moving 101.

**2 Warnings**

Warning A: This is a rather boring post. Useful, but boring. Fabulous design and vibrant colors, it has not.

Warning 2: Thank you for your understanding as my posts have been a bit sparse and will continue to be for the next 22 days. Between closing on a house, packing up our current residence, and wrapping up a school year, life is a little nutty at the moment. Thanks for hanging with me! I have so much in store for you, come June!



Most people view moving as the equivalent to a root canal. The movers arrive and you are still haphazardly tossing your delicate china into cardboard containers, trying to scarf down the remnant leftovers in the fridge so they don't go to waste, and that's still before you even get to the new house. Mayhem.

Me? I LOVE moving! I love the new, fresh canvas to decorate, the opportunity to create completely different spaces with the same furniture, I love it all! If you take the time to properly plan out your packing and moving process, you, too, can be a freak of nature just like me and LOVE moving!

Step 1: Collect your supplies. It's tough to put an exact quantity of packing supplies you will need to acquire for your move, since home sizes vary so much. Generally, you will want:

• A variety of box sizes. I tend to use more "small" boxes than any other size, as most of our items are heavy and you don't want to load up a big box with a ton of heavy objects. I also highly encourage re-using old moving boxes! This is an excellent way to save money!

• Packing tape. If you don't know what it's for, you probably shouldn't be moving.

• Duct tape or blue painters tape. I use this to cover up labels I have placed on boxes from previous moves so that I know what is inside each box for this move.

• Wrapping paper. Obviously, you will want to give those glass, ceramic, and crystal valuables a little added protection from the hazards of a moving truck.

• Saran Wrap / Food Service Film. You can buy huge boxes of this self-sticking goodness at bulk stores like Costco or Sam's. We use it to wrap the corners of our big furniture as well as to add a layer of protection to our mirrors or large painted canvases.

Step 2:  Start packing early! Most of the moving grief is due to a rushed, hurried feeling that causes us to throw things into boxes, forget to label boxes, and then not know where anything is when we arrive at our new digs! Make a goal to pack 2-3 boxes each day so that you are not having to pack your entire home in one crazed weekend. Think about packing:

• Wall art - go ahead and start puttying nail holes and packing away large pieces of artwork.
• Holiday decor - as much as it pains me to say, we're not going to be needing our Christmas tree in the next few months, so go ahead and start packing up all of your Nativity Scenes, Saint Nicks, and candy canes.
• Fine china and kitchen accessories you don't use everyday - your china will be something that you want to pack away carefully. Go ahead and take the time to wrap it properly and store it away before the madness of moving day gets here.
• General decorations - while they make our homes fabulous, our little treasures and trinkets do not necessarily qualify as something we need on a daily basis.

Step 3: Label, label, label! One of the things I have found to make the packing, pre-move, and post-move days easier is to take time to label exactly what is in each and every box I pack. I note not only WHERE the box is going, but WHAT is inside the box.

I find that labeling boxes is much easier when they are still collapsed. Therefore, I lay out what I plan to pack in each box, label the box accordingly, and then construct and pack the box. If I find that I was a bit over-zealous in my attempts to fit too much into a box, I simply mark out what didn't make it into the box.

By making a detailed list of exactly what I will find in each box not only makes unpacking easier, as you can prioritize which boxes need to be unpacked immediately and which boxes can wait to be unpacked, but it also makes it easy to find things I have already packed and discovered I need before we move.

We are exactly one month away from moving day, and are doing our best to pack a couple of boxes each evening. Fingers crossed that living in a home where there's nothing to look at except boxes will pay off on moving day!