Sharing my top 10 useful tips on moving with kids including when to start packing, what you should purge, and how long it should take you to unpack.

We’ve moved four times in eight years and our move last November with 2 under 2 yearS old took the cake. Packing in between naps is no joke! Still, we learned a lot in the process and I want to share what worked (and what didn’t!) to hopefully make your experience that much better.

Here are my top 10 tips for moving from a fellow mom and pro organizer:

1. Purge before you pack. Identify a small area to pack up, take Everything out of that space, sort into three piles: KEEP, DONATE, TRASH. Pack up your keep pile. Be ruthless! If feelings of guilt, what if I need it someday or fear creep in, PAUSE and remember your vision for your NEW HOME. This is such an opportunity to build a home you love!

2. List out all rooms, closets and storage areas in your current home. Number from most used to least used. This will help determine what to pack first without (hopefully) disrupting your everyday life too much. Don’t over think it!

3. Space Plan. Take inventory of your furniture and determine what will work in your new space and what will not. You don’t want to pay movers to move something you don’t need. I like to use FBMP to sell my stuff.

4. Determine an out of the way location to store boxes until moving day. Think guest bedroom, formal dining room, corner of a family room, or garage.

5. Label your moving boxes well. Make sure you put the name of the room where you want the items to land in your NEW HOME. This will help movers tremendously.

6. If you want to take labeling a step further, number your boxes and in a notebook or spreadsheet detail what is in each box. This makes finding things before you have unpacked everything much easier.

7. Buy the right supplies for packing. I love Lowe’s because you can return what you don’t use. Updater.com also has a great packing calculator to help you determine the number of boxes you may need. I recommend overbuying so you can adjust as needed.

8. Make a packing schedule that accounts for life! I suggest starting to pack two weeks out. Too much time leaves your house a stressful mess for too long and any shorter doesn’t allow time to purge before you pack (tip #1).

9. Hire movers! We aren’t in college anymore.

10. Be gracious with yourself when it comes to unpacking. It takes time to settle in a new place and determine how you use each space. Set a goal to unpack all boxes within 30 days.

Must-have packing supplies:

Have you or are you moving in the near future? I would love to hear your questions and tips.

xx

Caroline