Get packing, girl!

So here it begins... The Great, Big Packing Operation.

1 house full of EVERYTHING from the separate lives of 2 adults - about to be sifted, sorted, thrown out, recycled, given away, repurposed, disposed of, etc etc etc until only the bare shell of necessity is left - and only just enough for our new 2-bed apartment! And although there's a big job ahead of us, I can't tell you how it excites me.

I know that I have been dragging so much - for lack of a better word - crap with me. From Ballito, the London years, 7 years in Cape Town as a single girl right up until now. And I can't tell you what a liberating feeling it is:) In an earlier post HERE I detailed my plan to minimise my wardrobe - well, I started on that project yesterday and let me tell you it felt amazing shedding so much dead weight.I have 4 huge boxes of stuff that I've cleared out from my wardrobe. I reckon I only have about 30% of my original wardrobe left - but it is 30% of stuff that I love, that I wear, that actually fits me and that suits my age (yeah, ok, I'm 29 and 1 week today! I have to start growing up at some point).  And I still feel like i could be more ruthless!!!

Anyhow, I will keep you posted on my progress and I think some pics will be very necessary shortly - words just don't do it justice. I'm off to gym then to tackle either the garage or the downstairs storeroom! In the meantime, here is some great advice that I found on 320 Sycamore:

Tips & Tricks to make moving out - and moving in - easier...

Start packing as soon as possible! ~Amanda

~if you know you'll be moving soon, start decluttering now. It will make things much easier in the long run. ~linda

As you are packing get rid of things you don't need, never use or are broken. Don't hold on to anything that you wouldn't love to see in your next house. And when you unpack get rid of a few more things. Less to pack and less to put away.  ~SewsCute

My best advice would be to make it a point to clean everything out before you pack. If you find stuff and just stuff in into a box, knowing full well that you haven't used it in years then you are just taking up useful space!!!! Pack with a trash bag and a donation bag next to your packing boxes. Then at the end of the day, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you are actually ONLY packing things that you and your family need and USE. If you've got to pack up anyhow, why not use it as a chance to spring clean? ~Becky

…clean out clutter as you pack - don't hesitate!! donate or throw away! ~lauren

Packing Up

I always found it helpful to pack the bedding in the dresser drawers of the room it goes in. Doesn't add a lot of weight, but it's right there where you need it. ~southerninspiration

Get as many boxes as you can all the same size! We got ours at the big orange home improvement store all in the same size so that when we went to load up the moving truck they all stacked up nice and neat against the back wall. The boxes take up much less room this way since you don't have that random small box that's throwing off your stack of boxes. ~Amy

I use extra linens and towels in as extra padding for dishes.  :-)  ~steph

My mom used to always wrap all of her dishes in all of her towels, blankets. ~Mrs. Dunbar

I think my best tip is that you should have an open first box with the must have items in it! ~Jen Kershner

**Use small, uniform boxes.** 
Rocket science, isn't it? But it is SO much easier to move things if you have many small boxes of the same size and shape. This is especially true if you're like us and have tons (literally) of books, but the same principle applies to most anything you move. With small boxes, you pretty much can't make the box too big to carry. And if the boxes are the same size and shape, they make nice, sturdy stacks in the moving van. 
Great big boxes are useful for things like lampshades and artificial Christmas tree parts. Otherwise, I recommend sticking with small to medium size boxes. ~Richella

I have learned is to pack a two day bag. In the 2 day bag have 2 pairs of clothes for each person, medicine, bathroom stuff and other stuff that you would need for the 2 days while you are still putting things away. ~The Butler Family

My tip is to pack up the unimportant things in each room as early as possible. Designate one room or place in your house to stack those boxes (we used our formal living room because we could live without that space the easiest). We kept out a few outfits, but packed the rest of the clothes. We kept enough towels to use, but packed the rest. We had sheets on the beds, but packed the rest. etc. By the time you get to the end, you're just left with the essentials which will need to be unpacked first. Then you can specially mark those boxes and they are easy to spot. We marked them with highlighter, but using a bright strip of tape would be faster. So we could go through and unpack the essential boxes quickly and then get the rest of them as we could. ~Samantha

Pack and OPEN ME FIRST box with the following: 
- Coffee pot, filter, and coffee 
- Mugs 
- Towels 
- Shower Curtain 
- Scissors 
- Pet Food Bowls 
- Pet Food 
- Meds 
- Paper Towels ~Jess @ Frugal with a Flourish

