Having been in the moving industry for as long as I have, there aren’t very many moving tricks that I haven’t heard about, both successful and disastrous. So I have taken the time to compile what I believe are some of the best tips to ensure your move is as stress-free as possible! Do it a little bit at a time. Don’t procrastinate on this job because it’s a big one, and you won’t be able to find the time to finish everything that needs to get done if you leave it until the last minute. Declutter before you move! I can’t stress this one enough. You do NOT want to move items that you don’t need. It creates more work, costs more money and utilizes more valuable time. One of the best ways to declutter your space is to put everything into four categories. Pack Now – Prioritize what needs to be packed first. Pack Later – Decide what needs to be packed last. Donate – anything that is no longer of use to you, but may be valuable to someone else. And Throw Away – anything that is broken or has no value to you or others. If you are moving last minute, then your best bet is to have a packing day. The more people willing to help you, the better! Create a moving checklist – In your list, make sure to include all the rooms in your home. Then you can create a row that specifies the following categories: Which colour will be for which room, who is in charge of packing that room, a box to check when that room has been completely packed, and then space for any additional notes. You will want to make sure you pick up good quality moving boxes and have multiple sizes for packing all different sized items. Try to use extra space like suitcases and large totes that may be currently empty to lower your costs and the space needed for moving. Make sure to have lots of storage bags on hand. All variety of sizes you will find come in handy for different things. You can place all those little odds and ends in there, so they don’t get lost. If you choose to colour code the rooms, it works well to place a label outside the room right before entering and then another on the wall inside. It doesn’t have to be fancy; just a big coloured dot on a piece of paper with the room name will do. These colour guides will help your movers know exactly where things need to go. If you have people helping you pack or move, make sure that you have coordinated food and drinks for them. You can make something like finger sandwiches, fruit and veggie trays ahead of time or make it easy and order some pizza. You will want to create a “moving station.” A moving station is a place where all packing essentials are kept. Then anyone can access packing materials as needed, such as boxes, tape, scissors, sharpies, etc. It is crucial to delegate one person to be in charge of managing the packing process. This person will be in charge of the master checklist you initially created with all the rooms. They will also be the go-to person for answering any questions related to packing. If you have more than one person giving directions, then you may have a disaster. Once a box has been packed, it is crucial to make sure that it is labelled appropriately with the right colour of tape or sticker for the designated room, so there is no confusion for the movers. Always write down the contents of each box in great detail; you can do this in a couple of different places: Write the details on the box if that works best, or You can number your boxes. ei. Kitchen could be 100s: So you would label your boxes #100, #101, #102, etc. Living Room 200s: #200, #201, #202, etc. Then on the master sheet, list the boxes contents under the number. The more details, the better. Sometimes we need something sooner than we think when we move, and it may still be packed away. Unpacking 15 boxes trying to find one item is not fun. You will find it much easier to assemble all the boxes at once, rather than only assembling one at a time as you need them. You can either do this before packing day or delegate someone to do it at the beginning of the day. It is easier to pick the appropriate size of box for the items you are packing. It will save you a lot of time in the long run. Use pillows, blankets and towels as an inexpensive way to help provide padding to breakables, valuables and electronics. If you are struggling to find a place for your long-handled equipment (brooms, mops, rakes, etc.), you may be able to utilize your garbage can to move them. Often furniture will need to be taken apart entirely or partially when moving. For any furniture that does get taken apart, place all small parts (nuts, bolts, screws, Allen key, etc.) in a plastic baggy to keep them together; you can either: Tape the bag directly to the furniture so that everyone knows where it goes. Or if that won’t work, You can label each bag with details of what piece of furniture it belongs with and create a general hardware box. If you choose this option, don’t lose that box! Label cords, remotes and other essentials with tape & sharpies and put all of them together in one bucket. Don’t leave loose cords anywhere. This box can go with the hardware box, but remember both are very important boxes, don’t lose them! Once you have finished packing the box and it get’s a label, it is important to move it to the side so that it is out of the way
Tips For a Stress-Free Move With Your Pets
Moving can be incredibly stressful for us as humans, so I can’t even begin to imagine how scary it can be for our pets. Especially since they have no sense of control over what is happening. It is essential not to forget about your pets and the stress that they may be feeling. Hopefully, these tips will provide your pet with an easier transition to their new home and help you both settle in quicker! The following tips will prove that a stress-free move with your pets is possible! Make Sure Your Soon-to-be Home Meets Your Pets’ Needs Before purchasing a new home, make sure you have considered the needs of your pets. If you have feline friends or smaller-sized dogs, you may be able to get away with a smaller square footage home and smaller backyard. Although, you may want to make sure there is vertical room for cats that love climbing. If you have a large dog, you will want to consider a home with enough space and a large backyard for them to run and play. When a large backyard is not possible, make sure you buy a home that is easily accessible to take your dog for consistent walks or that your new home is near a dog park. If you bring a canine friend to your new