You went to the Home Depot, you bought the boxes, plastic, moving blankets, peanuts (Those messy get everywhere under everything styrofoam peanuts), and had to go back again because you didn’t buy enough boxes for the move, three times… Everyone does this. Everyone stacks up on way too many newspapers just to crumple them into balls to use them for packing… What to do?
It’s easy to overwhelm yourself with packing, especially when you waited until the last minute to start packing. But once your packed and the movers have loaded everything onto their truck, got it to your new home, and unloaded it all over your new place, where the heck do you start? The bedroom, bath, kitchen? It again can be a little overwhelming…Â
Here are a few do’s and don’ts for unpacking your new home once it’s all been unloaded…Â
The Essentials
This is really where you should start… This may be the box you didn’t want the movers to move in fear of getting lost. It may contain:
- Any medications that are critical to you
- Toiletries. You know, Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, towel, washcloth, hairbrush, blah, blah, blah
- Maybe some canned food or soup for dinner that evening
- Anything you may need in the first 24 – 48 hours of your move to your new home.
Your Kitchen
This should likely be the first area of the home you unpack after you set up your essentials. Some may say the bedroom, depending on the time of day, but we suggest the kitchen. Besides, you’ll need it in the morning for breakfast anyway. Â
Get your appliances in place on the counter, like your toaster oven, coffee maker, etc. This will put you at ease and also give you a quick feeling of accomplishment and normalcy before you continue embarking on your unpacking journey.
Once you have some of the kitchen unpacked, kick back and relax for a few minutes. It typically isn’t a race to get your home in order once you have just moved in. Make no mistake, everyone wants their new place in order. However, too many open boxes, a mess of bubble wrap, newspaper, and peanuts, and the stress level can mount when there is still only a little place to move about in your new home. You may be better off ensuring the right boxes are in the right rooms and start prioritizing your task list.
Things to Avoid While Unpacking Your New Home
Bulky Furniture
That dining room table with the legs off of it, or other pieces of furniture from Target, Ikea, etc you’re adding to your furniture collection that is going to take up a bit of space can be a pain in the neck to assemble or reassemble. You should think about how you want it situated in the room and where specifically before you assemble it so that when you go to move it, it is a simpler task than moving it three rooms away. Â
Don’t Take On Too Much
In the past, it’s taken me as long as 90 days to unpack my new residence. You don’t have to do it all in a weekend. If you have a spare bedroom, it can wait. Trust me… If you have a full-time job, the basement can wait…Â
While unpacking everything at once and ending your move with a pristine looking home, may make you feel good, the very act of making that happy can stress you at. It’s normal to want it done, and it’s normal to just sit on the couch and relax knowing it’s finished. However, there’s no fast rule that says you have to do it all at once.Â
Unpacking all at once also does not give you the opportunity to reevaluate whether or not you really need that thing that is coming out of the box, if you’ve lived without it for a week, a month, or even a year. We still have boxes in the attic and garage that have not been unpacked from a move six (6) years ago. They have to go this spring…
Chill out a little during the process of unpacking… You may just find you enjoy the process more.
If you are expanding, downsizing, looking to declutter your office, etc. feel free to reach out to Hercules Movers, Inc. and ask us about our storage space for your items.  We’ll even move them to our facility for you. You can contact us at 732-324-2500 or fill out our form here: https://www.herculesmoversinc.com, and we will provide you with a no-obligation competitive quotation.