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I have moved three times in 2020. Now, I know there are those out there who move a lot more than me in a year but for the average person, three times in 7 months is quite a lot (in my opinion).

Haha I guess you could call me crazy but what can I say? Life throws curveballs at you and you can either let it hit you or catch it and run with it.

Why am I telling you this? Well, with each move, it seemed like I gathered some knowledge and time-saving tips and I wanted to pass them onto you. I definitely don’t have professional authority in moving so take this with a grain of salt. It helped me a lot with packing and in turn it helped with the move and also unpacking.

A lot of people messaged me on Instagram asking for a blog post on moving tips and tricks so I figured I’d compile one!

Hire movers.

This honestly may seem like a no-brainer but you have no idea how many people want to “diy” this part to save a little bit of $$$. I’m telling you – it doesn’t really save you that much money. In fact, it probably costs you more money by doing it yourself because it’s going to take you two times longer to move everything. Plus, good luck finding friends or family who are sitting at the edge of their seat wanting to help you move in 100 degree heat + humidity.

You don’t have to hire the packing part. The packing is easy, but moving day? Hire movers!! They’re professionals, they do this every day, and they can get you in and out in no time. I have used the same moving company for all my moves and the crew works their asses off.

Rent reusable plastic boxes.

Years ago I heard about the idea of renting heavy duty plastic bins for moving. The one company in the Northern Virginia area that I found was Lend-A-Box. I loved the concept and the movers love the concept too because boxes can stack easily and it’s just a lot more sturdy.

However, because they’re rentals, you are obviously charged per week and the older I’ve gotten, I’ve become the type of person that starts to pack like weeks ahead of a move so the whole Lend-A-Box concept wouldn’t have worked for me in my moves in 2020.

They worked when I lived in a smaller place because I wasn’t as stressed out to pack up a smaller place and could do it in 2-3 days, but when I moved to bigger places, I started packing weeks ahead of time because I knew I had way more stuff.

…Or alternatively buy GOOD cardboard boxes.

This is what I ended up doing the past three moves and thankfully I was smart enough when I moved from my big house to my rental in DC that I kept the boxes I bought (they weren’t cheap but they held up great so why toss them?). I knew that the move to DC wouldn’t be my last move — I just didn’t realize how soon after moving to DC I’d be moving back out, haha

I bought Banker Boxes. I chose these because I liked the idea of no tape. I really hate wasting packing tape on boxes. Sure, Banker Boxes take time to build but once you build two or three, you become a pro. I also like that they have lids on them so you can easily lift the lid off to get to what you need instead of having to cut the tape and re-tape the box, etc. The lids were sturdy though. None of mine fell off or anything during the move.

Use more medium boxes than large.

It yields more boxes in the end but 1. it helps the movers out because you don’t end up overstuffing the box and causing it to be heavy and 2. you are able to organize more (at least that’s what I noticed for myself).

Use labels.

Okay, so these labels are an organization/type A person’s DREAM. A pack is more than enough (unless you have like a 10,000 sq. foot home I guess) and I stuck on them on opposite corners of the box. So, two per box essentially and wrapped them along the edge (as you can see in photos) so it’s very clear at quick glance which room they go in.

The pack also comes with room tags that you stick in the door jams. It’s especially helpful for bedrooms that aren’t obvious. Master bedrooms are obvious but bedroom 2, 3, 4, etc. may not be obvious…like your bedroom 2 may be the office. The labels just help the movers know where to drop boxes and helps you unpack quicker (and honestly takes out the need to have to move boxes around because they placed them in the wrong room).

Give yourself a free day before the move, if possible.

This is probably my most favorite thing to do and I have been lucky enough with every move I have been able to have a free day prior to moving day.

This gives you the ability to get some little things settled in the house. Such as:

  • Laying down area rugs that you may have bought new for the house so they can uncurl.
  • Bring over fragile/personal items that you don’t want to potentially get lost in the move or broken.
  • As soon as you know the move date, schedule your internet provider to come the day before so you can be all set up when you move in! For me, this is important because I work from home. It wasn’t so that we could have tv to watch, but that was nice too :)
  • Schedule a cleaning service. This doesn’t always work out perfectly but if you’re buying a house (or even renting) and you are able to have a free day before the moving day, schedule a cleaning service to clean bathrooms, inside the cabinets, fridge, etc. – I don’t know about you but if it’s not a new construction home (even new construction homes need a good move-in clean because of all the construction dust) and someone has lived in the place prior, I like to know I’m coming into a properly cleaned place. Additionally, cleaning inside cabinets and fridges is so much easier when the house is empty!
  • Put down contractor kraft paper to protect your nice hardwoods! Even though they’ll bring some floor protectant, to me it’s never enough. I put them down in areas that I know will be heavily trafficked. It also gives movers an indication of where to put down boxes in a centralized location.
  • Use blue tape! It is by far the easiest removal and no damage.

Additional tips + tricks

Do you have any additional tips + tricks you’d like to share? Comment below to share! Who knows, it may come in handy for me next time I move, LOL

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6 Comments

  1. Thank you x3000 for the tips (and links), Julie. This will be my third move in 3 years and I feel like I’ve learned more from this post than I have with my real life experience.

  2. That is a lot of moving. My mom just bought a house but now she says she doesn’t like it and wants to move again! I am hoping to talk her out of it but if not, I will employ some of these great tips. I love your colorful labels so you can tell which room things will go in easily.

  3. Hey lady! I’m so glad you wrote this post! I’ll be moving in December and that paper on the floor tip is genius! I also love the labels of the rooms. I labeled my boxes really well, but it never occurred to me to label the rooms!

    My advice would be to label your boxes meticulously and have a moving notebook. This may be a bit much for some, but for me I had to move my stuff into storage for six months so it was super helpful to know what was in the box. Not only did I put on the box the room it was from, but I gave it a number. I also wrote if it was fragile, unusually heavy, or needed to be the top box in a stack. The mover’s were impressed! In my notebook, I roughly listed the items inside according to its number so I could find them later if I needed to dig through my storage room for something. It was also helpful that I knew which boxes to have closer to the door in my storage room.

    Thanks again for the tips!