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Author Topic: Moving advice?  (Read 1691 times)

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Offline Haruna

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Moving advice?
« on: August 21, 2017, 11:30:53 AM »
My sister just bought a house and I'm going to be moving in with her. The thing is, we've never moved before! We've lived in the same house all our lives. What advice can you guys give? Do you recommend moving all of your belongings at once or a little at a time? (we're moving out of our family home so this is possible for us; there's no strict time limit, and the house is only 15 minutes away). Are there any organizational tips you have or things you wish you'd done when you moved? Also, we're buying some furniture and other necessities; do you guys have any advice about the best places to find cheap stuff?

I'm kind of excited because for the first time I'll have room for a little display cabinet for ponies, and the parts of the collection that don't fit I think will go under my bed in plastic bins. Do you have any pony storage/display/moving advice? Thanks for any and all advice!

Offline Pokeyonekenobie

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Re: Moving advice?
« Reply #1 on: August 21, 2017, 05:00:25 PM »
Clean the house before you move into it. 

I'm an Air Force Brat and I can't tell you how many times we moved into a house that was "clean" only to find boogers on the walls or a plugged up toilet and other nasty surprises.  It's much easier to clean if you're not moving boxes out of the way. 

Since you have the option of moving things piecemeal, move the large furniture first and get it placed how you want it.  Then you can bring boxes of smaller things in to fill up shelves and whatnot.  Again, it's easier to rearrange large furniture if you're not having to negotiate around smaller boxes of knickknacks. 

When boxing things up, box like things together.  It's easier to put away a box of books than it is to put away a box with two books, four CDs, three kitchen knives, 8 pairs of shoes, three shirts, a camera, spare batteries, a container of markers, two candy bars (hey I was looking for those) and a partridge in a pear tree.  It also makes it easier to find things when you're looking for a specific box.  Also, put things in the same box that are going in the same room.  If a pile of books is going into a bedroom while another pile is going to the living room, it makes more sense to box them up separately so you don't have to haul them around the house.  You'll be tired enough without running through the house to put things in every room but the one you opened the box in.

If you're doing all the moving yourself then you shouldn't have to worry too much about things going missing, but if you are having helpers (especially if you don't know them well), I recommend labeling your valuables as "Bathroom."  Because it's too easy for "Jewelry" and "Coin Collection" to go missing.  Nobody's going to risk stealing a box of shampoo and toilet paper when there might be good stuff to be had.  Labeling the boxes with which room they go in helps your helpers to know where to stash the boxes that they bring in.  If a box is labeled "Kitchen" it can go straight to the kitchen instead of being left in the living room and when you unpack your plates they can go straight into the cupboard where you want them.

One of the dangers of moving bit by bit is leaving boxes of things behind to be gotten "sometime".  Make sure you set a deadline for getting all of your things so your parents don't have to resort to storing your things in the attic, where you'll only find them after they move out and you're helping to clean out the house.  (Oh that's where I left my stereo.  Would have been nice to know before I accused the neighbors of stealing it and bought another one...)

Offline Mewtwofan1

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Re: Moving advice?
« Reply #2 on: August 21, 2017, 05:40:05 PM »
I second what ponyonekenobie said. I've only ever moved house once, but I can tell you that it's a big thing. In addition to the above, have a deadline to have it all unpacked. We didn't unpack all our boxes, and they wound up in the basement for years. I was wondering where my old great aunt Mary cow stuffy went!
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Offline Pokeyonekenobie

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Re: Moving advice?
« Reply #3 on: August 21, 2017, 09:35:57 PM »
Just thought of another thing.  Make sure you take toilet paper, soap and a towel over the first time you go.  Nothing like needing to go to the bathroom while you're cleaning/moving and having absolutely no supplies for it!

