Unpacking in Your New Home – Part 1

You’ve survived the house or apartment hunting adventure, and the seemingly never-ending task of packing up all of your belongings. You’ve successfully completed your move and are now proudly standing in your new home. There’s only one thing left!

Unpacking.

It’s right about now you’re probably wishing you had sold all of your belongings and opted for hotel living, but don’t stress. While unpacking may not be your favorite part of moving, these tips will help you make it both productive and efficient.

Clean before unpacking.

If you haven’t already done so, give your house a good, deep cleaning before unpacking your belongings. At the very least, vacuum out closets, and wipe down shelves and drawers in the bathrooms, closets and the kitchen before setting things on or in them.

Create a home inventory.

If you didn’t already complete this step while you were packing, now is a great time to create a home inventory. A home inventory is documentation of all of your belongings (include make, model, and serial number, (if applicable) and their value. A home inventory is invaluable in the event of a fire, flood, theft, or other loss of property and will expedite your insurance claims. A home inventory can be created using photos and video or electronically in a Word document or Excel spreadsheet. There are also software and apps you can purchase to assist you.

Continue to purge.

Hopefully you’ve been getting rid of things you no longer need throughout your packing stage, but unpacking is another great opportunity to continue to reassess your belongings. Have a box or two designated as your “donate” box and fill it up with things that don’t have a place in your new home. You’ll feel so much better getting rid of that extra clutter!

Plan out your rooms and spaces.

If you have the layout and measurements of your new home before you move, take this time to determine where you’d like your major pieces of furniture to be placed. This will save you a ton of time on moving day, and allow you to take advantage of your movers doing the heavy lifting. A little pre-planning will hopefully prevent you from needing to rearrange heavy pieces of furniture on your own at a later date.

Have unpacking supplies handy.

Things like box cutters, scissors, and trash bags are helpful to have on hand as you unpack. Keep these in your essentials box so you’re quickly able to find them on move-in day.

Unpack with care.

Note boxes marked as “fragile,” and upack carefully. Hopefully nothing was broken during transit, but you won’t know until you start unwrapping things so use caution. It’s best to unwrap breakable items over a soft surface like a carpet or folded up towel, and keep these objects low to the surface. That way, if a breakable accidentally falls from your hand it won’t drop far and will hopefully land on something soft. After you’ve completely unpacked a box, be sure to remove and inspect all packing materials and flatten the box to ensure you haven’t missed anything.

These general packing tips are just the beginning! In Unpacking in Your New Home – Part 2, I’ll help you decide where to start, and break it down room by room. Stay tuned!

Looking for more tips and tools to plan your next move? Visit the moving category for more expert advice.