After Your Move: Developing an Unpacking Plan

Perhaps you’ve been running around, trying to get everything packed for your move, that you didn’t think about one thing – unpacking once you get to your destination. Moving is about packing up your current place, getting your belongings there and then putting things where they belong. More often than not, you’re just thinking about the first two steps. It’s easy to wrap, box and tape up your precious belongings. But when you get to your new home – how do you keep track of what goes where, and stop complete and utter chaos from happening?
You need to develop a good unpacking plan, as well as a packing plan. That way, you can make sure everything goes smoothly. Here are some tips you can follow, to make unpacking into your new home easier:

Label all your boxes. When you are packing, indicate which boxes should go to what room. For example, have all your kitchen stuff in one box, and label it as such. This will help your long distance movers put them in the correct room when they get to your new place. Then after they’ve left, you can begin to unpack strategically.

Make a list. This is more of a packing tip, but hopefully, you made a list of everything you packed away. Now, it’s time to keep that list next to you, and uncheck everything on it, to make sure nothing is lost.

Set-up. If you have things you need to set-up, like bookshelves or lining cupboards, do it before you even think of opening a single box.

Unpack one room at a time. It’s probably tempting to just go around and unpack your favorite things or stuff you think may be important. But, you might end up leaving half unpacked boxes everywhere. Unpack one room completely before moving to the next. Here’s a tip – unpack the kitchen first, so you can prepare meals throughout the day. 

Plan your rooms. Use an interior designer’s trick – plot out your room by making outlines around your furniture using butcher paper. Then lay them on the floor around the room – that way you won’t waste time (or break your back) moving things around to see if they fit.

One of the last places you can unpack is the garage – why? More often than not, this is your storage area, and the boxes you moved are most likely going to be the ones that you’re going to keep in their boxes. Just make sure you prepare and organize the garage before putting your stuff in.

Unpacking is an essential part of any move. It’s the final step you need to take before you can truly enjoy your new home. It needn’t be that difficult, as long as you plan it in advanced.