When it comes to moving, packing isn’t just about getting things into boxes—it’s about protecting the belongings that make a house a home. 

Recently, I unpacked boxes for a client who’d done the initial packing themselves. My first thought was, “Boy, it’s a miracle nothing was broken.” Fragile things were layered on the bottom of boxes, padded only by placemats. Mugs and glasses were wrapped with only a thin layer of paper.

It reminded me of a story my sister-in-law told me after a house fire: when her belongings were packed up afterward, everything had simply been tossed into boxes—including kitchen knives that could have damaged other items (or injured someone unpacking)... Read the rest

Downsizing sounds simple enough in theory: keep what you love, let go of what you don’t, and somehow fit fifty years of living into a smaller space without crying over a fondue pot from 1978. Easy, right?

Well, not exactly.

At The Move Makers, we know that downsizing is about much more than “stuff.” Our belongings often carry memories, milestones, and pieces of our identity. We recently moved a client from a large house to a one-bed apartment in a senior living community, and she was having a hard time letting go of the small dresser her father had made her over fifty years before, as well as some presents of glassware from her sister... Read the rest

Remember when documenting life required something more than just a phone in your pocket? You’d have a camera slung over one shoulder and a camcorder over the other, like a one-person film crew at every birthday party and vacation. You’d drop off rolls of film at Costco, wait a few days, and come back to envelopes of glossy prints, maybe even doubles if there was a sale. The truly organized among us labeled albums or built scrapbooks. Back then, a “cloud” was something that threatened rain, not a place to store your photo archive and all your web files.

Fast forward to today, and many of those carefully preserved memories—photo albums, scrapbooks, VHS tapes, film reels, slides—are tucked away in attics or basements or lining the bottom of bookshelves... Read the rest

What happens when an aging parent needs to move, but you live far away? Learn how senior move management companies can help families handle the process remotely.

Rose C. is a classic member of the so-called sandwich generation. Living more than a thousand miles from her widowed mother, she is raising two active teenagers, one of whom is a competitive ice skater. Rose’s husband travels frequently for work, which means the day-to-day management of the household often falls on her.

Her mother Janet, meanwhile, is feisty and independent.

But accidents happen.

After getting tangled in her dog Roscoe’s leash, Janet suffered a broken tibia and several fractured ribs... Read the rest

Trusted Family-Owned Moving Company in Gresham, Oregon

At The Move Makers, we’re grateful to partner with moving companies that truly align with our mission: making every move as smooth and stress-free as possible. One of our most trusted partners is Priestley and Sons, a family-owned moving company based in Gresham, Oregon, with a reputation built on nearly 100 years of experience.

Recently, I spoke with managers Chris Brown and Jonathan Clayton to learn more about what sets Priestley and Sons Moving and Storage apart from other Portland-area movers.

A Legacy of Trust Since 1929

Priestley and Sons was founded in 1929 by Carroll and Clara Priestley and remains family-owned to this day... Read the rest

The kitchen is not usually the largest room in a house by square footage, but it is definitely the space with the most items crammed into cupboards, drawers, and cubby holes over the stove or under the sink. 

As such, it is often the most time-consuming room to pack. Think of your own kitchen, with shelves crammed with plates and coffee cups. In a side corner, you may be storing pots and pans, Dutch ovens, toasters, and bread makers. Often, there’s a mixer somewhere in the mix, along with a blender and a food processor. Drawers contain anything from silverware to corkscrews; napkins to kitchen towels; and several rolls of aluminum foil or plastic wrap... Read the rest

Remember the movie Groundhog Day, the one where weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) wakes up day after day in a time loop? It was one of the top films of the 1990s and is now considered a classic. It’s also kind of how I feel every year when January hits and I review what changes I wanted to make in my life. If you’re anything like me, you may have petered out sometime mid-year, and are now scratching your head about what happened.

Hopefully, some incremental progress was made. This time last year, I was reporting on my family’s quest to declutter, and I have to report that steps were indeed taken... Read the rest

Deborah: As the holiday season has begun, I have been very reflective on how grateful I am this year. As many of us have experienced, this has been a season of life with joyous times and shared sadness. Cherished time has been spent with friends, coworkers, and family, with new and old traditions. Like our Portland weather, we have had both sunny days mixed with the stormy ones.

The Move Makers team members help our clients in both exciting new futures and sudden losses. I am so grateful to work with team members with endless compassion and grace. They go the extra mile needed to make our clients’ lives a little easier... Read the rest

‘The Smiths’ had lived in their Oregon home for nearly 25 years. Transplants from California, ‘Dick’ and ‘Jane’ had moved north in their fifties to be closer to their grandchildren and fallen in love with their one-acre property and its stunning views of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens. (On especially clear days, they could even glimpse Mt. Rainier.)

Now in their mid-seventies, maintaining their home and yard had become a challenge. Dick was facing knee replacement surgery, and Jane’s back pain made gardening almost impossible. With 3 levels and 4,800 square feet to manage, the couple decided in early 2025 that it was time to downsize to a single-level home with a simpler yard... Read the rest

I’ve always loved to read. Good thing, too: I ended up majoring in English in college and later writing novels, so reading became both a passion and profession. But during the parenting-of-young-children years, most of my reading took place when I was dog-tired: bedtime stories with my kids (and sometimes nodding off mid-sentence, only to hear a small voice chirp, “Daddy, why are you saying funny words?”) or a few pages before falling asleep myself. More often than not, I’d wake up with a book sprawled across my face. 

After I joined The Move Makers—and after many occasions of packing boxes and boxes of books—I realized it was time to cull my own unwieldy collection... Read the rest