The most effective part of a well-executed move is the carefully devised plan. Easier said than done! If only it could be like the movies where y there is a short montage in which you and your family pull up GPS coordinates, astrological maps and sort through volumes of tomes dedicated to successful moves before meeting back up to compile the great plan on college rule, gold-finished, laminated paper with those cutesy designs you always see on Instagram. If you are anything like me, you would fast forward through even the montage. I get it. Not fun at all. Fortunately, you have this humble blog writer willing to spill some internet knowledge to make the planning process a little easier. What’s the point of this plan thing, anyway? Couldn’t you just shove everything into the Mobile Attic storage container and move on with your life (pun very much intended)? If that’s how you roll, then of course. When you reorganize the living room for the third time or when you encounter that inevitable moment where you can’t find your toothbrush, know that I could have helped. I could have been there for you. Let’s save you the heartache and get into the tips that will make your plan as perfect as your move should be!
Visualize everything. I’m not asking you to make an impressionist piece that ties your initial feelings of the new home with the physical aesthetic quality, but I’m sure most people can draw some boxes. Take all the main pieces of furniture that you own and imagine them being arranged at the new place. This will help you create style without having to move everything around a million times after you are already exhausted from packing and unloading. Draw a simple top-down diagram of your home and start placing crudely drawn pieces of furniture in it. Once you have a general idea of where things should go, it wouldn’t hurt to take a trip over to the new place to get a few measurements. Have a little book handy that contains the full measurements of all major pieces of furniture. This will save you from having to go back and forth, waiving a tape measure around like a lunatic. With the dimensions in mind, you can create a new sketch that works with your original stylistic ideas and the realistic measurements. The entire goal here is to measure twice, cut once, as my grandfather would say hundreds of times.
Plan the pack. One of the most exhausting, one of the most stressful parts of the move is the packing. Box after box of finite space, teasing you with their limits and berating you every time you clench your back after attempting to pick them up. Surprisingly, the boxes can be your ally. Make sure that you sort them in some fashion while maintaining a maximum weight of 30 lbs. for each box. Personally, I’m a fan of keeping the boxes in the room where the stuff belongs and, after everything is packed, placing color coded stickers on each box so you know where everything should be place. Bonus points if you color code the rooms in the drawing that you did in the visualization step. Now, if you were to need that signed copy of The Shining to prove to your friends how awesome you are, just match up the color on you diagram to the color on the box and bingo. You’re officially the coolest person in town. Thanks Mobile Attic blog guy.
Coordinate the basics. I know you aren’t looking forward to it, but the kitchen gnomes probably won’t come in the middle of the night and clean your fridge for you. Inevitably, you will no longer have a steady supply of food items that you could snack on or cook with. Timing is essential here. Before the day you know you are going to be packing up the fridge, consume everything in a precise manner. Create meals that use the perfect amount of ingredients you have on hand so that you are empty on day zero. The other option is to of course buy every meal and make a fun time out of the experience. The same thing goes for water or for grooming that requires water. You may be approaching the day the water is turned off, but you still have some packing to do. Fill up some water jugs or get some water bottles. The worst thing ever is having to pack while dehydrated.
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