In the past 8 years or so I’ve moved more than 10 times. Now before you think I’m some flighty flake, most of those moves were during college and graduate school- where I never lived anywhere longer than a year. In all those moves, I’ve learned a lot of lessons about how to make your move as smooth and organized as possible. These are my top tips!

1. Don’t pay for boxes

I’ve only recently settled down my roots in my permanent home. The past 8 years or so I’ve moved a lot- through college, graduate school, moving in with my boyfriend, and finally, moving into my house. And I’ve never paid for boxes. Not one cent.

Instead, I look for free boxes on craigslist. Someone will always have recently moved to your area and want to get the boxes off their hands. Alternately, once you’ve finished unpacking, you can list your boxes on craigslist and have someone come pick them up and get rid of them for you.

Get boxes for free, and give them away for free and avoid ALL the hassle. It’s really the best way to move.

2. Pack by thinking about unpacking

It’s easy to get into a frenzy of just throwing things into boxes with other similar things. I like to think about unpacking before I even start packing. Your move will go so much easier if you plan by unpacking.

Instead of putting all your books in one box, put your textbooks in a box for your office and your novels in a book for you living room, for example. That way, when you move in, instead of moving things from room to room, you will just unpack each box in its own room.

And leave your clothes on the hangers. Seriously- it’s such a waste to take them off when packing and put them on when unpacking. I usually just lay mine flat in a huge duffel bag and it has always worked so well for me.

Before you start packing a box, think about what room that box will go in.

3. Label, label, label

What’s the point of organized packing if you don’t know what’s in the box? Label, and do it right away.

Seriously, your steps should be: pack, seal, LABEL. If you don’t do it right away you might forget what is in the box. Having a sharpie and masking tape around to label each box is so much more useful than you know.

I like to use two labels: one that says what room the box should go in, and one that summarizes what is in the box. So that way I know not to stack the box of novelty mugs on top of the box of my grandmother’s china. You don’t want to mess around with the irreplaceable stuff, which is another good reason to label.

Over-labeling is preferable to under-labeling. Go nuts!

4. Temporary storage will save you a lot of headaches

Unless you are one of the lucky few whose leases or closings line up perfectly, you might find yourself in a temporary living situation. You could move all your stuff into your temporary place, and then move it again to your next home, but that is a lot of work.

Instead, use temporary storage places. My favorite are the ones that will deliver a portable storage unit to you, you fill it, they store it, and then deliver it to your new place when you’re ready. I’ve made the mistake of not doing this before, and it is a real pain.

Why move twice when you can move once? Use portable storage units.

5. Furniture rental services are totally worth it

You COULD move all your furniture into your temporary place and then move it again into your new place… but that is just so much more work than necessary. Furniture rental is by far a better option.

Going hand in hand with using portable storage units is finding a way to furnish your temporary living situation. I can tell you first hand that CORT Furniture Rental is an amazing service who I am a big fan of. Their furniture is really great quality and affordable, and they have what you need for any sort of temporary living situation. They make it so convenient and easy.

Save yourself the headache and rent furniture when you move!

Good luck with your move, and I hope these tips help you stay organized!

The post 5 tips for an organized move appeared first on Pins and Procrastination.

I’ve been slightly (overly) obsessed with organization since I was a teenager. Pretty much since I discovered the container store and made a wish list of almost everything on the website, I’ve fallen in love with organizing and haven’t looked back. And I like to think I’ve gotten pretty good at it over the years.

Well, the biggest thing that I’ve learned is there is one simple secret to keeping things organized:

Lots and lots of bins and baskets and boxes

The three b’s- bins, boxes, and baskets- are your best friends.

Using this simple secret you can fake it till you make it. If you are too lazy to fold your clothes- throw them in a bin. Always have a cluttered living room at the end of the day? Throw it in a bin. It really works.

Here’s a little tour of how I use bins, boxes, and baskets all over my apartment to stay organized:

This is the closet in our guest room. We keep some out of season clothes, suitcases, and crafting supplies in here. There’s a bunch of Lars’s sweatshirts in the green bins on the shelf. Sure looks a lot better than if they were just laying out on the shelf.

And my empty containers collection for making natural beauty products I keep in bins on the closet floor. Sure, I could keep them on the floor without the bins. But it looks much cleaner this way and it’s much easier to take them in and out of the closet.

And here is the closet in our bedroom. My clothes are on the right, Lars’s are on the left. And we keep shoes on the top shelf. We use these awesome plastic shoe boxes from the Container Store that are only $1.89 a box- and we got them on sale for even less than that.

Keeping the shoes in boxes looks much better than if they were loose on the shelf- and using uniform boxes looks neater than keeping them in the boxes they came in.

Here is the big closet in our living room. We keep all our linens and tools in here, among may other things. It’s hard to tell because everything is hiding neatly in bins and boxes!

And here is the desk in our guest room. It doesn’t have any drawers, so we keep basic office supplies in this neat box on the tabletop. Sure, it’s a mess inside, but you can’t see it.

In the kitchen, we use crates to keep snack food in. Instead of seeing messy bags and boxes of different heights and colors, you see the bins. Plus, you can use whatever colors you want and even use the bins to make more categories. You could put breakfast foods in one, regular snacks in one, and gluten free snacks in the third. Yay for organization!

Sure, we could neatly fold and put away blankets. But we are much too lazy for that. So instead we just put this blanket in a cute basket on the dresser in our living room. It’s freely available to use when we watch TV or movies, but also looks neat and has a place to go when we put it away.

More office organization. We could keep all our stationary, CDs, and craft supplies out on this shelf, but keeping them in the bins looks much nicer. I feel like I’m getting redundant. But I’m getting the point across right?

I got those cute grey boxes at Target on clearance for $2 each. Definitely check their clearance section, they always have good deals there on cute bins and boxes.

I’ve always had trouble organizing hair stuff. Ponytails, bobby pins, headbands, hairbrushes- kind of wound up everywhere. A simple bin out on my dresser keeps them all in place and neatly out of sight.

We keep photos, business cards, miscellaneous cords, and other office supplies on this shelf. But you would never have any idea. Organization kind of feels like you have a secret, right? I know it’s there, but you don’t.

And last but not least, under the side table in our living room, we have this large box and two medium hat boxes. We keep holiday decorations and gift wrap supplies in here.

So, I hope this post has convinced you that bins, boxes, and baskets are truly the secret to an organized home. I know it’s definitely how I keep my home organized. Without them, it would be a disaster.

What do you think the secret to an organized home is? Let me know in the comments!

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