Offline SnorkMaiden

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Re: Moving advice?
« Reply #4 on: August 22, 2017, 09:21:31 AM »
Just thought of another thing.  Make sure you take toilet paper, soap and a towel over the first time you go.  Nothing like needing to go to the bathroom while you're cleaning/moving and having absolutely no supplies for it!

Excellent advice (as well as everything else in the first reply). I'd also bring over a clean t-shirt and socks, in case you get dirty / dusty and want to change. Also important are one or two bottles of water / other beverage of your choice and maybe some biscuits. Moving is hungry and thirsty work! I also made sure to bring my kettle, tea bags and mugs over the first time, as I'm very British that way and always need tea. :)

Another thing I found useful was to get a supermarket delivery. It's a great way to get in all the heavy / bulky items without having to carry them yourself: toilet paper and kitchen roll, cleaning supplies, beverages, tinned vegetables... It also saves you time, as you can arrange for the delivery to arrive while you're there anyway. I've done this twice now when I moved, and it's just one less thing to worry about.

Offline lovesbabysquirmy

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Re: Moving advice?
« Reply #5 on: August 22, 2017, 10:26:53 AM »
Yep, clean the new place first!  Pack up spare clothes, the cleaning stuff, some personal essentials like TP & snacks and get everything scrubbed down to the baseboards!  Other people's old dust is gross.

Definitely create a cargo manifesto for every single box you have.  And have the master list handy!  What I mean is create an inventory, stick it on the outside of the box and make a copy of this info in an Excel sheet or a notebook you can keep out and about.  I cannot tell you the difference between "this box is full of books" and "books ages 3-7/fantasy novels/reference novels on 16th century literature" when you NEED to find something.

No crazy nonsense like piling things in trash bags.  Trash bags are for trash.  Also cannot tell you how many times something has been THROWN AWAY because someone "just put it in a bag".  Trash bags are for trash! 

And color-coordinate your trips if you have to make multiple ones.  One trip is all red-dotted things.  One can be for green-dotted things.  Code them to specific rooms.  Drag it all out to the car and comb the rooms again for any more stuff you have. That way you are more likely to get everything the first time and not have your parents dealing with your stuff that you overlooked.  I just found a kitchen cabinet full of things I don't even remember storing 7 years ago.  we put something against the counter and I *thought* we emptied the cabinet space and took the door off, but nope, we took the door off.  And I found all this stuff! 

 once I re-discovered a whole "new" storage locker underneath my bed and a crawlspace in the laundry room of my mom's house.  But it took replacing the bed for anyone to remember it was there.  :(
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Offline Duenia

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Re: Moving advice?
« Reply #6 on: August 22, 2017, 11:55:22 AM »
Whenever I move I generally start by essentially packing myself an overnight bag like I'm staying a friend's house. Change of clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, a couple bottled waters, snacks, any prescriptions, change of clothing, pajamas, brush, pads, towel, wash cloth and not that I normally bring it to a friend's house but toilet paper lol. One bag of whatever I would need to make it 24 hours without anything in the packed boxes.

The bag comes in handy because whenever I've moved I've had to do it all at once. Plates and bowls get stacked in boxes with a paper towel between each to keep them from rubbing against each other. Additional padding added later. I have 3 book cases. So the books get boxed into small boxes (since I have no muscles) based on which shelf they go on. I there's extra room any not so breakable knick knacks that sit on that shelf will also go it with the books. I do the typical bathroom and kitchen boxes type thing except I pull my cleaning supplies into a separate box at the end of everything.

Clean the old place then bring that box first and clean every single inch of the new place. Some places are freaking nasty when you move in regardless of what you're told. Like seriously - I've only done apartments but we're talking vomit piles, certain hairs, beard hair trimmings, sticky floors, and enough dirt that a damp paper towel would glide over a surface and turn black. Much to my landlord's surprise I even took a Swiffer to the ceiling and scrubbed down the walls when I moved in. Took apart anything I could and moved any furniture already in there to clean under/around. Doing that I found the mold they couldn't find but could smell and they fixed it up quickly. Needless to say my apartment was very clean for move in. And that will honestly be the biggest thing you can do to make the move easier (and if you're anything like me it's great for peace of mind).

