Moving Part 3 - Unpacking

Unpacking is simultaneously the best and worst part of moving. It’s the worst because it is a never-ending pain in the butt…but it’s the best because you get to set up your new home, and that’s super fun!

Maybe I’m just weird.

EITHER WAY, there are some simple steps you can take to make the process better:

1. Go Room by Room. If you followed my moving advice, you should have most of your stuff pre-sorted into the correct rooms. Now, you can turn on some music and settle in to unpack one room at a time, without running back and forth between 1000 different tasks. Focusing on one thing at a time, you will be more efficient – and else overwhelmed.
2. Start with the Bedroom. This is the easiest room to unpack – it’s mostly clothes and furniture – and you kind of need your bed to function as a human. Plus, when you go to bed, you will feel SO MUCH BETTER when you’re surrounded by you neat, unpacked, and put away room than if you’re in a sea of boxes.
3. Unpack the Kitchen Next. The kitchen might be the biggest, toughest job because there are a lot of cupboards to fill and stuff to arrange – and re-arrange when you don’t like the first arrangement. However, it’s also the most used room in your house, and while you might be able to get away with just plugging in a coffee pot and a toaster for the first morning or two, the sooner you can cook normally, the better. And once the kitchen is done, the rest of the rooms should feel easy.
4. Arrange Furniture First. Your furniture takes up the most space and is the most cumbersome to work around. If you have the space to push your boxes to the center of the room, do that. Otherwise, push everything to one side, arrange the furniture that you can arrange, then switch sides of the room.
5. Don’t Neglect Closets. A lot of stuff tends to go in closets, and by unpacking closets you’ll get a lot of boxes out of the way, so I like to do it early in the unpacking process. However, don’t just shove everything haphazardly into a closet, close the door, and pretend you’re done. Take your time to organize the closets from the get-go – you’ll thank yourself later.
6. Create Oops Bins. You were supposed to pack and move your stuff in an organized way, but nobody is perfect, and you might have used some towels to cushion your casserole dishes or thrown a few books into a blanket box because it had extra space. Repurpose a big empty box or bin to collect this misplaced items during unpacking. Then, when you are done unpacking the room you’re working in, you can take this bin and drop off these items where they are supposed to go. Doing this keeps you from running around the house like a crazy person and getting distracted. You might also want a bin for things that don’t have a place at all; you can deal with those items later.
7. Take the Time To Organize. Just like you shouldn’t neglect your closets, you shouldn’t neglect any organization. When you finish a room, the closets, cupboards, drawers, and corners should be neat and orderly. Doing things quickly and haphazardly will just mean that you have to return to the same room again to re-do what you’ve already done – do it right the first time!
8. Keep Cleaning Supplies Handy. Although you should have already cleaned your new home, now is good time to clean any area that you might have missed during the cleaning process. It’s also a good time to clean any of your possessions that you notice are dirty – such as a lamp or the back of a dresser.
9. Don’t Decorate. Unpack all of your usable stuff, but leave your decorating for another day. Let yourself live in your new space for a few weeks before hanging pictures or setting up décor – you might end up wanting to rearrange the furniture or change the way something is organized, and you don’t want to have your favorite painting hung over the couch…and then move your couch and have to move the painting and patch the wall as well.
10. Don’t Buy Stuff. You can buy things you need, like a lawnmower or a vacuum, but don’t buy extra furniture or decorations until you live in the house for a few weeks. Give yourself time to decide what you really want to do with your new space before spending your hard-earned money.
11. Make a Box Zone. A box zone is a designated area to stack your empty boxes. Garages and basements are great for this, as are spare bedrooms. If you’re in a small apartment, you might be stuck using your living room. But either way, pick a specific area. When you finish unpacking a room, take your empty boxes to the Box Zone, DON’T leave them in the room you just unpacked. Trust me, this will make your life better and less stressful because this way, you won’t have empty boxes floating around randomly forever.
12. Empty Your Box Zone. When your box zone gets too full – or when you’re done unpacking – EMPTY IT! Don’t fall victim to letting them sit there for months. Oh and hey, remember how you weren’t supposed to buy moving boxes? Well, now that you’re done with them, pass them on so that other people don’t have to buy moving boxes either! You can see if there is anybody else who wants your boxes – friends, family, neighbors, or internet sites like FreeCycle. I gave most of mine to a neighbor in my old apartment and am giving the rest to a friend who is moving next week. If you can’t find anybody to take them off your hands, flatten them and recycle them. But whatever you do, get them out of your house so that they’re not your problem anymore.

Unpacking is a LOT of work, but it’s SO rewarding when you’re done, and you can look around your home knowing that it’s yours and everything is where it should be. I’m FINALLY done unpacking myself, except for the basement, and am getting ready to decorate soon!