So, you have found your dream house with a dream garden where you can make barbecue and ice lemonade and gather all of your friends during summer months and where your children can freely play and run around and enjoy in their own space and in nature the whole day long. Or maybe you have found a perfect cozy apartment with an amazing view where you can relax and read a book or watch your favorite Netflix shows after you come home from work each day and the only thing left is to learn how to unpack after moving.
Congratulations, Moving is an Exciting Time in Your Life!
You have even done most of the work – you actually moved. And we know how stressful and demanding moving is. And if you have managed to finish all of that, including finding a great moving company, packing, transferring all of your files, changing your address, cleaning up the old place, cleaning up the new place, finding the perfect date for the move and determining your budget, it only shows how dedicated you were and that you have almost succeeded in achieving what we call the perfect move.
Once the movers are gone and all of your inventory has been transferred from your old place to your new home, you might come home tired and thinking `Thank God, we have finally done it!`, but have you truly?
Unpacking After a Long Move Can Be Extremely Tiring and Stressful
Once you come home you will see a bunch of unpacked boxes just laying around the place and waiting for you. Yes, there is still more work waiting for you to do it. You are definitely not finished. Before you can say you are officially completely done with the whole moving process, there is one more thing you need to do – the unpacking.
Unpacking might be the most boring thing for some, since you are already tired from the whole moving situation. For some, it can be a very exciting process, since you are finally decorating your new place and getting really familiar with it, making it your new home. Unpacking is not always that simple, but if you come up with a good strategy and try your best, it can turn out to be quite manageable and easy and fast as well.
We are here to offer some tips on how to make your unpacking process the easiest and fastest possible.
So, How to Start Unpacking After a Move?
Make a General Plan For Unpacking After Moving
Once you decide it is time to unpack and finally settle in your new place, you should try to actually make some sort of a plan. Opening boxes randomly and running from one room in your house to another will not bring much help.
If you have followed the packing instructions from your San Francisco packers and movers, you have surely labeled the boxes. Read the label of each box before you decide whether you are going to unpack it just now or not.
Also, try to sort the boxes according to the rooms they belong in. Carry the boxes to the room their content should be unpacked in and keep them there until you think it is time for unpacking them.
Your Inventory List Can Be A Helpful Tool When Unpacking
Find your inventory list that you have created before packing. While unpacking, always check your inventory list. When you take each item from the box, you should somehow mark it on the list. This way you will always know which items you have unpacked, and which items are left to be found and taken out from the boxes. If you have labeled the boxes, this process will surely be much easier – the box that says books on it contains books, the one that says glassware contains glassware, etc.
Start Unpacking Your Most Important Items
It is quite logical you will not start your unpacking process with unpacking your jewelry for example (unless you have some really important event coming up soon). All the San Francisco packers and movers will tell you that your necessity box (or boxes) should be the first thing you get from the truck or even bring in the car with you. And these boxes are the ones you should unpack first. The reason for that is simple – these boxes contain items necessary for your daily functioning. If you have not packed your necessity box or boxes, you should try to figure out where you have put all of the necessities.
Start With The Following Items
When we say necessities, we actually mean:
- toilet paper,
- dish soap,
- dishtowel,
- unopened all-purpose cleaner,
- coffee maker,
- toast maker,
- some easy food for one lunch and dinner,
- unopened small jar of jam or nutella or peanut butter,
- some snacks,
- pet food and dishes (if you have a pet, of course),
- a mug, plate, fork, spoon and knife for every household member,
- flashlight or candles or some matches,
- scissors, garbage bags, some tools,
- Important records such as medical records,
- passports, leases, financial information, etc.
You should also unpack some of your personal items such as a few essential pieces of clothes, toothbrush, medicines, toiletries, books, electronics (laptop computer, your phone, your chargers, eReader etc.)
The Kitchen Should Be The First Room To Unpack After Moving
When unpacking it is not crucial you start with a certain room or follow a certain order. But, there is an order you could follow if you wish to make things easier for yourself and more organized. It is a suggestion from San Francisco professional movers to start with unpacking the kitchen items. Find boxes that contain the kitchen stuff and start unpacking! It would be best if you lined up the kitchen cabinets and cupboards first. After that start with the unpacking of all the dishes, glassware, pots and pans as well.
