A couple of weeks ago I posted about pre-move editing. If you follow that plan, you’ll be in great shape once you get into your new home. You’ll be feeling pretty confident that what you’re bringing with you is what you really want to have living with you in your new home.
You sign the closing documents, have everything loaded on the moving truck and you’re on your way! What an adventure. It’s so exciting to think about this new space and what it will be like to live in it.
You arrive at the new house, everything gets unloaded, and…ugh, overwhelm again!
What the heck!? Wasn’t that pre-move edit supposed to cure overwhelm? Yes…and no. Yes, it helps reduce the overwhelm of the stuff you pack and how you pack it, but it can’t do anything about facing a new, unfamiliar space filled with boxes, upon boxes, upon boxes.
As you sit in your fortress of boxes drinking a beer and eating pizza (you know that’s what you do once you drop your exhausted body into a new house), you look around and think you’ll never be able to turn this into a home. What did we do? Was this a huge mistake?
Or you’re thinking about how much you want to start tearing into the boxes and start putting things away!
Stop. Take a deep breath. It will all happen in good time. But let’s make it so everything gets put away in a way that makes sense, not just out of desperation to get it done.
NEW SPACE, NEW RULES
In a new home there are probably a number of differences in storage space, general set up, number of rooms, etc. That means the way you had things put away before might not work here. We need some thought put into this project.
When my husband and I moved from our apartment into our current home, my mother-in-law put the paper towels in the closet under the stairs near the kitchen. I sarcastically grumbled under my breath, “Well, that makes sense.”
In the apartment where we had a small galley kitchen, the most logical place to keep paper towels was under the kitchen sink. That’s what I was used to. So, when she put them somewhere other than under the kitchen sink, I thought she was nuts.
When she wasn’t looking, I grabbed the towels and tucked them under the sink. You can probably guess where this is going.
Within a week I had begrudgingly moved the paper towels back to that closet.
My mother-in-law had been thinking with logic, and I had been thinking like I still lived in a tiny apartment with no storage space.
Lesson: Think about where you’re putting things and why. If you’re putting them in the equivalent space to your old home, does that make sense in this new space? Did it even make sense in the old space?
BE LOGICAL, EVEN IF THAT MEANS SLOWING DOWN
This is a blank canvas you just moved into, think of it as a work of art. It takes time and creativity.
You’re about to start stacking dishes into the cabinets. You’re being logical about having things you use to the lower shelves and less used things up high. You’re putting the cooking utensils close to the stove. Great! This is a great start!
Hang on a moment though. Is there a better way to store those items? Would dividers make sense in the gadget drawer to organize things better? Would a bin specific to storage container lids help wrangle the little buggers?
If you didn’t have organizing plans in the old house this is a great time to think through how to really create organization in the new house. Yes, I know that might not be your forte.
That’s where coaches like me come in handy. We have skills and are objective about your space.
Or if you’ve been dying to try that organizing technique you saw Simply Spaced post about, now is the time to put it into action: before you put things away! It’s a pain to pull everything back out so, organize as you go along, it’s way less chaotic.
The same goes for all areas of your home. The pantry, your clothes closet, the bathrooms, linen closet, garage, etc. Slow it down and really think about the purpose of each room, each cabinet, shelf, and drawer.
It was over ten years after we moved into this house that I realized I had put the silverware in the largest drawer and the kitchen gadgets in the smallest drawer. It’s amazing how you can get used to something even when it makes no sense. A quick switch, a few organizing implements later, and we can actually find stuff!
(I had done the same thing with the KitchenAid mixer in the biggest cabinet and all of the pots and pans with their lids in the smallest. Geez.)
EDIT AS YOU GO!
If you read the previous post you may remember I mentioned a stage 3 of editing. This is it.
You did a fantastic job of editing in two stages before packing and while packing. But you didn’t get it all. Don’t worry, it isn’t your fault.
You weren’t going to know some stuff until you got into this new space.
A refresher on rapid-fire editing:
Scan items, perhaps pick them up if it makes sense, and ask yourself “Yes, or No?”
Go with your gut.
This is not traditional decluttering. This is quickly determining whether something belongs in your new home or if you were being delusional when you packed that hedge trimmer knowing you now have an association that trims your hedges for you.
Try not to put too much thought into this.
Too much thought may create a log jam and bring progress to a screeching halt.
I want you to go slowly at this, but not come to a full stop.
Getting snagged on decision-making isn’t helpful right now. If you you’re on the fence, go ahead and keep it. You’ll figure out later when you do a real decluttering (probably next year since you’re going to hate the idea of touching all of your stuff again too soon).
ENJOY!
Bring love to this new home. Put things away with intention and joy. Yes, I know my method is asking you to possibly live with boxes longer than you want, but I promise it will be worth it in the end, when you aren’t rearranging everything in a month.
This is your home, your sanctuary. It’s the place you’ll love your family and friends. It’s the place where you may raise a family or snuggle with fur babies. This is a space you purchased with hope in your heart. It isn’t going anywhere.
Take the time to give intention to your home’s creation.
Look, I get it, when you’re buying, selling and moving homes, it feels like a whirlwind. There are some things you can’t control, like what time the closing is, and whether or not the inspection goes well. You can control the way you move, though.
I moved many times as a kid, and into young adulthood. I know it isn’t fun. I’ve also taken the time and training to figure out how to help your process be as painless as possible.
Get in touch with me today and we’ll begin to create your plan to pack, and unpack so you can move on to the best part of this new space: living in it!