The Out of Chaos team has helped hundreds of people relocate to a new home during our 20+ years in business. Over that time, we helped people organize, pack, and move to a new home. Read below for our top 10 tips for taking the stress out of your next move.

Our Top 10 Tips

1. Pack seasonal items first. If you are moving in the summer, pack away all the winter clothes, winter sports gear, and holiday decorations first because you won’t need them.
2. Pack away almost all children’s toys. They can live without their entire assortment of toys and games for a few days. However, keep a handful of favourites accessible.
3. Pack a suitcase for each family member as if they were going on a working vacation. This way, you will have all your clothes, toiletries, and medications in one bag that is easy to access during packing, moving and unpacking.
4. Use coolers to transport frozen & perishable foods. You could move these items in your own vehicle depending on the amount of food you have.
5. Create Unpack First boxes. Use these for important household papers, kitchen essentials like the coffee maker, set of dishes & serving ware, etc.
6. Place highly visible labels on items that you do not want to move. Avoid assumptions! It is too easy to get distracted with so many people coming and going. You don’t want to waste time and effort loading and unloading appliances that are supposed to stay with the house.
7. Complete your packing before the movers arrive. Making the movers wait as you pack boxes costs you time and money. The only items you should be packing on the day of the move are your Unpack First boxes.
8. Securely close all boxes. Closed boxes stack more easily. Additionally, it makes loading the truck faster and reduces your billable moving hours. Or, consider using plastic totes instead of cardboard boxes.
9. Use colour-coded stickers on your boxes. Post a legend in the new home to indicate which sticker colour goes in each room.
10. Write the contents of the box on the box. It is much easier to read the contents on the side of the box instead of opening every box to search. You could also write on the colour-coded sticker or number the boxes and use a notebook to list the contents of each box.

If you take the time to organize your home and pack everything, you eliminate the risk of movers taking or leaving things that they should not. Move day should be about coordinating the movers and not about packing.

Relocating to a new home may be unavoidable, but you can choose to take the stress out of your next move. Learn more about our Stress-Free™ Move Management Services or contact Out of Chaos for a consultation.

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