Last Updated on November 19, 2024
Check out the best moving tips to help your move be super organized and stress-free.
Fun fact: I hate moving. A calm, clean, organized home is my literal happy place, and a move is anything but that. There’s crap everywhere, you can’t find things, and you’re walking through your house like it’s a crowded night club you can’t get out of. Anxiety is high, there are a lot of moving parts, and it can be really stressful.
Even though I hate it, I have moved A LOT. And moving 7 times in 15 years will teach you a thing or two about how to move the right way. Whether you’re moving because you want to or because you have to, you still want it to be as painless as possible.
Over the years, I have perfected our moves to a T. I might as well have a clipboard and a whistle, because this girl runs a tight ship! Thankfully, we just made our last move for a long time, if not forever, so I am happy to be leaving my command post!
Even though I’m done moving, I am ready to share all my moving hacks and tips with you. Read on to get moving tips to help your move stay super organized and to help keep your sanity intact.
Top 7 Moving Tips
1. Book Your Movers or Moving Truck Early
This is a must! Don’t wait to book your movers or rent your moving truck. I’ve gotten really lucky with movers in years past but when we were scheduling our move this past spring, so many movers I called were booked solid (even a month in advance!).
I was lucky enough to find some local movers that came through for us, but movers get booked up, especially during peak moving season (spring – summer). Go local if you can! I find they take much better care of your things then some of the more popular van lines. You’re also supporting small, local businesses.
My husband and I moved ourselves start to finish once (loaded the truck, drove it, etc.), but we won’t do it again unless we absolutely had to. We’ve had family or friends help in the past but at this point in our lives, we just do all the packing and let movers load the truck, drive it, and unload it. If you can afford to hire movers, it’s worth every penny.
2. Buy Your Moving Supplies on Day One
Don’t underestimate the amount of time it’s going to take to pack your house up. It’s a tedious exercise to do it right. Unless you have the luxury of hiring professionals to pack, you’ll be the one tackling this. I had a packing company once because a new job paid for it, and it was amazing! But every other move, my husband and I have done 100% of the packing ourselves.
For a 3-bedroom house with a basement and outdoor furniture, it generally takes us 3 weeks to have it completely packed up. Keep in mind, this is with working full-time, so we only have a little time at night and the weekends to get it done.
The minute I know a move is happening (which is usually about 30 days before it happens), I am ordering moving supplies. Below are my must-have top 10 moving supplies.
- Moving Boxes in Different Sizes
- TV Boxes
- Packing Tape
- Index Cards
- Packing Paper
- Heavy Duty Trash Bags
- Stretch Wrap
- Furniture Blankets
- Ratchet Tie Down Straps
- Plastic Bins
To get all the details of exactly how I use these moving supplies, check out my 10 Best Moving Supplies for an Organized Move post. Most of these came from Amazon, which is awesome if you’re Prime because you can reorder things quickly when needed!
3. Start Packing the Rooms You Use the Least First
It’s more challenging to pack a house while you’re still living in it because, well, you live there and need access to things! When packing, always start with the rooms you use the least. For us, that was our formal living room and guestroom. So, I had those two rooms packed up first.
Then, slowly start ticking away at the other rooms. For us, the last rooms to get packed up is the kitchen and our bedroom and bathroom. Although, you can start to pack things in those rooms you don’t use as often.
My go-to system for packing is:
- BY ROOM
- BY CATEGORY
Delicate items go in plastic bins, linens and clothes go in heavy duty trash bags, and everything else goes in boxes (except large items like art and furniture of course). Always label boxes, bins, and bags with an index card taped on all sides. It’s my no-fail way to quickly identify what everything is. Learn more about my top 10 moving supplies and the details of how I use them HERE.
So, for the guestroom, for example, put all books and decor in the same box. For guestroom linens, put them all in the same heavy duty trash bag. Label them, and you’re good to go!
4. Stack Boxes in One Room
If you want an efficient move, you don’t want to be dragging boxes and bags down from every section of the house on moving day (especially if you have stairs!). Designate a space in the house to stack boxes, bins, and bags.
Each house is a little different but for this last (and final) move, I chose our formal living room, which was right by our front door. We never used this room, and it was right next to the entryway with perfect access to the front door.
Pick a room or space (whether a basement, dining room, garage, etc.) that you can dedicate to using as your storage room and load it up. Ideally, you want this on the main floor with good access to an outside door. Stack the largest boxes on the bottom and lighter ones on top. I did couple rows of boxes, stacked deep. Then, I filled in with our trash bags.
If you still have furniture in your box storage room (like we did), scoot it against a wall to open up more space. Our previous home buyers bought a lot of our furniture, so we just packed around it.
