How about a thread on moving??

[Nerdgirl]

So, I'm moving over the next couple of weeks, and I've moved several times before, but I'm wondering if anyone has any really good mvoing tips! Please fill me in!


Also, has anyone had a battle of the sexes as far as combining your things goes?

[Neneuu]

Label your BOXES!!! And don't wait till te last minute to pack (like I do).

It was a little hard moving my stuff into my husbands apt b/c he has so much crap, but he was pretty laid back about it when I made him move a lot of his clothes to the other room!:thumb2: And girliefied the apt. ;)

[nicolef888]

Be sure to pack your glassware and china very well.

My DH and I didn't have any problems combining our things. We basically went though everything and if we had doubles decided which one we liked better and gave the other away to either a friend or Goodwill. I did have to compromise on some things but so did he. For example, he has this Starwars Poster. In my mind it's the ugliest thing that I've ever seen but he loves it and tells me that it's quite valuable so he gets to keep it and I get to keep one of my girly things that he doesn't really care for.

Also, I have a ton of clothes and shoes which currently take up 3 large closets. I let him have most of the closet space in the master bedroom and I get three large closets to myself. That worked well for us.

[Deana]

I agree with Gen, label your boxes. We did it a little differently though... instead of writing "dishes" etc. on the outside of boxes, we just put number and then our last name. Then I had a master sheet of paper.... box 1 had towels, box 2 books, etc. That way, by just labeling with #'s, your boxes are less likely targets of theft. It also creates a great tracking system. (we moved from 2 apartments into one house, so he had his master list, I had mine. A little anal, but it worked for us.)
As far as battle of the sexes, we didn't have a hard time. I gave in, he gave in... we have pretty much the same taste. We ended up getting rid of a LOT of stuff, since we had doubles (tripples on some) of pretty much everything. He is a total pack rat, so we turned one of the extra bedrooms into "the basement" and that's where all of his books, boxes (he saves every box) trophies, etc. are.

[Csara]

D, we did that master list thing too. Also packed all our glassware very carefully. As far as battle of the sexes, we've been living together since our last year in college so I'd have to say not at all. We just had JUNK at our first apartment. Second apartment we had some nicer stuff, then we got married and got things we both wanted (registered for), now we are in our house. We have very similar taste and we just decide on all the decor together. I know some guys don't care and just let the woman do it, but we enjoy making all the decisions together and that way it feels like "our" home rather than just mine or just his.
One good thing about moving is that it gives you an excuse to get rid of things you don't need anymore. It also gives you the opportunity to organize better when you unpack. If you are using a moving company, get a written quote ahead of time. I've had awful experiences with movers. Try to use a company that comes recommended from someone you know.

[Nerdgirl]

Well, I'm moving myself, so I don't have to worry about theft too much! :p My plan so far is just to every day load up my car (SUV, so it holds a lot with the seat down) and unload it at the house. I'll do one carload per day, since I have 3 weeks to do it (eek - now closer to 2!). Then, on the last weekend, I'll get my friends to help with the big stuff in a U-Haul. My theory is to always start with the kitchen - it's always the worst! Kitchen and closet.

As far as combining stuff goes, his stuff is college junk, and my stuff is fairly nice, so his will go and mine will stay. Seems fair to me! HAHA!! (J/k!) The only problem we've run across has to do with futons and papasans. He loves them, I hate them. That and where the pool table should go. I want it upstairs in the loft (because I'm kind of a pool shark) and he wants it in the garage (so he can leave his drum kit up there). We have an extra bedroom for the drum kit, but when his "band" (and I use that term loosely!) comes over to play, it might be tight for room. I'd like to have the garage available, though, for both cars to fit into. Any advice?

Thanks for the tips!!

[nicolef888]

You could tell your FH that there isn't any space for his futon and papasan and that you should give them away. Didn't you just buy some beautiful new furniture for your bedroom? Where would the futon and papasan go? It wouldn't match the new stuff :)

[Neneuu]

I agree, you should tell him that the garage is for cars, and the loft or gameroom is for the pool table. Really it is! ;) And reassure him there will be enough room in the bdrm for him and his "band" to play, there isn't that many of them is it??? I love papasan's but they are more for a sunroom or relax room area, not the living room!

Good luck!:)

[Nerdgirl]

Well, he wants me put things where i want for the most part - really. i think his main reason against the pool table upstairs is secretly that it's too damn heavy - which it is. and yes, unfortunately, there are about 7 "band members" - but they don't always play at once. ARGH! I thought this house was big enough! HAHA!!

Well, I've definitely claimed one bedroom as a replica of my old one (which will be the guestroom). That was originally supposed to be the bigger bedroom, but I can make it the smaller one. Then *maybe* the drum kit will fit in the smaller one and they can play there - just gets very hot. Then the pool table can be upstairs. And let me clarify that the papasans are NOT downstairs - that is in NO WAY permitted by me! HA! I think we can fit the double papasan upstairs (maybe) and the smaller one in one of the bedrooms. The only bad part is that now we don't have an office - although I may try to make the big bedroom an office/band room. Good luck with that.

You know, on second thought, maybe the pool table does need to be in the garage - lots of our friends smoke when we play, and if it were upstairs, the games would be interrupted a lot. Crap, maybe he was right.

