Do you remember the last time you moved? Maybe you’ve blocked it from memory, or decided that you are simply not going to move (ever again!) because it was just so miserable.
In today’s podcast, our 17-year-old daughter, Alia, and I share how our family unpacked and got settled into our new home in just six weeks (in the middle of working, summer camps for the kids, and all kinds of craziness), and it’s not because moving comes “naturally” to us. It’s because we had a system in place that you can absolutely replicate.
(Even if you’re not moving right now, this podcast can help you see how a huge project can become totally doable when the family works together!)
Enjoy today’s episode! And if you’d like to see a few photos of the packing process…
This is how we labeled each box–with a letter and number that corresponded to the appropriate part of the house taped like a stamp to the top right-hand corner of each box, and then a simple piece of painter’s tape in the middle explaining what was inside each box.
We used large boxes, medium boxes, small (more durable) boxes, and Banker’s boxes to hold our things, and we created a “staging area” in the main living room before some friends came to help us load the moving van.
Our new friends (three strong men who are really good at playing Tetris!) packed our moving van super tight, which was easier than in our previous moves because everything was boxed in a logical way. (Finally. I can’t even tell you how great that felt.)
Then we were able to unload the boxes into the appropriate rooms, and we were ready to go! (This is where I set up my new office.)
We know you have a lot happening in your life, and we hope this podcast and the resources we have for you here at LearnDoBecome will be helpful to you. We don’t have all the answers, but when we finally figure out something that works, we love to share it (so we can help make your life easier!).
THANK YOU for being here with us! We love the LearnDoBecome community.
Additional Links
STEP for Students Interest List: Want to sign up to receive updates for Alia’s new program? She can’t wait to teach your students how to organize their rooms, their school work, and everything else on their plates!
Previous Podcast with Alia and April: How to Declutter the Whole House in One Month: This is the first episode we recorded as we got ready to move! Alia and I share how we streamlined the home so we only packed those things we absolutely wanted and needed.
Attend Our Free Class, “How to Finally Stop Drowning in Piles”: We have a free one-hour training where you can learn four simple steps to tackle a big project of your own! Click for the next available class!
Thanks so much. I like the tape on the boxes. Stands out better than just writing directly on the boxes.
Would Eric mind sharing his “legend” that you used for the move? This sounds like a fabulous way to handle the boxes!
I wish we had it handy! Essentially it was one sheet of paper, with a letter and a number for each location in the home. We labeled boxes with these codes and also put signs inside the new house with these codes so it was pretty much impossible to lose a box. ❤️
U1 – Bedroom 1 upstairs
U2 – Bedroom 2 upstairs
U3 – Loft upstairs
M4 – Main floor bedroom (the numbers kept going—letters were there so movers knew the level)
M5 – Laundry room
M6 – Kitchen
G7 – Garage left side
G8 – Garage middle
G9 – Garage right side
B10 – Basement bedroom 1
B11- Basement bedroom 2
There were more, but this is the basic idea. Hope this helps!
Where can we get a list for preparing to print out how you did this that we can print to use.
Hi, Joyce!
There isn’t a printable for this episode but April shared this earlier in the comments. Hopefully that helps!
“Essentially we used one sheet of paper, with a letter and a number for each location in the home. We labeled boxes with these codes and also put signs inside the new house with these codes so it was pretty much impossible to lose a box. ❤️
U1 – Bedroom 1 upstairs
U2 – Bedroom 2 upstairs
U3 – Loft upstairs
M4 – Main floor bedroom (the numbers kept going—letters were there so movers knew the level)
M5 – Laundry room
M6 – Kitchen
G7 – Garage left side
G8 – Garage middle
G9 – Garage right side
B10 – Basement bedroom 1
B11- Basement bedroom 2
There were more, but this is the basic idea. Hope this helps!”