Stress-Free Moving
Moving can be a stressful time for anyone. From an small excursion like making a dorm room feeling at home, to decorating an apartment under landlord rules and then there's the time where you have a house of your own. While the stress might be inevitable, there are things you can do to help make yourself feel more organized.
I chatted with HGTV star and host of “The High Low Project”, Sabrina Soto, about some stress-free moving tips. Sabrina just went through all the emotions of moving herself. She left her place in New York to create a new start in L.A. So from her experience, she's gathered tips for transforming a house into a home and how to make settling into a new place enjoyable and less exhausting.
Starting Fresh. Sabrina says this is the number one priority. Clean out your home, and if you find things that you haven't touched in a year, from old t-shirts to albums, then get rid of it. Don't be afraid to purge and donate as much as you can to help give you a fresh start in your new place
Instruct The Movers. As you are going through and organizing, make sure you walk through with the movers so that everyone is on the same page. Now if you have anything that is valuable or sentimental that you don't want lost or broken (i.e. jewelry), you should consider taking it with you directly.
Sabrina's Highlight Tip: Create a map of the floor plan of the new place to send it to the movers. That way if you aren't able to physically walk them through both places, they have a map laid out of where each box and piece of furniture will go.
Mover's Insurance. For those really expensive pieces, look into getting mover's insurance in addition to the regular liability insurance that is offered when hiring movers.
Security. Sabrina has become a huge fan of the new ADT app. Not only are you able to monitor your own home, but you can also adjust your lights, thermostat, and even unlock your doors. So if the movers happen to beat you to the home, you don't have to worry about trusting them with a key or leaving them sitting outside until you get there.
Make Your House Feel Like Home. When you're moving into a new place, it can take some time before it begins to feel right at home. So while you're unpacking get that feeling started by putting up some family photos, fresh flowers, or even light a candle. This will help it feel like YOUR new place.
Don't Feel Like You Have To Do It All In One Day. Know that it won't happen all in one day. Take it one day at a time or one room at a time. Once you get every box moved into the new place and feel exhausted, it's okay to save the unpacking for another day. Just make sure you have the most important box in an easy to get to place. If you only unpack one box, you want it to be the one with important things like your toothbrush and other toiletries.
Now when it comes to decorating your new home, keep in mind that if you don't want to spend a lot of money then you don't have to. Sabrina says that new pillows, window dressings, and photo frames can make a big difference. While it's easy to buy items to fit your personality, when you are living with at least one other person, it's important to keep and open mind and communication. While couples may have different tastes, there always seems to be a happy medium.
When you are decorating, it's important to look at all the options and try each one. Don't be afraid to test something out for a week to see if you can live with it for a long period of time. Just make sure you don't lose the receipt. So try new things and you might surprise yourself.
Now to see more of Sabrina Soto's moving tips, she just launched her brand new online magazine called CASA & Company, and find her on Facebook and give her a follow on Twitter. Here's to a Happy Moving Day!!!!
