You’ve moved! Congratulations, and now it’s time to unpack. While this should be an easier task than packing, it can still take time. Never fear; you can do this in a relatively organized manner. If you label your boxes and have an inventory list, the job will be even easier.
Unpack Your “Urgent” Boxes
A lot of moving advice says to pack a few boxes of urgent or essential needs that will let you live normally for the first few days, such as a few changes of clothes or kitchen items that you’ll need immediately. If you’ve done that, tackle those first. Even if the unpacking is messy (such as random kitchen items on the counter), those are what will let you be more comfortable for the time being. And if you didn’t pack those boxes, now you know to do so the next time you move.
Get Everything Into the Right Rooms
Don’t unpack a box of bedroom items in the living room and walk back and forth to put things away. That’s inefficient. Hopefully, all your boxes will be labeled so you can haul them into their intended rooms before opening them. That will save you a lot of time and confusion. Not to mention, it will make the initial pile of boxes in your living room or front room look much smaller and easier to handle.
Work on the Easy Things
If there’s anything that can be unpacked quickly, such as kitchen items, do that next. Put things in cupboards, add shelf paper if necessary, get your pantry stocked (if you moved locally and have food to put away), and so on. The kitchen is especially helpful because once that’s done, you can cook as you normally do. That goes a very long way toward making you feel like you’ve made progress.
Set up Your Furniture
Set up your furniture before you open up all the other boxes and create piles of things around your home. Get everything put together and in place. On one hand, that sounds so obvious; you need your bookcases set up before you can unpack books, right? However, a common thing that people do is empty out boxes and place things wherever there may be a surface just to get the box emptied. Instead, set up furniture and unpack what you can find for that furniture. It can take a little longer but is a more organized way to empty those boxes.
Make Unpacking a Priority
Finally, make it a priority to unpack as much as possible as soon as possible. Once you move, you may have to get back to work or school quickly and not be able to devote all your time to unpacking. That’s OK; just make unpacking your main activity outside the essentials of work, school, and so on. Having all those boxes around and the mess that goes with unpacking can really do a number on your sense of calm, especially if you have a lot of boxes hanging around for days.
It also helps to move unpacked cardboard boxes and packing materials out as soon as you can. Flatten boxes and bring paper-based packing materials to your recycling bin daily, and throw out unrecyclable materials you don’t plan to keep. The less mess you see each day, the more you’ll feel like you’ve made progress and are turning your new house into a real home.
Moving may be disruptive, but it doesn’t have to be distressing. If you need to contact moving companies in Bryn Mawr, PA, or want to ask a moving company in Willow Grove, PA, about prices and delivery time, contact BR Moving. Let the movers do the work so you can concentrate on getting settled in as fast as possible.