We got all of our boxes for free. Here is how: Call your local Wal-Mart around 10pm the night before you plan to pick them up. You will need to talk to the manager directly and he will tell you where they will be at. For us they left a couple of carts full in the Site-to-Store area. You have to be able to pick them up before the next shift comes in or they will throw them all out. For us it was around 6:30 in the morning. The boxes that the cereal comes in are ideally sized but it is also nice to have some smaller ones with handles cut in. You can request whatever you want and they will try their best. The boxes get recycled anyway so they don't mind giving them away to be used again. A huge money saver when moving!!! ~Anna Marie

To pack your china without breakage place a 'foam' paper plate between plates. To protect china cups/bowls place a paper coffee filter between cups/bowls then wrap in paper towel. ~renee9558

On the Way

 Be extra careful and don't back the Uhaul into the garage and crack the facia on the day you are moving out. Trust me...it makes the day more stressful! I'm just sayin'...:-) ~Beth

I always have a moving folder that contains our current military orders, birth certificates, vet records{for boarding our dogs if need be}, and all of our medical records. 
I also keep a little tote with us that has phone chargers, our laptop cords, baby monitors and chargers, etc. I have also been known to bring along all of the the nuts and bolts that hold my son's crib together.  ~abby @ tales and trials

Moving In

I color coordinated all of my labels and numbered them, but I took it a step further and tabbed my master moving notebook with a label that matched the color labels. We also hung colored paper on each door that matched the label on the box so people could easily set stuff in rooms. ~Lindy

When you arrive at your destination and start unpacking - make the beds your #1 priority. Then when you are exhausted from a long day of unpacking your bed is all ready for you! ~Amanda

Upon arrival, put the beds together first. At the end of the long, long moving day, you will be so happy to have your bed to fall into! ~Talia

Instead of taking ALL the boxes inside designate the garage as moving central. Divide it into different areas of your house (kitchen, bath, bedrooms) and place all like boxes together. That way instead of tripping over boxes you can just unpack one and then get the next from the garage. ~Brooke

When we moved last, I made a photo copy of our floor plan and shrunk it. I taped one onto each box and put a red dot in the room where the box belonged. It went SO well - we had all the boxes in the right rooms and it only took our family 30 minutes to unload us from the truck! (If only the actual unpacking went that quickly, right?!) ~Kristen

My tip is to take photos of every room and plan beforehand where each piece of furniture will go, using the pictures as a guide!! It saves time and you know to tell the movers exactly where to put each piece on moving day! ~Audrey

MY tip is keep your suitcases out and pack them as if you were taking a trip 3-4 days ( I say week because I have 6 kids and it will take longer for us to get organized) 
Everything your family needs for that long of a trip in there suitcases, and pack the suitcases in van just like for a trip. With that and your all important "open me first " box that either goes in your car or last in the truck. with all the home necessities needed for the first 24-48 hours such as TP, paper towels, flashlight, light bulbs ,cleaning supplies, paper plates ,silverware, cups, can opener, medicine, bandaids, screwdriver , hammer, coffee maker, coffee, snacks. You should be doing pretty good. ~Carla

My trick was to draw out the new spaces ahead of time and plan for each room like that so I could just tape the blueprint to the door and others could know where things went. ~Clean and Classic Interiors

…try to start packing early if possible - set a goal of so many boxes a day and then it's not so overwhelming  ~lauren

so I thought I would share a moving plan that is kind of spiffy. Instead of writing what is inside the box all over the outside of the box, get yourself a notebook and designate it your moving notebook. Guard it with your life! This will be the place you put all of your moving info~receipts, phone numbers, house hunting info, to-do lists, etc. When you get in the car, you ask (in this order): where is the moving notebook?? Dramamine? dvd remote? camera? baby bottle? oh yeah, and my purse?”

On the outside of the boxes, get these cool stickers that have the rooms on them or write LR (Living Room) and then number them.

In your notebook, make a page for each room and then write the contents of the box in the notebook.

Then, when you have utter chaos in your house when everything is brought in, there will be a brief wave of calmness because you will know that the cereal bowls are in Kitchen #5 and the tp is in Bathroom #2 and those are the boxes to open first.