Unpacking is easiest when you start with the essentials and create a system. It’s easy to get distracted when you don’t have a plan in place. 

You finally got everything packed, the truck loaded up, and you’ve arrived safely at your new home … now what?

While it’s true that the hardest part of moving is over, you still have to unpack everything, and that can be a daunting task all on its own. Where to begin?

  1. Get Your Essentials. Hopefully, you packed an essentials or first night box before leaving your former home for good. This should have everything you’ll need on your first night in your new home, such as toiletries and linens and it should get unpacked first.
  2. Use A System. If you don’t use a system, you run the risk of getting distracted every time you think of something – leaving you to forget about whatever it was you were dealing with when you remembered it. So decide what rooms you’re going to unpack first and go room by room. We generally recommend that the first thing you do is set up beds for every member of the household, so you don’t have to do it at bedtime. Then turn to the kitchen and bathrooms, followed by putting clothes and other items away in the bedrooms. After that you can follow your heart (or the floorplan) to determine what rooms should get unpacked next and which ones can wait.
  3. Furniture. Because furniture is large and requires multiple helping hands to get into place, you’ll want to be sure of where it’s going to go before you move it in order to avoid having to move it around multiple times. Hopefully, you got a floorplan of your new place before you moved and decided ahead of time where everything would go. If not, do that right away before you start arranging the furniture, so you don’t have to spend any more time lifting and carrying heavy things than you absolutely have to.Any furniture that needs to be assembled can wait until the rest of the furniture is in place, but again, make sure you know where it’s going to go before you start assembling it so you won’t have to carry it far.
  4. Utility Areas Go Last. Finally, any utility areas, such as the garage and basement, go last. Most of the items that go in those places aren’t used every day, so those can wait to be unpacked until after everything else has been put away.As with all the other rooms, it’s best to organize everything and plan out where everything will go before you start unpacking. This will make the process much easier and go significantly faster. Any tools you need to keep your home functional should be unpacked first, since you never know when something could go wrong. Items for the lawn, patio, and/or porch can all be unpacked last. One exception to this would be if you’re moving in summer, in which case you might want to get the grill set up first so you can still have homemade meals while you’re unpacking all the kitchen appliances and utensils.
  5. Unpack Personal Items Early On. While pictures and other decorations might not be essentials, they can go a long way towards making your space feel like home. You don’t have to unpack these items right away, but you should unpack them early on in the process in order to give yourself a sense of ownership over your space while you’re unpacking.
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