Okay...
Loft: Drum kit, large papasan, tv
Sml bdrm: Guest room
Lg bdrm: Office, small papasan, extra twin bed.

Now we'll have 2 futons left over - one's a fixed platform bed and the other is a regular metal frame futon. I think these must go!!!
Can we say "Garage Sale?"

[Neneuu]

Ok, actually I think it's a good idea to move the pool table downstairs... some homes are not built to be able to support a pool table upstairs it can ruin the floor (leave dents or even small holes). I talked to several home builders about that b/c I read it somewhere...

I asked Milburn and they said it should be ok though. But good choice to keep it downstairs... esp if people want to smoke during the game.

I want to get a pool table, ahhh some day!

[Nerdgirl]

Hey, thanks, Neneuu! That settles it! :D

[meliz]

Hi gals! Okay, this is a silly little moving tip but one I swear by. Leave toilet paper at both your old and new place in time for moving day. Invariably, whoever is moving your stuff is gonna need to powder his/her nose.

And always get way more boxes than you think you're gonna need. Cause for sure you will!

Also, if you have big stuff you don't want, call the Sally Anne (Salvation army)-- they'll pick up anything like that, and its for a good cause.

Hi Nerdgirl! Just wanted to mention that your plan to move bit by bit in your SUV is a winner. We have recently moved and we did the same thing, a few loads a day but (get this) in a wee little Neon (we'da killed for an SUV!). Still, it was really pretty painless.

[Nerdgirl]

Toilet paper is a GOOD tip! I just remembered - always leave your cleaning supplies for last!! :p

I have moved in this method before - but it was only from one apartment to another in the same complex. It went alright - but it was SO hot (not that it's not now!!). I just HATE HATE HATE to move!!

[Neneuu]

The toilet paper thing IS a good idea! I hate it when you find out (at the last most wrong minute) there is no TP!

Good thinking with the cleaning stuff... I'm taking notes in hopes of moving soon!!!:D

[nicolef888]

Nerdgirl-

I am with you on the HATE having to move but this will most likely be your last move for some time now that you are a homeowner!

[jessica]

I have moved like 4 times in the past 4 years, and I did something each time that made things so much easier. Although, since you are packing car loads, it might not apply.

I bought about 5 cheap cheap small laundry baskets at Target I think. I put things like phones, alarm clocks, cleaners, toliet paper, paper towels, jewelry box, random things from the top of my dresser, bills, checkbooks, keys etc. in them. Whatever you want don't want to pack and will need right away in the new house.

I guess for me it was easy -- Clint had nothing and I had everything. haha. But in the past 3 years we have made things ours. Although, we still use the dishes that my exe's mother bought for me and my exe - oh well. Clint has his own little cupboard thing for his CDs since he has about 600. He also decorated our living room and we decorated the family room together. Clint has to have ALL woods to match and ALL fabrics. That is really annoying.

We split our dresser, share the sock drawer, and a dresser in a different room has a mix of both of our older clothes that we want to keep (gotta show our future kids our raver clothes!).

[Neneuu]

That laundry basket thing is a good idea... I usually hand wipe all that stuff into a box and label it - "desk junk".... then it gets buried under all the other boxes.

I'll have to try that... I'm hoping to be moving soon!!!!

[angelrenee]

I've moved more times than I want to think about it (about once every 7 months for a few years) and I'm STILL bad at it. So here's a few thing I know would make it easier but I have yet to follow through on properly. :)

As someone already said: Label the boxes! Don't mix stuff from multiple rooms in one box. It gets too overwhelming to unpack them when you keep having to run all over the house to put stuff away.

Use small, manageable boxes or baskets. I've packed huge boxes with gobs of stuff before and I've ended up waiting forever to unpack them because I simply don't have time to get to the whole box. With smaller boxes, you can unpack here and there around work or school schedules.

When you bring things into the house, make sure important boxes end up IN the house. This last (and final) time, I got most of the important boxes into the living room, but I still managed to have to wade through boxes of random stuff int the garage for days to find important documents and other items.


I don't guess I have too much else that is good except to ask for help when you need it. Our last move into our first house was so much easier when we let friends help us. If nothing else, they could remove themselves from the stress of the situation and help make sure I didn't leave all of my clothes under six boxes of books.

[Nerdgirl]

Well, in less than four hours I got the living room, dining room (minus bookshelf), bathroom, bedroom, and closet all packed! I just have the kitchen left. My brother should be in town Thursday or Friday, so I've decided to not do the slow moving (one carload at a time) thing and I'll wait for him so we can basically do it all at once. I was very impressed with myself!

And I had some help - her name was Kasey, she was about 10 inches tall and had black and white spots. Okay, so Kasey is a cat that just walked into my apartment and made herself at home. HA! She had tags and I called the phone number, but it had been disconnected. However, she only ate a few bites of cat food and wasn't thin or overly hungry, and she was very well groomed, so I htink she belongs to someone at the complex who probably lets her out. Anyway, Kasey kept me company and "helped" me with my packing. :)

[fresca]

Does anyone need a ton of those peanut things? I am about to throw ALOT away from our wedding gifts that were shipped!

[andrea]

LOL.. as some of you guys remembe csara!!!!

When we moved from ga to here we sold everything we owned but some clothes and our motorcycles and we are buying all new stuff

just love it

so sorry i didnt have any better advice