As you probably know, we’re planning to move during the second week of March- to Mt. Pleasant. We found a great house that met all of our ‘must have’ and most of our ‘would be nice to have’ list. We started a list about a year ago to start getting together what was really important for us to have in a house- we used this Google Doc to organize all these details (to make your own copy, click File > Make a Copy). It ended up being a really great tool for us because it showed us (over the long term, rather than just one hurried evening) what we wanted, and since we have the mobile apps, if we thought of something we could open the file on our phones and add to it. Once we touched base with our wonderful realtor, Carlos to start looking, we were able to send him the file and he could see what was important to us.

Now that we’ve found a house and we’re under contract, I’m in the midst of one of my least favorite activities…moving. I never thought I would be moving twice within a span of 10 month, and while I’m not too happy about the process of moving, we knew this would happen, so many things never got unpacked. Sadly, we unpacked way more than I think we thought we would unpack for the rental, so now we get to pack it all back up again…yay! It will be nice to have all of our things unpacked (like stemware!), so I can definitely see the light at the end of the awful moving tunnel.

I try to be very purposeful about how we pack. Back in my silly days, I would throw a whole bunch of often unrelated items in a box and write a vague description on it, which was easy to do, but hard to unpack. I would be frantically looking for a specific item in the new house and be completely unable to find it…so frustrating! I’ve not learned to be as specific as I can on what’s in boxes and where they are headed. Starting with our move to Charleston, I made a label file for boxes, which has made a HUGE difference with moving organization (file is below for you).

We had previously written contents and location on the box, which isn’t so bad if you’re using brand new boxes and write it in a tidy way. We weren’t always doing this- we have a bunch of previously-enjoyed boxes from Craigslist (because why not? I would rather reuse boxes than a) buy new ones and b) have those boxes going into the landfill), from Amazon packages, and other sources (including some new ones). We typically write with a black sharpie on our moving boxes, and the boxes are brown, so they start to blend together. I found that if I write on a white label and stick it on the box, it’s much easier for people (read: the movers) to locate the important information on the box- basically where does the box go and what’s in it.

As I add a room location on a label, I add it to this list. When we’re at the new house, I make a one-page sign (using this template or regular paper) for each of these rooms, attach it to the door (or trim) with blue painters’ tape so that as a box comes in, the carrier knows what to do with it. That greatly reduces the time I have to spend sorting things out, because when I get to the unpacking phase, I don’t have to relocate too many boxes, because they tend to be where they belong.

I’m excited to get the process finished and I hope these labels will help you with your next move. What tips have helped you achieve a more seamless move?