After everything that you own has been transported into a new home and you’ve paid the movers and closed the door and turned on the lights, you think that that’s it? Unfortunately, that isn’t the end of a move. The next step is the actual ordeal of unpacking from all of the boxes where you’ve stuffed your belongings and arranging everything in your new home in a functional way. Now, if you’ve been reading our blog posts, this shouldn’t be too difficult of a step, but, we are here to give you some directions, as usual. Let us begin with:
After moving house, you should open the essentials first
After the whole move your family is probably exhausted and you will benefit from a quiet evening and a night or afternoon of a good rest before the unpacking starts. So, we would suggest that you only open your essentials in the first hours after you move. If you have packed your Survival Box as we’ve talked about, you should have everything there for that first night in your new home. Sheets and pillows should also be fairly simple to find, if you’ve been labeling your boxes. So, let us put this into some bullets for you to easily remember:
- Survival Box – pack your essentials for an overnight stay into a box/bag and have it with you during your trip to your new home
- Place the furniture – while the movers are unpacking, direct them where to place your bed, wardrobe and other heavy items
- Take a rest – after a move, it is essential to be rested for the unpacking, take a bit of time for yourself on the first day in your home
- Bare Necessities – as Baloo says, take only the most needed items out of their boxes for the first night
- Start the unpacking rested – tomorrow is the day for the whole unpacking process
To unpack easily and quickly after a move you should know that not everything needs to happen at once
Don’t feel that you need to unpack everything in the first couple of days after your relocation. In fact, it’s completely normal to have a few boxes lying around here and there in the first week after your move. And, if you have that one room which you haven’t figured out how to set up yet, it’s alright to leave it in the boxes. Don’t force yourself to unpack quickly, as it will become even more stressful for you that preparing for your relocation.
The day after your move start unpacking your kitchen – it will quickly become the perfect place for your family to gather
On the day after your move you should begin with the kitchen
The unpacking process, as long as it is, needs to begin somewhere, and we would definitely suggest the kitchen. This doesn’t mean that you should begin cooking immediately, feel free to order take-out for the first few days. However, after you’ve set up this space on the day after your move, it will become a great place for your family, friends or new neighbors to hang out and help you out. Of course, start with unpacking only the necessities and then continue onto the rest of the items. Your coffee maker should definitely be considered an essential, too.
After the kitchen, the next space on the day after the move to unpack is the bathroom
While you might want to dive into the unpacking of the bedroom or living room first, we would suggest it. Continue onto the bathroom if you’ve taken out all of your kitchen essentials. This space should be fairly easy to unpack after your move if you’ve been reading our packing guide. Open up the Rubbermaid and Tupperware boxes and set up your bathroom just how you wanted. If there is some work which needs to be done before you can unpack this room,
feel free to leave your items in the containers, they will be accessible and easily removed for the decorating work. As a last tip, make sure that the plumbing works
After you’ve unpacked your bathroom, continue onto the living room. It’s alright if you set this one up slowly, and not on the first day after your move.
– remember that you might need to turn on the water outside after you move in!
The next thing to be unpacked after a move should be the living room
If the kitchen and the bathroom are set, you really don’t need to rush with unpacking the den/living room. After a move, you will undoubtedly feel tired, so begin with a small sketch of how you want your living room to look like. Think about where you want your TV, couch and the other items which you will be bringing in. After you’ve planned it out, you can set it up on the day after the move or any day during that week. It’s alright not to have the whole house ready in one day.
Finally, on the day after your relocation set up your bedrooms as well
While the bedrooms might seem like the logical idea of where you should begin your unpacking, we would suggest
Your bedrooms should be the last thing that you unpack, and don’t worry if you don’t manage to get to them on the first day after your move.
leaving them for last. On the first day after your move you have a few options for the sleeping arrangements. If you have your movers assemble the beds in the proper rooms, as most companies will offer this service, you will be able to simply unpack the necessary sheets, pillows and blankets on the day after your move. However, if the movers won’t assemble the beds, it will be just as fun to drag the mattresses into the living room and have a slumber party
with the whole family.
In the end let us give you some packing tips which will help you unpack as quickly as possible the day after your move:
- Pack your kitchen how you use it – A box for a drawer, which will make it a quick unpacking on the day after your move
- Leave the clothing on hangers – Simply place the hung clothes into a bag before your move and once you have arrived to your new home, only place them back into the wardrobe
- Don’t unload, just wrap – if you have anightstand or a toy box for your children, simply wrap it tightly so that it doesn’t open during the move instead of unloading it
With this, we hope that we have given you some ideas on how to easily get settled into your new home on the day after your move!