5. Take Fragile Furniture Apart
Okay, this might be an unpopular opinion because it’s a pain in the butt, but I cannot recommend this enough. You don’t have to disassemble every single piece of furniture, but I highly encourage you to take apart things that are at high risk for breaking. Basically, this would be anything with long skinny legs (like desks and tables).
We took our indoor and outdoor dining tables apart as well as my office desk. My desk had already been broken in our last move, so I didn’t want to take any chances. Not only does this provide way more protection for your furniture but it also takes up a lot less space in the truck! If you’re paying by the square foot, this little hack could actually save you some money.
When taking furniture apart, label parts if needed and always put your hardware in a plastic baggie and keep them together! We put all the hardware in a plastic baggie and stretch wrapped it to the furniture. There’s nothing more annoying than not knowing where your furniture hardware is, especially right after a move when things are chaotic.
6. Wrap Your Furniture & Decor
This is a step you don’t want to skip. My 10 Best Moving Supplies post goes into much more details, but you should always wrap your furniture and decor.
For large decor items that aren’t in boxes, use stretch wrap to help protect them. I basically stretch wrap anything that will sit still! Furniture, art, large picture frames, sports equipment – you name it, I wrap it!
For extra fragile items, use furniture blankets in addition to stretch wrap. For large mirrors and wood furniture, we wrapped furniture blankets around them and then stretch wrapped on top of it. This may seem like overkill but if you want to minimize risk of damaging your furniture and decor, take these extra steps to protect them!
7. Make a List of Things to Pack in the Car
Unless you’re flying to your new home, you’re likely going to be driving there. Our last move was cross states, so not only were we driving in packed cars, but we had to stop at a hotel for a night. You’re undoubtedly going to need items to be in the car with you. This can include clothes, toiletries, snacks, prescriptions, dog food, diaper bags, plants, and more!
In the hectic days leading up to a move, your brain may not be firing on all cylinders. Make a list of all the things you need packed in the car and designate a spot to store them. For us, we used a single kitchen counter to organize all of the things we needed to pack in the car.
Keep those things separate from the pack, so they don’t accidentally get loaded onto the truck. I packed a few small bins and labeled them “pack in car” so that it was very clear these were items that needed to come with us vs. the moving truck.
Moving Tips That Go the Extra Mile
I am fairly certain my moving karma is so good that I’ll have the best moves for lifetimes to come. We have always gone the extra mile with our homes, leaving them in better shape than when we moved in. These steps will really make a difference for the next person that moves in.
1. Label Paint & Toss Old Paint
Only leave paint behind that is currently on the walls and label it by room. Nothing irks me more than moving into a new house with a cabinet full of old paint that looks 100 years old, and I have no clue what it was used on.
If the paint is newer and in good condition, label the can with the room it was used in. For old paint, use paint hardener to dry it out and toss it before the new owners move in.
2. Patch Up Holes in Walls
Whether it’s large holes from tv mounts or tiny holes from hanging a picture, we always fill them in and re-paint. Why? Because I think it’s the right thing to do! I have never moved into a house where this has been done for me, and I don’t care. We take a lot of pride in our home and when someone new moves in, they know it. It’s a small gesture and doesn’t take a ton of time. Go the extra mile and fill those holes!
3. Leave Keys, Remotes, & Instructions
In a home sale, realtors should be helping to organize these things but, in my experience, they rarely do. Sure, you’ll get a key to the house and a garage door opener, but a lot of houses come with more bells and whistles than that.
Our new house is so “smart” that we couldn’t even figure out how to operate half of it. We also had remotes for fans that were missing, and they didn’t function without them. This all ended up working out after several rounds of communication between realtors, but it shouldn’t be this hard. At our previous house, we even had to ask a neighbor how to start our fireplace!
We always leave all remotes in one spot on the kitchen counter. I also write out instructions for how to operate things in the house. This can include appliances, fireplaces, sprinkler systems, pools or hot tubs, lighting, blinds, and more. It took me 10 minutes to type and print out house instructions for our home buyer. And I’m sure the new owners really appreciated that extra step!
If you’ve had maintenance or remodeling done on the house, it’s also helpful to leave that info for the new owners. I had a whole folder organized with everything from owner’s manuals to warranties for the buyers of our last home.
I know not everyone will do these extra nice moving tips, but it will certainly be appreciated on the other side if you do!
There are a lot of moving parts (pun intended!) during a move, but when you put the right steps in place, it’s a lot easier to manage. I hope these moving tips gave you some great ideas on how you’re move can be a lot more organized and stress-free. Happy moving!
This post is about the best moving tips.
This site contains affiliate links. Please see the disclaimer for more information.
