Unpacking Sucks! Moving on its own is an incredibly difficult task that requires a lot of thought, planning, and organization. The worst part of it is when you have finally finished packing, choosing a new place, and then moving in; you must reorganize and unpack in your new home. Though this can seem like a daunting task, it doesn’t need to be! Here are Trylon’s top unpacking tips to keep you organized when moving into your new home!
1. Before Unpacking, Clean Your New Home
Moving and unpacking can be a real hassle, but an important thing that you should make sure to do upon moving to a new home is to clean it thoroughly. Whether you’re moving into a house or an apartment, you never know who has habited it previously and how well they maintained the building.
Starting things off prior to moving in any boxes by washing the walls, floors, closets, and cupboards is a great first step! This way you have peace of mind that you are clearing away any and all germs left behind by previous owners. An added bonus, you are giving yourself a nice, clean, fresh start in your new place! Here is a step-by-step checklist for cleaning your new space!
2. Unpacking With a System
We all know how difficult unpacking looks when you’re standing in a room staring at a bunch of boxes. Hopefully you planned ahead and labeled them so you know which room everything belongs in. If you didn’t, not to worry! You will just have to cut open the boxes and peek inside before figuring out which room they go into!
Having a clear system planned ahead for how you are going to approach unpacking can be an important first step as you begin the process! Organizing the space and keeping track of where everything should be going will make everything seem much less overwhelming. Having a system planned out ahead of the game can help save the potential headache later!
3. Plan Out Where You’re Putting Everything Before Unpacking
Similar to unpacking with a system, planning out where things are going to go such as furniture, tables, and items prior to unpacking will make you feel more on-top of your game. By knowing where you want things like the couch in your living room, tables, and other furniture will sign you up for success when you get to unpacking your boxes.
By doing this you not only do you know exactly where everything in your new home is going to go, you’re also going to be ready to tackle each room one at a time as we will explain going through the rest of this article.
4. Unpacking the Essentials First
Probably a given, but starting with the essentials is an important part when you first start unpacking. There are certain things in a home that you simply cannot live without. Starting by unpacking food items; especially fridge and freezer. These items are time sensitive for staying cold so it’s important to get them taken care of right out immediately.
Another essential would be bathroom toiletries like toilet paper, body wash, hand soap, and towels! Unpacking is hard work and you’re going to want to make sure that you have everything needed to go to the bathroom, and shower when you work up a sweat!
One more really important essential is cleaning supplies. If you’re following the list, you should already have these unpacked. You’re probably going to want to have a broom and dustpan, your favourite cleaners, window cleaner, and garbage bags to make sure that any mess is taken care of prior to unpacking.
Unpacking Your Kitchen
Probably the most lived in place in your whole house, your kitchen should be the first big room you unpack. Oftentimes this comes with significant organizing, but putting things away in cupboards and drawers as you go will make your place quickly look set up and feeling more like home!
Simple things like organizing dishes, pots and pans, your pantry, and utensils will go away quick and easy in a way that tucks things away from sight in an organized manner! Plus once you’re done, you’ll be able to fix yourself a quick snack for the energy to move forward and unpack the other rooms in your house.
6. Setup Your Bedroom
The second most important room is your bedroom. You’re going to need somewhere to sleep tonight and sleeping on the couch or an air mattress can be super uncomfortable. Setting up the actual bedroom can be a quick and easy thing, the tedious part goes into organizing dressers and closets.
An important step in unpacking your bedroom is to try to fight the urge to leave all of your clothes in laundry baskets for extended periods of time. The space can feel so much more organized and put together once your closets are set the way you like! By the time that is done you will have finished your entire kitchen and bedroom which is such good progress!
7. Move on to The Bathroom
Now would be the time to unpack the rest of your bathroom that aren’t essential. This can include any additional personal hygiene items, towels and face cloths, things like makeup, medicines, and cleaning supplies too!
The time this takes will depend solely on how much you typically put inside of your bathroom, some people who have less storage in other places of their house will use their bathroom for additional storage for things like sheets and linens, pharmaceuticals, and even outdoor things for kids like sunblock and bubbles!
8. Unpacking Closets
Though the most annoying closet would have been taken care of while you were tackling the bedroom; organizing closets efficiently after moving in is a must! Most places have a couple of main closets; a coat closet right as you walk in the door, plus your additional bathroom and bedroom closets (if you’re lucky).
Your closet space is solely dependent on the apartment you’re moving into. Most however, will have at least one or two for prime organization! An incredible thing to purchase for closets are organizational tools. There are a number of things you can purchase for organizing closets including shoe organizers, shelving units, and storage baskets. Tucking things away like your vacuum, mop, dustpan and broom in a spare closet is a nice way to have them out of the way.
Closet organization is known to be a tedious task. Once everything is unpacked and put away in its own organized place, it can make the difference in your new home!
9. Make the Space Your Own
You’re moved in, mostly unpacked, and full of excitement for your new place but now it’s time to really take a moment and make the place your own. This can be anything from putting up pictures, hanging stuff up on the walls, or adding the odd bits of decor to your living spaces. Adding some greenery to your new space can really liven up your home.
Have you taken the time to assess the walls in the house? Do you want to paint them? Initial moving in can be an opportunity to get this decorating done! If your landlord isn’t comfortable with you painting, there are many options for peel-off tiles and wallpapers that will come off easily when it’s time to move out.
Unpacking the Remaining Boxes
It happens just about every time people move; you have finally unpacked all of the boxes in your new place room by room. For some reason there are still a few remaining boxes left. These boxes, if labeled, tend to just be ‘junk’ or ‘random’, and don’t exactly have a place to call home. Fight the urge to stick them in the closet, because you know you’re never going to get around to actually doing them.
Maybe it’s time to decide if the junk box truly is junk that you won’t be needing. Or maybe they are items that are used very infrequently but they still need a place to live. Maybe you have a storage space in your new home, or a drawer you can label the ‘junk drawer’? These things happen in every household and you are most definitely not alone. Taking care while you’re still unpacking instead of leaving them until dust settles will give you extra satisfaction!
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations. This probably wasn’t an easy task; moving is a ton of work. Take some time to get a feel of your new place. Maybe you’ve moved into a new neighbourhood and would like to go exploring. Or maybe you’re familiar with the area and have a place you’d like to stop by for lunch!
Either way, taking some time to settle into your new home is as important of a step as any when you’ve moved into a new place. Enjoy the scenery, enjoy the newfound freedom, and especially, finally being done packing and unpacking; for now anyways! From all of us here at Trylon Montreal we would like to thank you for trusting us to help you settle into your new household and if you’re looking for some low-cost options for decorating your new pad, check out this blog for some fun tips!
