Decide how the move will go – whether you will involve a moving company in organizing the work, limit yourself to hired cars and movers, or plan to handle it on your own.
If you plan to cope on your own, enlist the support of friends and acquaintances who will help in packing things, and – most importantly – in loading and unloading operations.
Select a date and time for your move. Match your moving plans with your family’s work and school schedule. Consider the traffic situation. Traditionally, the most popular time to move into a new apartment is the weekend, especially Saturday. If possible, try to avoid peak hours, it is optimal to schedule the move at the beginning of the working week. Do not neglect the weather forecast as well – snowfall or heavy rain will complicate an already troublesome transportation.
Draw up a detailed action plan with deadlines for each item: buy packing materials, sort things, disassemble furniture and pack property, decide on a contractor (car and movers).
Conduct an audit of things and furniture. Do not take unnecessary things with you – “extra” things should be given away, sold or simply thrown
away. If there are things that you are not ready to part with, and there is no place for them in the new apartment, they can be stored in a warehouse.
Consider box labeling. For example, by room (bedroom, living room, kitchen) or by type of things (dishes, clothes, documents). And it’s better to sort things in advance and indicate the frequency of use on the boxes (daily, regularly or rarely). This will greatly facilitate the search for the right items in the first days in a new place.
Take care of the packaging materials. Professionals know how many boxes, film, or duct tape they need, but you can figure out how many for yourself. After self-calculation, feel free to double the number (our experience shows that it is quite difficult to objectively assess the amount of things). Or immediately use a convenient online calculator to find out the exact numbers.
Separately collect boxes with essentials, first aid kit, chargers for all gadgets. Are you afraid to miss something? A handy list is here.
Walk along the corridors and flights of stairs in the entrances of the new and old houses – make sure that all things and furniture “pass” into the openings and fit into the turns. Pay attention to door blocks, corners, walls in narrow spaces – they need to be additionally protected or remember about the finish so as not to damage it.
Disassemble furniture that will definitely not fit through the doors and openings of the apartment.