Once that's done you can start bringing the sorted items into the rooms they belong in. I normally do a big trip and then unpack the necessities by room. So I'll start with bathroom and kitchen. Once those are unpacked I'm normally completely wiped and will shower (thank you overnight bag!) find my bedding and sleep wherever my mattress ended up. The rest of the boxes I will unpack at my leisure. Aka it took me 3 months to finish unpacking last time.

I haven't moved my collection yet - but since I have a storage system going on I'm heavy into keeping an inventory of what's where. It's a freaking life saver for when I'm looking for something specific and I would highly recommend it.

Offline Baby Sugarberry

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Re: Moving advice?
« Reply #7 on: August 22, 2017, 11:31:37 PM »
Start by going through all your things and putting aside anything you don't really want/need - donate if possible.  Clothes that don't fit, all that old school coursework, that stack of books you won't read again, stuff you kept 'because it might be useful later', etc.

That'll cut down on the amount of packing, moving, and unpacking you'll have to do at the new place.  It's amazing how much stuff we acquired one, three, five, ten years ago that now isn't really relevant anymore.
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Offline tikibirds

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Re: Moving advice?
« Reply #8 on: August 23, 2017, 01:29:05 AM »
I'm a PRO by now as I have moved as far away as China.


The best advice I can give is make sure your boxes are clearly labeled that way you can easily find stuff when you unpack.
Every time I stored ponies, when I reopen them, I always find black stuff on them. I dont know what it is or how it got there (its not mold/cancer). It looks like a kid used a black crayon and scribbled on it. SO if you have any plastic collectibles, be careful.
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Offline tulagirl

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Re: Moving advice?
« Reply #9 on: August 23, 2017, 08:00:10 AM »
My mother has always said, the first rooms you should set up immediately are your bathroom and kitchen.  When my mother moved she took all of her kitchen stuff over herself until it was completely functional as a kitchen with food in the fridge and everything.  She did the same with the bathroom.  Then she packed up belongings in boxes and labeled the boxes and had a moving company move those, but her situation was a bit different in that she had a house full to move and it sounds like you just have a bit less.  Cleaning and exterminating are good ideas before moving in.  Once my friend moved into a house before realizing it was infested with fleas.  It was a nightmare for them to fix that after they moved and would have been easier had they done it before.  Second hand furniture is kind of risky with bed bugs like they are now so be sure to buy carefully if you are going used furniture.  Otherwise ask friends, they might have things they don't need anymore.  My parents did all of that and completely furnished my first apartment for free just by getting stuff from family and friends.
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Offline NightGliderSA

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Re: Moving advice?
« Reply #10 on: August 25, 2017, 11:14:55 AM »
I agree that it is so much easier to clean an empty house; do that first if at all possible.

When we moved I assigned a specific colour to each room. I stick a piece of paper of the colour on the door of the room and the same colour sticker on each box destined to go into the room. Each box had its own number, and that was all that was on the outside. The moving company then knew that all the yellow stickered boxes needed to go into one room, the green stickered into another etc. But without having any indication of what was actually in those boxes. I had a master list linked to the colour coded box numbers that told me what was in each box. We labelled the furniture in the same way. It really streamlined the move, especially as the moving company was late in arriving. And all that was very precious to me we moved ourselves - which was only a very few boxes.

Good luck with your move - please post photo's of your new display area when you have it up and running  :)

Offline Tiny_Bubbles

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Re: Moving advice?
« Reply #11 on: August 25, 2017, 12:21:41 PM »
Everyone here has offered great tips. We have moved a few times and always packed a small tote bag with snacks, drinks, toilet paper, and a small baggie with things like band-aids, hand sanitizer, painkillers, pepto tablets - just in case!

