Walking the Rightsizing Walk – PART 7: Moving Offers Chance for Fresh Start

On move-in day, a runway of quilted blankets formed a path between the moving truck and our new front door. Five insanely strong men made a steady trek from truck to door like a trail of army ants, each one carrying an item three times his weight and size.

Meanwhile, my arms flail like a Dutch windmill’s sending the movers in various directions.

“Where does this go, Ma’am?” one asks while holding a Bombay chest as though it were a cereal box.

“Uh, living room,” I say and flail an arm.

“And this?” another asks.

“Bedroom No. 1,” I say waving. I fire off directions trying not to stammer as I make speed-of-light decisions.

Even though I had mapped out in my mind and on paper what pieces of furniture would go where, and even though I had thoroughly, even compulsively, labeled every box, I had not thought of everything. Not even close.

“Oh, wait, would you mind moving the armoire to this wall?” I ask, smiling through clenched teeth. “What if we put that 9 x 13 rug here? No, how about here?”

Four weeks earlier this same moving crew had packed up our old house and stowed our belongings until we were ready to unleash them. In the intervening month, we tore out and replaced the old tile floors in the new house, gutted two bathrooms, painted the interior, gathered estimates for built-in wall units, removed old light fixtures and added new ones, replaced dated ceiling fans, revamped closet systems, epoxied the garage floor, and ordered new tile, cabinets and fixtures for the bathrooms.

By move-in day, though the remodeling wasn’t over, the house was livable. So, I dispatched the movers to haul our stuff out of storage two days before we tripped a second 30-day storage fee. (You probably know what I think about paying for storage.) The strong men and their block-long truck appeared at 8 a.m. Nine blurry, high-speed hours, and four extra-large pizzas later, the strong men left, but the job of moving in was far from over. Although I was thrilled that after 28 days from our move out, we were finally going to sleep in our new house, I felt overwhelmed by all the work that still lay ahead.

Because I wouldn’t feel “at home” until the last box was empty, I did not sit down for three days. Day one, my step counter logged six miles and over 13,000 steps though I never left the house. My husband and I emptied boxes and put their contents away to create a new order. (My favorite part of moving is the do-over of all your drawers and cupboards.) We made up and styled beds, and hung art and drapes. In short, we purposefully tackled the central job of moving, which is to find the best new place for every single thing we own, including ourselves.

Moving all your belongings into a new house is like trying to build a 5,000-piece jigsaw puzzle without knowing what the big picture looks like. You try pieces in various places until they fit. These seven moving tips made the job easier:

1.     Phase your move-in. Our move-in had two phases. Because our kitchen, primary bathrooms and his and her closets had protective doors to keep construction dust out, we packed the contents of those areas in a U-Haul. That way we could move those items in as soon as we got keys to the new place. Having our kitchen, main bathroom and closets in place was a huge leg up come move-in day.

2.     Map out where things go. In the weeks before move-in day, I made sketches on quarter-inch graph paper of where most of the furniture would go. Moving furniture around on paper is a lot easier than moving actual furniture. While not everything will land exactly as you envision or hope, plotting furniture placement in advance greatly decreases the chances of having to move heavy furniture twice.

3.     Place rugs first. When sketching out your rooms, decide where your area rugs will go. When moving in, lay these down first, before placing furniture. Your back will thank you. 

4.     Look beyond what was. Just because an area rug went in the family room in your old place doesn’t mean it can’t go in the new home’s bedroom. A rug we used in our former den became my new office rug and looks great.

5.     Stage an art gallery. Set aside an area of the new place to park all your wall art and accessories creating a sort of gallery. After rugs and furniture are in place, shop your art. Again, try to see your pieces in new ways. The painting that looked great over your old fireplace may look better in the new dining room. Don’t default into old patterns.

6.     Phone a friend. Because busting out of old décor ruts is hard, I asked a friend with a good eye to help me place my art. She saw my pieces objectively. At her suggestion, some vintage French prints I’ve always hung in my office became featured pieces in the family room. Pro tip: When hanging wall art, hang it so the center of the art is 63 inches off the ground.

7.     Make beds a priority. The first item off the truck should be your mattress, bed and bedding. Make up your bed early on. Don’t wait until the end of moving day when you’re exhausted. That way, when you’re ready to collapse, you will at least have a place to sleep.

CAPTION: Art courtesy of Kelly Kamowski.