How to Handle Fragile Kitchenware
Before putting your dishes in the cabinets, do not forget to properly clean them first. Since they are very fragile, you have wrapped them in packing paper while packing – now you need to remove the packing paper and clean the dishes. After that, you can get all the big appliances hooked up and also plug in all of the small appliances, such as toasters, coffee maker, etc. Of course, you do not have to completely finish the kitchen at once. If you are in a rush, unpack only what is really necessary at the moment and come back to finish it later, once you have finished unpacking the rest of the house.
How to Unpack Your Bathroom After Moving
After you are finished with the kitchen it is time for your bathroom to come together. Having a full set up bathroom is one of the most important things if you wish your new place to really feel like a home to you according to San Francisco professional movers’ experience. If there is water in the bathroom, then half of the work has already been done. Except for the unpacking of all the bathroom items. When unpacking the things that go into your bathroom the most important thing is to unpack the essentials first.
This means that your priority should be towels, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, medications, hair and body care products, and, of course, the shower curtain. When getting shower gel, shampoos and other liquid products out of the boxes, make sure the liquid does not get out of the bottle and cause any damage and extra work for you to have to deal with.
How to Unpack Your Bedroom and Living Room After Moving
The next room you should be focusing on when it comes to unpacking is definitely the bedroom, since you will be sleeping in it. In order to actually have a place for sleep, put the beds together first. Find the boxes with beddings, sheets, linens, pillows and blankets and take it all out of the box (or boxes). Unpack the linens and beddings for each bedroom and make the beds for the night. This way, you will not have to sleep on the sofa the very first night you come to your new place.
After you have done this, think about where you wish to put certain pieces of the furniture like closets, lamps etc. It is our advice you put the closets first, before you start unpacking all the clothes, hats, lingerie and shoes. This way, you will create much less mess in the room – when you unpack the clothes, you can immediately put them in the closet instead of letting them lie around the room while you bring the closets to the room.
You will save yourself much time and effort as well. In the end you can set up the shelves and put the books, jewelry or some other personal stuff in them. After the bedroom you can commit to unpacking the living room. Be very careful when unpacking TV or other breakable items.
Assembling Your Furniture After Moving
Since you have already gone through the packing process and you know how you had to disassemble all the furniture, you are probably aware that you will have to assemble it now that you have finally moved and, of course, wish to have furniture in your new place.
Now, there are two possible situations.
The first one is that you have already had floorplan sketches of your new place. In this case, you have had plenty of time to think about how you would like your furniture to be organized and where you wish to put the sofa and where you wish to put the closet or a bookshelf.
In another scenario, you have not had the floorplan of the new home and you have to figure out right now where all the furniture will be placed. That is not a bad solution also, but there is one thing you need to be quite careful about in this case.
How to Figure Out The Logistics of Moving Your Furniture
Sit down and talk with your partner. Figure out how you would like to arrange your furniture. It is very important you settle all the details before you assemble the pieces, especially the large ones. It would be such a waste of time and effort to assemble the certain piece of furniture and figure out it is in the completely wrong place and have to disassemble and reassemble it again, not to mention, the furniture might get damaged if you keep disassembling and reassembling it many times.
Unpack Your Garage and Basement Last
When it comes to places such as a garage, basement, or some other utility spaces it is the most logical move to leave them for the very end of the unpacking process.
We guess that most of your essential items that you simply cannot function without will not be placed here, so it is not crucial you rush into unpacking items that belong in the garage or basement.
Wait until the rest of the house is set up and then try to unpack all the utility places. Still, you might need some of the tools for assembling the furniture.
Also, it is not a bad idea to unpack the grill. If the weather is nice, you could make a barbecue in your backyard instead of cooking and spend some nice time with your family and friends, enjoying it all together in your new place.
Also, do not forget to be very careful when unpacking boxes that have label BREAKABLE on them. Carry them very gently and pay extra attention while taking your china, vases, glassware and the dishes out of the boxes.
Get A Free Quote
If you are interested in moving with us, we are happy to inform you that you can visit our website and fill a form or call us over the phone and get your detailed and completely free moving quote. We are looking forward to hearing from you!