If you guys are going to buy furniture, please consider second-hand solid wood furniture instead of the MDF stuff they sell in Walmart and even a lot of furniture stores. Craigslist can be a great place to find excellent pieces that will last a long time, and if they are solid wood you can always refinish them if you want a change. (Chalk paint + wax works great if you don't like the look of stained wood.) Thrift stores sometimes have surprisingly nice furniture - I got a gorgeous maple rocker at our local shop last summer for $40. Garage sales are good, too!

Offline Haruna

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Re: Moving advice?
« Reply #12 on: August 25, 2017, 08:03:05 PM »
Thank you all so much for the advice so far! This is all extremely helpful. The house is a new construction so there isn't that much to clean (the cabinets were full of sawdust and some of the lights had bugs in them, which was quickly put to rights!) That's been a huge blessing -- not having to clean very much at all -- as I remember when we helped my older brother move into his house that there was so much dog hair to clean up because the previous owner had owned a hairy dog. -_- These are great tips about packing an overnight bag, and I hear you, Baby Sugarberry, on deciding beforehand what I want to give away. My room has 20+ years of stuff and I know I don't need it all . . .

Tiny Bubbles, that's interesting what you say about furniture. My sister's bought a very nice solid wood desk from the thrift store on a half-price day, so that should last a while. So far we've brought home quite a few thrift store pieces, like some shelves and a few chairs. I found a free computer chair by the side of the road (it was probably amusing for passerby to watch me stuff it in my Civic.) I bought a fiberboard cube shelf from Target, and I can see what you mean about longevity; even just putting it together made it split a little. It still works for me, as it will just be hidden away in the closet, but I'll keep your advice in mind for sure!

Tomorrow we're going to Ikea and we're going to buy the display cabinet for the ponies. (It's a white Billy/Oxberg bookcase with glass doors.) I'm also going to get some plastic storage bins for the rest of the collection to live under my bed and get rotated out at times. I've been looking at pictures of people's collections online and trying to decide how to organize the ponies once displayed . . . maybe by year? Possibly just by how they look aesthetically.

Offline Rad

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Re: Moving advice?
« Reply #13 on: September 09, 2017, 05:24:26 PM »
I was going to mention Ikea! :) Have fun with that! If you're like me and mildly allergic to dust (or just randomly sneeze a lot!) have a full box of Kleenexes at both places and a back-up at one place. I go through a lot. :P A lot of people mentioned labeling well and I agree. We lived with my in-laws for a year and stored things in my parents' basement. I have a great memory for what went where and it was greatly supported by the labels on the boxes, like when we needed paperwork for taxes. Also if you've got your stuff in one box and someone else has theirs in another, it might be beneficial for you to move your boxes and them to move theirs. That way if you want a box of your clothes you don't have to figure out where it went in the pile of "bedroom" boxes!

Duenia - You found VOMIT at a RENTAL place? I guess I can MAYBE see the sick person forgetting about that - MAYBE. But the LANDLORD not getting it cleaned up? Unless they wanted to flip the place FAST. That's atrocious!
« Last Edit: September 09, 2017, 05:28:20 PM by Rad »
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Offline Haruna

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Re: Moving advice?
« Reply #14 on: September 14, 2017, 06:26:12 PM »
I was going to mention Ikea! :) Have fun with that!
Ha ha, Ikea was an experience in itself! I've never been and the place was huge. My sister and Mom and I also realized that we couldn't lift any of the furniture ourselves and we had to arrange for home delivery; but it worked out okay. I have my cabinet for ponies and my sister got two bookshelves and a TV stand there. The place is unlike any store I've been to before . . .

Everything's coming together; I just now have to sort through the stuff in my room and give away what I don't need. I hear you on the labeling, Rad -- I'll do that as much as needed. My sister and I are putting our toy collections in the third bedroom, but we need more shelves; we were going to get wire shelves for the closets, but that was right before Irma and now Lowe's is crazy . . .

 

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