Our crew at The Move Makers have managed hundreds of moves for our clients, and we’ve learned quite a few things along the way. One important thing we’ve learned is never to make any assumptions about the ease or difficulty of a project beforehand, because there are always surprises. Another thing we’ve learned is that when an unexpected situation arises, we can rely on the experience and training of our staff, and the expertise of our trusted partners, to overcome any obstacle.
With that in mind, we’d like to bring you a just a few of our well-seasoned tips from our team, many of whom are Professional Organizers, so that your own home project can get off to a great start, and hopefully a successful finish!
Carolyn Rowe, Founder of The Move Makers:
If you’ve decided to start organizing and downsizing because you are moving, try to avoid packing anything until you have sorted everything and have made decisions about what you want to take with you to your new home. If you start packing too early, chances are you’ll end up moving things you really don’t want or need, only to get rid of them later. Deferring packing until you’ve finished sorting and making decisions can save you time, space and money.
Jennifer Campbell, Operations Manager:
Why wait to use the things you like best, like clothing, handbags, or your “good” dishes? Enjoy them now, not the elusive “later”. For organizing and downsizing, consider professional help, as it speeds up the process and keeps progress on track.
Paivi Vargas, Move Manager:
As you organize, try to place similar things together. That way, you can see what you may have multiples of, then you can pare down things from there. Of that group, keep the best ones, and donate the rest. We often don’t know how many unnecessary duplicates we have until they’re laid out before us.
Gabrielle Proust, Organizing Specialist:
Don’t store stringed instruments, like guitars, violins, cellos, etc., as they do not do well in storage, even if it is climate controlled. Instruments like these need to be played regularly to avoid degradation of the strings and the wood. Musicians will tell you of good instruments turning into “cigar boxes” because they’ve been stored for too long. If no one in the family plans on playing the instrument, consider sending it out for consignment so that it can be used for its purpose. If it’s a very expensive instrument, it can be rented by a musician, and you can still keep it in the family. Consult an instrument rental company for information on this.
Nicole Stiver, Move Manager:
One thing I love is to establish an ongoing donation bag. It helps to keep things “moving through” the house. I like to have a sizable paper grocery sack or shopping sack open in a closet or garage or wherever is convenient so I can drop things in it when I am ready to let go. And once it is full (sometimes there are multiple!) it goes straight to the car and gets dropped off at a donation site ASAP. Ridding the house of things you don’t want can be a daunting task sometimes but moving things through helps to keep your home free of stagnation.