So congratulations! You've reached your destination and you've got your new home! Time to settle in. Let's face it lots of people don't really enjoy unpacking (although some people I know definitely do enjoy unpacking). Here's a couple tips to make the process seem less daunting.

1. Get off your butt and rearrange the boxes! Let's start with the most obvious. Most of the time when you unload stuff off of the truck your main concern is simply to get everything inside your new dwelling. First things first, stick the boxes in the appropriate rooms. Kitchen stuff belongs in the kitchen, Bathroom boxes in the bathroom. Some might argue that it makes things look more cluttered but hey that's okay! Because it'll motivate you to unpack them faster. Quick tip, I've found that if you're doing a DITY move you can get those circular colored stickers (or you can grab colored markers) and mark each box according to which room each box goes into before you load them onto the truck, it saves a lot of time.
2. Now that you've arranged your boxes, start with the most essential rooms first. Obviously you wouldn't unpack the guestroom first and leave your own bedroom for last! So start with important rooms like the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom.
3. Break down boxes as you empty them and designate an area for broken down boxes. Seeing the boxes disappear will help you feel like you're not just unpacking and nothing is changing. That, and it keeps things tidy so you can just grab the boxes and take them to recycle or give them away.
4. Stop every hour or two for 5-10 minutes to help avoid tiring yourself out. Some might argue that stopping will ensure that you would stop unpacking all together, but really it doesn't, just tell yourself that if you work really hard you deserve a quick break.
5. Get a bucket and stick your cleaning supplies in there so you can walk around with it. It's a lot easier to wipe down the inside of the cabinets and then stick stuff in there as opposed to putting stuff in there and then having to take it all out when you have to clean it a few days later. If you keep your window cleaner, counter cleaner, rags, etc. in one bucket it will be easier to just pick it up and move onto the next room instead of running back and forth between one room and the other room where you keep your cleaning supplies.
6. Leave one box or a basket in the room you're unpacking while you're unpacking that room. Why? Sometimes stray things end up in a box it's not meant to be in, it's easier to just throw the odd item into a box until you finish the room you're unpacking. Otherwise, you'll spend a lot of time going back and forth between rooms. Just put your item into the "misc. box" until you finish the room, and when you're done with that room, you can take the items out of the "misc. box" and place them where they belong.
7. Turn on the music! Unpack to some upbeat music, you'll feel like you're grooving to the beat and you're being productive! Talk about a light workout!
8. Treat yourself! All finished? GREAT! Treat yourself to something, you deserve it for all your hardwork after you're done. Job well done!

Well that's it for my unpacking tips, got your own? Feel free to comment and leave your tips so other can benefit from your experience as well!

Last update : 09/30/2008 10:06 AM

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