Inside: The Art Of The Stress Free Move: Setting Up Your New Home. Collaborative post.
Moving day can be a stressful one for anyone. Packing up your life in one spot and then unpacking it in another is almost always a big ask, but it doesn’t have to be quite as hectic as it often is.
While a lot of energy and effort might go towards packing things up, cleaning the old home, and making sure that you’re ready before the big move, what comes after you touch base in your new place is just as important, as well. Here are some tips that can help you get settled in your new home a lot faster.
Photo by cottonbro studio
Start With The Essentials
You should make sure that you make your new home functional before you worry about how it looks. Ensure that you have boxes labelled with your essentials in them, including bedding, toiletries, kitchenware, and the daily-use items that you’re going to want immediately. By ensuring yourself some basic quality of life out of the gate, you can avoid the many frustrations that come with having to work around not having them. Making the kitchen and bathroom usable, first and foremost, so that you can have a nice meal and a warm shower, can immediately help you start getting used to the new space. Once you’re able to take care of your needs comfortably, dealing with the rest becomes a lot less stressful.
Unpack Room By Room
If you’re unpacking boxes as you find them, moving around the home to ensure that everything ends up in its right place, you can quickly tire yourself out, and it might not even feel like you’ve done too much. The best strategy is to unpack strategically, focusing on one room at a time.
Being in the areas that you use the most. After you have the essentials of the kitchen and bathroom in place, this might mean starting with your bedroom or living room. Completing one room gives you a much bigger sense of progress and also helps you fully organize each room before moving on to the nextt so you can take it off your list completely.
Choose Furniture That’s Less Hassle To Install
When moving old furniture, you might have to just work smartly with what you have, making sure that the bigger pieces are moved in first, and the smaller ones after. A lot of people buy new furniture when moving into a new home; however, here is where you want to avoid the mistake of buying furniture that’s going to give you even more work to do.
Your time and energy are already being spent on unpacking, so consider ready-assembled furniture that can easily be slid into place. Pre-built pieces make it a lot easier to create functional spaces without having to worry about any tools or instruction books. It’s especially helpful for keeping boxes off the floor and giving everything a place right away.
Organize As You Go
Rushing to unpack everything can help you get the boxes out of the way, but you can end up with a cluttered, confusing mess that you have to pick through bit by bit. You’re likely to spend less time setting up your space if you start organizing intentionally as soon as you begin unpacking.
Take the time to think about each space and how you want ot use it before you start filling up those spaces with stuff. For instance, in the kitchen, you might want to label storage containers and different zones for grouping items so that they’re a lot easier to place as you’re unpacking. A few extra minutes spent organizing now will save you hours later. Plus, a clutter-free setup helps you relax and settle in more quickly.
Add Some Personal Touches Early
While functionality is, undoubtedly, the most important part of establishing a new home, it’s just as important to start building your connection with the space, as well. To that end, you should start helping your house feel like a home early, rather than waiting until every bag is unpacked.
Take a moment to hang up some artwork, place family photos, or display meaningful items like books and souvenirs so that you can bring some identity and warmth to the place. Personalization is what really helps make the space truly yours, so start injecting it early. If you don’t have any items like that, take the time to find art for your home so that you can begin establishing your own style.
Get Started With Your Routines
Your furniture and style are going to both play a big part in establishing your home, but settling in is all about finding your rhythm, as well. Start building the daily routines that help you get used to living in that space, from cooking simple meals to taking a walk around the neighborhood or finding a new place to stop for your morning coffee.
This can help you banish the feeling of your new home being alien and unfamiliar, and help you get used to the specific quirks so that they don’t feel quite as jarring or annoying. These simple routines create comfort and stability, turning a house into a real living space.
Celebrate The New Chapter
Take a moment to really appreciate and make an occasion out of the move. You might feel like you’re constantly in “to-do” mode, but having a few friends over, or even just having a casual night of ordering takeout and listening to music, can help you really start to get a feel for the space. Not everything has to be perfect for you to start treating the space like your home; making do with the progress you have right now can take some of the pressure off when you pick it back up again.
With the tips above, you can make sure that you don’t live with that slightly unsettling feeling of an empty new home for too long. The sooner you can make it your own, the easier it can be to move into your new life.