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 Restoring
Order to Your Home
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CBN.com –
In the history of household moves, very few of us
have ever had a sane, intelligent move process.
May is National Moving Month so I thought I’d wrap
up the month with some advice on executing an
organized household move in case you’re one of the
many anticipating or going through this event.
It is important to remember that moving is
about more than packing and the moving truck.
Moving is a stressful life event for the majority
of people. Few people report ever having a
sensible, comfortable move process. Much of this
is due to the fact that they have not planned
ahead or understood the layers of the move
process. It is possible to reduce stress and life
impact if you take a proactive and organized
approach to your move.
Here are some move strategies I’ve applied with
my clients:
Preparing for Sale
Purpose your space
Gather like items together, like books, games,
memorabilia, or gift wrap. Begin re-uniting items
strung throughout your house. You’ll prepare for a
smoother move, make the packing process easier,
and buyers won’ be distracted by clutter.
List repairs and improvements needed
Consider both indoor and outdoor features that
will attract or repel prospective buyers, and take
measures to enhance or correct those features.
Make a repairs-to-be-made list. Set dates on your
calendar to execute the work, and begin making
appointments with professionals to fix the things
that require special skill or materials.
Prune your environment
Prune your belongings down to what you would save
in a fire and what adds meaning, value, and
utility to your life. Don’t forget to prune the
stuff in your outbuildings like sheds, barns, or
pool houses and even the dreaded mini-storage
unit!
Donate the deadwood
Why pack and haul your neglected items that
someone else could benefit from? From clothes you
haven’t worn in years to the stuff crammed in your
garage, it’s easier to pass along your treasures
if you think about others who may enjoy them.
Lightening up includes being charitable and saving
yourself undue stress. See
www.RestoringOrder.com for a great Donation
Connection list that includes where to donate,
recycle, or resell your items.
The Move Process
Sketch a simple floor plan of
the destination home. Label each room with its
intended purpose like “Family Room:
Entertainment.” This way you will know that all
games, music, and videos will end up in the family
room. A floor plan will help you mentally move in
before you are onsite. It will also help those
assisting in your move get the appropriate boxes
to the right rooms!
Set a timeline. From the date
you learn you will be moving, you will need to
calendar all important steps here, including the
real estate transaction elements. Just getting
each item onto your calendar will bring tremendous
peace of mind. You still will have a lot to do,
but you can visually see that if you stick to the
schedule, it is possible to get everything done.
Set expectations. The goal of
an intelligent move is plan purposefully in order
to limit negative impact to your lifestyle.
Remember that a move can be overwhelming. Talk to
your family to explain how the move process will
go for those involved. Understanding the timeline
and expectations will reduce stress and get
everyone on the same page.
Packing
Determine what goes first. By
frequency of use, determine the items that can go
to storage or into boxes (and eventually into the
van) first. Those least frequently accessed items
can be stowed during the sales and move process to
make your home visually lighter for showing. This
will also help you organize your current rooms for
livability and accessibility while your home is on
display. Lightening up will make your home appear
more spacious.
Pack for the destination home.
Most people make the mistake of going into their
current rooms and boxing up the belongings in that
room. Instead, pack according to your floor plan
of the destination home. Therefore, even though
crafts are currently located in the kid’s bonus
room, you may have a guest room in the new home
that you’ve identified as the craft area, so you
can pack with a target destination in mind.
Assign labeling protocol for packing.
If there is more than one level in the destination
home, I like to assign a color to each floor (red
for upstairs, yellow for downstairs, etc). This
way, boxes can be covered with a large piece of
red or yellow paper (instead of the tiny stickers
that fall off and are hard to read.) Then, mark
the paper with both the destination room and the
basic contents like “Master Bedroom: Jean’s
clothes” or “Guest Room: Craft supplies”. A
labeling protocol assists your helpers in easily
identifying and transporting boxes to the correct
location AND it helps you have access to the
things you need most.
About the Author: Vicki
Norris is an expert organizer, business owner,
speaker, television personality, and author who
inspires people to live out their priorities. She
is author of Restoring Order™ © 2006 by Vicki
Norris (available now at
www.RestoringOrder.com and in July 2007as
Reclaim Your Life™ © 2007) and of Restoring
Order™ to Your Home, © 2007, a room-by-room
household organizing guide, both published by
Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Norris is a
regular on HGTV’s nationally syndicated Mission:
Organization, and is a recurrent source and
contributor to national lifestyle publications
including Quick & Simple magazine, Better Homes &
Gardens, and Real Simple magazine. |
