Sharing part one of my four part series on everything you ever wanted to know about getting ready for your next big move. Whether you are a first time home buyer, moving across the country or planning a local move, I’ve got tips for packing, purging, and planning your move without the overwhelm. In today’s post, I’m sharing all about planning your move including space planning, creating a packing schedule, and scheduling your move.

And don’t forget to grab your Plan My Move Kit by clicking on any image or the button at the end of this post.

Congratulations on this new chapter! Moving is a huge deal packed with change (pun intended). Even if you are excited for the change, moving is one of the top 5 most stressful life events (UH Hospitals). That’s why I put together this four part series! I hope is to reduce the stress and overwhelm of this huge life event. Here are 5 things you SHOULD DO before you ever start packing for your big move:

1. Space Planning

Before you move from one spot to the other, its important to account for what you have now, the space that you are moving to and what will realistically fit in that space. After all, moving is expensive and moving things you don’t actually need costs time, money and sweat.

You don’t have to be a designer to space plan. In order to space plan the easy way, simply list out each room in your NEW house. Then walk through your current home and take inventor of the major furniture pieces including rugs, tables, dressers, beds, lamps, sofas, bookcases, storage racks and chairs. Make a list of which items you are going to place in each room of the new house. Here are a few things to consider while space planning:

• The size of the rooms especially if they are smaller in your new space. Will everything fit?

• If not, do you want to keep that furniture and place it somewhere else in the new house?

• Don’t forget “rooms” like the entrway, laundry room, office and storage spaces.

• For items that don’t quite work in the new space, do you want to sell them before you move? (HINT: YES! Don’t move with stuff you don’t need, use and love)

If you want to go the extra mile, you can measure your new space. Use rough measurements to ensure things like beds and sofas fit in your space and begin to plan exactly where everything is going to go BEFORE you move. This goes a long way on moving day when movers are asking you where to put things.

2. Creating a packing schedule

1. List out all the rooms in your current home

2. Number the rooms in order of least to most used. Rooms like your kitchen, toiletries and bedding will be packed last.

3. Start packing no more than 3 weeks prior to your move. Pick a start date and plan a small area to pack each day/weekend until your move date. Don’t wait until the last minute! You can also add household to-do’s like patching and painting to this schedule.

4. Decide on an out of the way location for moving boxes to live while packing (a guest room, an unused corner of hte living room, etc.)

3. Schedule your movers or book your moving van ASAP

4. Ruthlessly purge things that you don’t need, use and love before you ever start packing (more on this coming in next week’s post!)

5. Determine the number of boxes and packing supplies you need using this estimator

Before my move in 2019, I did a lot of research regarding the cost of moving boxes. I found that Lowe’s was the best deal overall considering they delivered the boxes to my house for free and I could return anything I didn’t use. Don’t forget packing paper, packing tape, a tape gun, bubble wrap, plastic wrap, mattress covers, and dish boxes.

A word on liquor boxes: We’ve used liquor boxes to pack MANY times. If you are hiring movers, here is why I would advise against it: liquor boxes tend to be much smaller than the smallest moving box and awkward sizes. This makes it more difficult (and time consuming) to jenga them into the moving van. It also puts your stuff at risk for not being protected when stacked. Not to mention, because their are MORE small boxes it can take the movers even more loads into and out of your house which adds up.

Download the Plan My Move Kit here! This 5 page kit includes a customizable packing schedule, printable timeline for what to do when, and custom furniture list so you don’t bring things you don’t need.