Transforming my childhood room + moving tips

I have been living in my dad’s house for a whole three weeks now, although it seems like SO much longer. So far, I can proudly say I have 1. Made the grocery bill go up, but the dining out bill go down; 2. Helped my dad make many decisions more quickly than he would have if I were not there; and 3. Gotten him more stoked about the summer since I will literally be here all the time to have fun and help out with the boat. I would say that the living situation is a winner so far!

The physical process of moving in happened over several months. I wasn’t just moving into an empty room; I had to go through two bedrooms that had not been touched for over a decade. As you can imagine, it was quite the process and included buying and selling furniture, painting some furniture, filling two large trash bags with discarded items, filling a trunk full of donation items, and a lot of determination. I recorded the process from start to finish, which you can see in the embedded video. Below the video are my top five moving tips that I employed while moving into my dad’s. Here’s to hopefully what will be my last move in a long time. 

Sara’s top five moving tips

Have an accountability buddy

If you watch the video, you will meet my friend Lauren. She is the reason for this tip! Lauren came over twice during my moving process and motivated me for a couple hours to  help me de-clutter and gave insightful design advice as well. She came ready to work and was not letting me slack off. Everyone needs a friend like Lauren. Even if you can’t have someone physically over, I recommend simply checking in with a buddy who you can update on your progress, so both of you can make sure you stay on track. 

Labels are your friend

Label everything! Nothing stinks more than having to sort through boxes and boxes of items because you didn’t label them, or didn’t label thoroughly enough. If you know you’ll need certain things right away, I suggest putting them in a box together or writing down what boxes they are in. If you have boxes going into separate rooms, you can even color coat your labels for fast and easy organization. If you want to be really thorough, number each box and write down what is inside on a notepad. 

Plan ahead

Moving can be a huge, scary task. Make it easier on yourself by planning chunks of time during which you will work on your move. This will help you stay on top of your moving goals and will spread out your work so you avoid piling it all on at once at the end.

Don’t forget to change your address

Make sure to switch to your new address through USPS before you leave your old address to make sure everything ends up where it should. Don’t forget to change you address online in places like your Amazon and bank accounts. Also, make sure important people have your new address — you don’t want a wedding invite ending up in the wrong hands!

Leave no space empty 

This piece of advice can be used in two ways. First, pack your moving boxes and bins tightly so your objects don’t rattle around and possibly break while you move. Newspaper, blankets, towels, and packing peanuts (although these are least safe for the environment) are great for filling in extra spaces. The second way to employ this piece of advice is by filling any hollow item you have so you make the most out of your space. I personally followed this tactic by filling hampers, decorative boxes, and more so I packed as much as I could while using as few boxes as possible.