moving advice needed

[artist]

My husband and I are in the process of selling our home and if all goes well we will be moving to a smaller place the second week of September. Right now we are in a three bedroom ranch and we are moving down to a single wide mobile home that has a two room addition on it.

I am wondering if anyone has advice on how to begin to pack. What is the best way to lable boxes and what not to pack until the last minute. etc..

We will be going from the closing on the sale of our home, directly to the closing on the purchase of the mobile home, to the mobile home park office to drop of documents for occupancy and then onto a friends home to pick up the moving truck and finally to the mobile home.

I believe we will need to be out of our home two days before the closing so that the buyer can do a walk through so we will stay at a hotel during this time.

[befree]

what's worked for me is: extensive de-cluttering as you go, packing at least a box EVERY SINGLE DAY, color-coding the boxes (like blue painter's tape on the kitchen boxes, orange on the master bedroom, etc), and labeling the most important box #1 (like the coffeepot is the box labeled "Kitchen #1", so you know to unpack it first) Use towels, sheets, etc, to wrap breakable objects. Bathrooms and kitchen are the most time-consuming. If you have the money, buying the boxes at U-haul is nice, since you can buy uniform sizes and not have to scrounge around at liquor and grocery stores. U-haul also sells foam envelopes to slide your dishes into that are nice for packing.

[mschrisgo2]

[Hmm, thought I added a reply here yesterday, but it's gone missing]

one thing I can add, is to carefully plan for furniture. Where will each piece be used? and then measure your doorways. Mobile homes are famous for small doors and narrow passages and tight turns.

Also, since you are downsizing, try to pack by categories, a la Kondo method. Then it's easy to see that- for instance, as I did- 4 cartons of good towels are not going to fit in the new house, time to pass some on.

I marked my boxes with magic marker, and starred the 2 that were most important in each category, i.e. needed to be opened first.

When moving into a smaller space, it is really frustrating and difficult to unpack and get settled if you have too much stuff, so the more you can discard ahead of time, the happier you will be.

[Miss Cellane]

Have a box or two of important stuff that travels in the car with you. Toilet paper, hand soap, light bulbs, cleaning supplies, snacks, sheets and towels, change of clothes, food for the first two days (something simple like pasta and jarred sauce) and the equipment to cook it, paper plates and cups or just enough dishes/cutlery for one meal, shower curtain if the new bathroom needs one, trash bags, aspirin and bandaids, basic tools, chargers for electronics--anything that you *need* to use every day or that you really need in order to move in and unpack.

As for packing--the first thing to do is get rid of as much as you can. If possible, you don't want to go through the work of packing, loading, moving, unloading, and unpacking something, just to lug it to Goodwill in a week. See if you can get in the new home to measure the rooms, including placement of doors and windows. Figure out which furniture will fit, and what has to go. Measure the insides of all closets in the new place, and then measure your current closets. That will tell you how much less storage space you will have.

The stuff that gets packed first is the stuff you use the least. So holiday decorations, out of season clothing, some kitchen stuff (will you need the roasting pan or cookie sheets in the next few weeks?), most of your bedding and towels (can you live with one set of each until the move?), decorative stuff like curtains and rugs and pictures and knickknacks. I have a lot of books and I always pack them early, but don't tape the boxes closed until a few days before the move, just in case I have a sudden midnight need to re-read Pride and Prejudice (don't laugh, it's happened). This stuff can be packed right now.

Tip: Plates pack better if you stand them on their edges, instead of stacking them flat.

Mark your boxes on at least two sides, say the top and one side. You can color code things, or just write with a Sharpie. Label the boxes with the room where they will go in the new house, not the room they came from in the old house. Boxes should also be label with a general idea of what's in them--pots & pans, dishes, linens, books.

As you get nearer to Moving Day, you can pack more stuff. A week before the move, you can start packing most of the kitchen stuff. This is one time I think using paper plates and the like makes sense. Maybe not for a week, but for the two days before and after a move, disposables and take-out can really make a difference. Pick out clothes for the next week. How many depends on the availability of cleaning them. If you have your own washer and dryer, you can pack all but about 3-4 days worth of clothing. And that should fit in a suitcase you take in the car with you on Moving Day.

You can also start to prep for loading the truck, if you are doing that yourself. Stage the boxes some place where it will be easy to get them out of the house and into the truck. If you move everything to the living room or garage (or wherever's best) over the last week or two, it will save energy and time the day you load the truck. Move smaller pieces of furniture--the TV stand, end tables, nightstands, chairs--to the staging area as well.

If you are donating or selling any furniture, try to have that done and out of the way a week before the move.

I think planning to stay at the hotel is a great idea. If you need to, you can go back to the house to clean it, but you won't be living there, so you won't be messing it up again. You don't have to worry about what to do with the bed sheets on the morning of Moving Day, or how to eat those last few meals at home when you need to pack up the kitchen.

[Teacher Terry]

Mis C, basically does what I do when I move. I have moved 30 times so have gotten good at it. WE use simple meals and paper products before and after and usually dinner out or take out. We have never had to be out of the house for a walk through. We leave during it but still come back and stay at the house. The last move was a smaller house so i sold the furniture I was not taking. When I was younger I would move stuff and then later give it away. Now I do the reverse. Being organized and marking your boxes well is important. I also buy the shelf paper ahead of time so when I get to the new house I am ready to go.

[debbie]

My only suggestion is to not get big boxes. For books and kitchen stuff my Dad once got huge boxes that once packed, could hardly be lifted! Good luck on your move!

[pinkytoe]

Liquor stores have good medium sized boxes.