We are almost moved in.  Just need a few chairs and a table.  It feels fantastic.  I’ll eventually post pictures when I find a camera that works again (any recommendations are appreciated – mine died.)

When I started my Project Declutter – I had no idea that my life would be shoved into 817 square feet.  Moving can be the ultimate project declutter.

In the past, moves have stressed me out beyond belief.  I put off doing what I need to do until it was too late.  I would pack a few boxes and label them to make sense.  Then I would give up and throw things into garbage bags.  The truck comes and you load everything up.  You pull up to a brand new clean place and unload things.  The same thing happens.  The first few boxes get unpacked and things get put away in their new places and then laziness sets in…

That is how I had garbage bags full of things in my basement for 4 years.  That means I had TOO MUCH STUFF.

source

The move this time was different.  We had a plan.  Moving across the country is stressful enough, we had to do this one right.  Now that I’m sitting here on my new couch less than one week after move in day, I feel like we did a pretty good job this time around.

Here are my tips for moving:

  • Take your time packing and label everything.  
  • Have a schedule and stick to it – but schedule time off.  We would spend 5 days a week getting stuff done around the house and dropping off donations and the other 2 days – rest.
  • Research donation sites.  There are places in your areas that will take your things and do wonderful things with them.  Spend a few minutes to make sure you are taking advantage of those places.  We donated to the Lupus Foundation and they did three pick ups for us.  Our extra blankets & jackets will be used at a local shelter this winter.  Art supplies went to a young aspiring artist that we met through his parents.  
  • Pick PODS or U-Boxes over a truck if you can.  They drop it off, you load it up, they pick it up and bring it to your new place.  That allowed us to have a super fun road trip with just us and the dogs.
  • Decide if you are getting anything new when you get there.  We were ready to get a new couch and new dishes so we just waited until we arrived.  New place, new stuff – it makes it all so much fun.
  • Take your time unpacking and putting things away.  Don’t get lazy.  If you rush through it, you’ll never stay organized.
  • When in doubt (or when able) – just pay someone to do it all for you… but if you take that route, plan on at least one thing being broken.
I might not be an expert at this stuff – I don’t move very often.  What I do know is that I have an apartment full of all my favorite things and none of the things I should have gotten rid of… because they didn’t make the trip.  
Go get rid of something today that you don’t find useful in your life.  If you need a little inspiration, check out Project Declutter – Part 1 and Project Declutter – Part 2.