7 Helpful Moving Tips for a Stress-Free Move-In Day

Moving to a new home is a high-intensity experience for anyone. Whether you find it exciting or exhausting, whether you are moving across town or across the country, move-in day can be pretty high-stress. You will need to coordinate the unpacking of the truck and unloading of boxes and furniture into the correct rooms. All the heavy boxes and furniture need to be in the right place before your moving help departs. The state your home is in at the end of moving day is how your unpacking begins.

Fortunately, planning ahead can significantly reduce your worries on move-in day. With a little foresight and a well-built plan, move-in day can go by like a dream. Here are our top seven tips for a stress-free move-in day.

1) Pack an Overnight Kit for the Family

• Changes of Clothes
• Overnight Toiletries
• Sleeping Bag and Pillow
• Medications
• Pets and Supplies

Because trucks move slowly on the highway, families almost always arrive before the moving truck. This means you will likely spend at least one night in your new home before all your possessions arrive. Even if you get a hotel while waiting for the truck, bedrooms do not immediately reassemble themselves.

This makes it practical to pack a complete overnight kit for each family member. Include a few changes of clothes, overnight toiletries, medications, and a bedroll of blankets and pillow just in case. If you have a pet, pack them and their overnight supplies as well.

Keep your overnight kit separate and transport it with the family instead of the truck.

2) Keys and Utilities

Make sure the home is ready for your arrival. The last thing you want is for move-in day to be without electricity or water – or to find your doors locked without a key. Have the keys on-hand when you arrive, or ready to be picked up, and make sure the utilities are already turned on.

3)Pack the Truck in Reverse Priority

Move-in day is all about distributing the boxes and furniture in a sensible manner. The best way to do this is to organize how you pack the truck in the first place. Heavy things go on the bottom, with lighter boxes stacked and secured on top. If you care about the order in which things are unpacked (ex: kitchen and bathrooms first), then pack those boxes last. 

Packing the truck in reverse-priority order (least important rooms packed into the truck first, most important rooms packed last) ensures that your priority boxes are unloaded first from the truck.

4) Secure Delicate Items and Furniture

For most, the biggest worry on move-in day is accidentally damaging something fragile or dropping something heavy. Your fragile like dishes and art can be worry-free unpacked if they were well-secured initially. Padding and structurally sound box arrangement is key, along with careful placement and treatment in the truck.

Your furniture can also be secured and worry-free. Proper deconstruction, stacking, padding, and wrapping in furniture blankets can turn even your most antique dressers or delicate frames into tidy movable stacks.

5) What to Wear on Move-In Day

• Sturdy and comfortable clothes
• Close-toed shoes
• Head covering
• Work, gardening, or exercise gloves

Dress practically for the day you move in. No doubt, you will be running back and forth from the truck, hefting furniture, directing placement, and starting to unpack boxes. You need sturdy, flexible clothing adapted to your new home region’s weather. Move-in day calls for jeans and a t-shirt or your personal equivalent. Wear close-toed shoes and wear a hat or wrap your hair.

Work gloves or exercise gloves are not a bad idea if you are doing any heavy-lifting.

6) Be Prepared for Bad Weather

• Accessible Jackets and Footwear
• Floor Protection for a Wet Move-In
• Stack of Spare Towels

The weather has a way of defying our plans, so simply be prepared for bad weather just in case. Keep a stack of towels and drop-clothes accessible – in your car or near the door of the truck, just in case. Lay down walkways and floor protection and dry any boxes as they come in from drenching weather.

If the weather is also cold, consider ways to provide hot drinks to your entire move-in team.

7) Moving Professionals If You Need Them

• Short on Time
• Moving Remotely
• Securing Fragiles and Furniture
• Packing and Driving the Truck
• Logistics and Coordinated Moving Services

Would you benefit from moving services? There are moving professionals and services available for every type of relocation. 

Packing services are there for people who are moving remotely or just don’t have time in their schedule. Or specialized packing lets you hire professionals for just the important things: Carefully packing fragiles or expertly deconstructing and padding your furniture.

Moving and trucking services take the worry about hefting, loading, driving, and coordinating the truck off your shoulders. Even if you do all your own packing and unpacking, pros will make sure that you don’t have any truck-related worries and can travel with just the family in passenger vehicles.

Finally, full logistics services can ensure that your entire move goes off without a hitch. Moving professionals can help you get all the right boxes, find pet and plant transport services, take care of specialty items, and that you arrive in time with the truck-based on your unique moving needs.

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Would you like more moving advice or custom services from moving professionals? Contact us today, we look forward to hearing from you.