My top 3 moving tips everyone needs to know. We recently moved with two young children in tow and believe me, in my 8 moves in 6 years… this one was the hardest undertaking by far! Packing and moving with a 2 year old and a 5 year old was no small feat. Add to that – we moved in a super short timeline during one of the busiest seasons of our lives. From listing our house to closing was only 24 days.. yes 24 days to list and close. Needless to say we researched every packing and moving hack we could to make this crazy move happen. Here’s what worked for us!

1. RENT A PODS CONTAINER

My friend Chanel recommended PODS to me and I can fully say that it was the 100% best decision we made for this move. Instead of cramming all the moving into one 8 hour window with a moving truck – PODS delivered a portable container two weeks before the move and we were able to load it up at our convenience with about 80% of our belongings before the actual moving day. They delivered a 16ft container and I was shocked with how much of our things fit inside of it. It seemed small at first but pretty much everything except a few larger furniture items fit inside. They delivered it right to our driveway, picked it up and held it for us for a few days ( we had a set-back with closing and they were extremely accommodating and flexible about the re-delivery date which was a life saver during this crazy few days. Can’t imagine if we had already booked a moving company and had to reschedule twice due to the issues with closing. )

They were also SUPER easy to get in touch with and reschedule the delivery to our new home as well as a delay in pickup because we weren’t able to get everything out of it on the original timeline. It was so nice to unpack at our own pace and not have the house crammed full of boxes while we were also trying to organize and figure out where everything would fit in the new space.

2. GARBAGE BAGS ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND

Yes it’s true. Garbage bags were the single most useful packing item I have used. Not only do they have so many uses for actual packing, but when you’re unpacking and are done with them, you can save them and use them for garbage bags and are not wasting money on packing supplies that you will just throw out once done with the move. My favorite use for them was packing up all of our hanging clothes. It is so simple to bag up your entire hanging closet contents into these tidy little groupings which can then be laid flat in a trunk or box and are ready to hang as soon as you get to the new place!

PRO TIP: use the force flex kind so that you don’t rip holes in the bags with the hanger’s ends and it allows for more stretch so you can pull the sides up and over even the widest of hangers.

I also used the contractor sized black bags to bag up all of our pillows and bedding. They keep the pillows protected and clean but you’re not wasting precious box space by taking up an entire box with two bed pillows! You can also use the huge contractor bags afterwards to throw away all the trash that inevitably comes when unpacking.

3. FIRST WEEK BOX

Get a giant clear tub or two and pack them up with everything you’ll need for the first 5-7 days of settling in and unpacking. Things like toiletries, a few bath towels, laundry and dish soap, paper towels, paper plates, dog food, plastic cups and cutlery and a few changes of clothes for everyone in the family. Put these in the trunk of your car when you move so that you have immediate access to the things you will most readily need over the next few days of the craziness of unpacking.

I hope these tips were helpful! They certainly made a huge difference for us this last move. After 9 moves in 6 years I have learned a thing or two about the process and it is hard no matter what! But these simple hacks can help make some logistical things a bit easier!

Happy Packing!

xo,

Katherine