself, "Why the 22nd?" Well, that is the day that we will have owned our house for 100 days. I like things like that--giving special meaning to a date. Wouldn't it be cool to say that we moved in on the hundredth day of owning the house?! Yea, I'm the only one excited about it. I know.

So, lets get on with:


THE GEIGER PACKING TIPS!!! da d-da! (say it out loud)

tip 1: Clean as you go. 
I highly recommend using this time to do some deep cleaning. Think about it this way, if you clean as you go, there will be less to worry about in the end. As you are packing things, make sure to clean the place that you take them from. For instance, say you decide to pack up that spare closet you use for miscellaneous storage. After you are done boxing everything up, dust and sweep it clean. The people who move in after you will appreciate the clean space you left them and you will feel good because you won't have to clean your entire house/apartment right before you move.

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tip 2: Donate, donate, donate!

Now is the time to really go through all of your belongings. Even if you aren't down sizing like we are (going from approximately 1500 sq ft. to 1000 sq ft.),  moving is a great excuse to get rid of all the extra things you have laying around. Think about it this way, why would you take the time and energy to pack something and move it to your new space, when you are just going to get rid of it anyway? 

For the past few months, I have been picturing where I would like things to go in our new house. As I  have begun to pack, I have realized that I really need to get rid of a bunch of things. I need to be realistic about what I will need in our new space.  I have come to the conclusion that I have WAY too many decorative pieces. In our current space we have three fireplaces. Yes, three. This means three mantels to decorate. And if you have been reading our blog and looking at pictures, you know that we have a total of ZERO fireplaces in our new space. So where do all of those pieces go? Yup, to Sal Val. 

tip 3: If you are getting rid of furniture, try to do so before you move. 

Now, this may seem pretty straight forward, but it amazes me that people will move a big piece of furniture only to realize that they can't keep it (i.e. not enough space) or want to replace it with something else (i.e. a change in decorative taste). 

Our goal before we move on the 22nd, is to get rid of every piece of furniture that we can't and don't want to take to our new space. We gave our extra kitchen table to a friend, we Craigslisted our too-big furniture, and we are working on giving borrowed pieces of furniture back to their original owners. The more we do now, the less burdened we will be come moving day. Plus, its really nice to put an easy 'check' beside one of the things on our huge to-do list. 

tip 4: Know where everything is packed. 

Do this, by numbering each box and making a list of what is in each box. At the beginning of packing, I took a composition notebook and wrote numbers down the left side and put a description of what was in each box next to it. I actually took this tip from the Duggars. I figured if they used this technique to stay organized with all those kids, then it has got to work for us--and it has! 

Back at the beginning of February, I thought we would be moving by the end of the month. So, I started packing things that I knew we wouldn't use. Well, it's almost two months later and we are still in our apartment. This is what our guest bedroom has looked like since I decided to start packing--a huge stack of boxes.

Since we didn't move as fast as I was planning, I have needed things that were packed away. It has been wonderful to just reference my notebook and not have to go digging through everything in an attempt to find, say, my extra toiletries. Plus, when we do eventually move, I will be able to do it in an organized manor. I will just reference my notebook and be able to tell which box goes in which room. 

tip 5: If possible, take your time. 

My last tip is all about convenience.  We have been very blessed to have my father as our landlord. He has been wonderful in letting us be flexible about moving. We are able to stay here as long as we need to and I have been using that to our advantage. Because we have had unlimited time, I have been able to plan out this whole process. It has allowed me to stay really organized and not so overwhelmed by all we have to do.

So, if you have the time, use it! Mentally prepare yourself by visualizing your stuff in the new space. Make lists of where you want each thing to go. Measure the new space for your current furniture. Know whats going to work and what isn't. If we hadn't taken the time to measure our new living room before we moved, we would have attempted to put our couches in there only to find out that there isn't enough space for them. Measuring--which took a measly five minutes--saved us a whole lot of hassle in the end. 

Plus, another thing about being able to take your time (and if you aren't moving too far away)...you can also turn your moving day into moving days. We plan on gradually moving our stuff. Once our bedroom is complete, we will move certain  pieces of our bedroom furniture. Once the kitchen cabinets are painted and dry, we will begin to move our minimally used dishes and small appliances. This will allow us to do things gradually and minimize the stress that comes with moving everything all at once. 

* * * * * * * * * * *

Now, I know that everyone's situation is different and you may not have the option to take your time, but use the above tips and adjust them to your situation. My whole point is, if you plan ahead  and make the effort to know where things will be going once you move, you will be a lot less stressed in the end. Knowing what you own, organizing it, and planning for its future location can really save you a huge headache once moving day arrives. Plus, who doesn't love designing a whole new space?!

Ok, so this is what is working for us, but I would love to know what your moving tips and suggestions are! Please share :)