Moving Tips From the Experts
Nobody likes to move. It’s stressful, laborious and something’s bound to get broken (i.e., your spirit). But never fear! We’ve assembled the best, tried and true moving tips and hacks to make your move just a little easier. Whether you’re moving from Normaltown to Five Points, from a Downtown highrise to a house off Milledge, or even from Athens, GA to Los Angeles, we’ve got you covered. Here’s what we’ve come up with:
Sell, Toss or Donate: If you start packing and realize you have tons of useless stuff--GET RID OF IT! Have a yard sale, sell unwanted items on Craiglist or to friends, or donate your items to a local charity.
Decide What You Need Now vs. Later: Separate out the items you’ll need right away (a change of clothes, toiletries, your laptop, etc.) from those that you can stand to unpack later, and keep these items in an easily accessible place, like the front seat of your car.
Demystify Your Electronics: Before you start packing up your electronics, do two things:
Take a picture of what your cords look like plugged into your TV/sound system so you know exactly how to set them up in your new place.
Label all cords with the name of the device they connect to to ensure no added confusion when you’re unpacking.
Lighten Your Load: If you’ve taken one too many trips to Avid Bookshop, this moving tip will save you and your movers some back pain: pack your books in rolling suitcases. If you run out of suitcases, use small boxes for heavy items and big boxes for lighter items that might take up more space.
Save Yourself From Spills: If you’re worried about any items spilling or leaking during the move, you can prevent accidents by removing the lid, putting a piece of plastic wrap over the opening and then screwing the cap back on. This creates an anti-leakage barrier that will stand up to a move.
Use Smart Move Tape: This color-coded and pre-labeled packing tape is great for organizing your boxes. (Hint: pick a color for each room and put a small piece of that color tape on the doorway to each room so that movers know exactly where to take the corresponding boxes for each color!) If you want to get REALLY organized, you could also number your boxes, and keep an itemized list of the box numbers, colors and their corresponding contents.
Protect Your Breakables: Use your old Athens Banner-Heralds, towels and extra clothing to wrap around breakable items to keep them safe in transit (Hint: socks make excellent protective coozies for glasses!)
Don’t Get Screwed Over: When taking apart things like curtain rods, wall hangings or a piece of furniture, put any screws and small parts in a labeled ziplock bag and attach it to the item or the box that it will be going in.
Wrap it Up: Saran wrap is a great tool for keeping things in tact during the move. If you want to get serious, check out this Mover’s Wrap made specifically for moving! You can use it to cover an entire drawer of clothes or kitchen utensils, or wrap it around a jewelry display. This moving tip saves you from having to displace the contents, and it will make unpacking so much easier!
Treat Yo Self: Treat your friends and movers to some post-move refreshments! Automatic Pizza and some Creature Comforts beer are always our favorites!
The bottom line is, moving is hard. Our final moving tip: Call L’Goff or get an affordable movers Quote today!