home, it may be a good idea to take them on a walk around the neighborhood and get them familiar with the outdoor space and smells. Talk to Your Pet’s Veterinarian If your move is taking you away from your current Veterinarian, and you will need to find a new one, you should reach out and let them know. They will advise you of what you will need to do to transfer your pet’s medical records. It would be valuable to ask for your pet’s vaccination record if you don’t currently have it to ensure they don’t miss their vaccinations. You will also need to do some research to find a new Veterinarian for your pet once you have moved. You can ask your current Vet if they have any recommendations of a great Veterinarian in the area around your new home. The Packing Process Much like humans, many pets don’t like change. You will want to help ease the adjustment right away by trying to keep their stress levels low. Try to keep their daily routine as normal as possible during the moving process. If possible, pack the room that your animal frequents the most last. If you are looking for storage solutions in the process of moving, make sure to head over to our friends at Crate It Storage and check out all their fantastic storage options. On moving day, you will want to keep your pets in a quiet room with the door shut. Consider packing an easily accessible bag for your pet. A backpack with enough essentials for a few days includes food, toys, treats, kitty litter, blanket, etc. This bag will come in especially handy if your pet does need to hang out somewhere else during the moving process. On The Road Do be careful when transporting your pet to your new home because if they do happen to get scared and escape their kennel or leash, they could get lost quite quickly with all the new-to-them scenery and smells. Even the most docile or well-trained dogs can respond differently under stress or to new environments, so it is best not to assume their reactions for their safety. If your animal has not spent much time in a kennel or on a leash, it may be good to get your animal used to it before the move. You can do this in a few different ways: Place the kennel in their most-frequented space as soon as possible with the door open so that they have full access to observe it. Try placing their food inside the open crate. Once your animal is comfortable eating with the door open, then try closing the door and letting them eat with the door closed. You can try carrying them around the house in the kennel for a few minutes at a time. Always end any time in their kennel positively by rewarding them with treats or playtime. Pet-Proof Your New Home Before bringing your pet into your new home, it is a good idea to make sure you pet-proof your home. Make sure there have been no poisonous pest-control traps that have been left anywhere in the home. Especially if the home was vacant before you move in. Remove any toxic houseplants that could be harmful or potentially fatal to your animals. Check that all windows have secure screens, You may want to ensure that you place screen protectors on any screens that extend to ground level if you have an animal that may jump up and ruin it. Tuck away electrical cords if you have animals that like to chew or may get tangled in them. Block off any small spaces or nooks that your pet could get trapped. Home Sweet Home Upon arrival at your new home, it may seem easiest to let your cat or dog loose to explore the house. However, remember this is a new space, and it may be scary or intimidating for them. To try and alleviate that stress, you should let them adjust to one room at a time. The first room you let them explore should have their food and water dish, bed, toys, and treats. This space will be their main comfort space, and as their comfort level grows, you can gradually introduce them to other rooms as you see fit. Moving can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be! Most importantly, be patient and provide reassurance by showing them lots of love and giving them extra attention through this time of change. With these tips your move with your pets can be as stress-free as your moving experience with Relocate Stress-Free Inc.!
5 Tips for Decluttering Your Home
Often we accumulate an excess of things without even realizing it because, at the time, it’s just a “must-have” cute sweater, or a birthday gift from a friend, or a new innovative tech gadget that we have to have. Unfortunately, that sweater enters a closet filled with old “must-have” clothes, and that old tech gadget too often gets tossed in a drawer to be dealt with later. Before you know it, your home is overrun with stuff you don’t need, and the thought of decluttering can feel completely overwhelming. Following these five tips for decluttering can help you know where to start and help you get your space to a place that gives you peace, not overwhelming anxiety. If You Don’t Use it, Get Rid of it! We all have things in our homes that we don’t use; it’s inevitable. Often those unneeded things linger around much longer than they should; It’s easy to forget about them or tell ourselves that we may use them “someday” and store them even longer. In the end, causing ourselves countless hours of wasted time organizing items we don’t need and taking up valuable space in our home to store them, this seems like a lose-lose to me. One of my favorite ways to start decluttering any space is with the “Four-Box method.” To complete this method, you will need four boxes, and you will need to label them: Trash, Give Away, Keep, or Re-locate. Picking one room at a time, you can place all the items from this room into one of the four boxes. Try not to leave any item out, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. You may be shocked how quickly you can cut down the amount of stuff in your home. Make Sure That Everything Has a Place If something doesn’t have a home, it’s time to either make it a home or get rid of it! This theory is arguably one of the best decluttering tools to refer back to as often as possible. Clutter is usually caused by a failure to return things to where they belong; If that thing doesn’t have a home and you can’t discard it, then it will always be out of place and cluttering up your space. Pantry Decluttering If you’re not sure where to start, the pantry is always a great choice. Pull all the contents of the pantry out so that you are starting fresh. Make sure to remove and throw out any expired items. Then set aside any unwanted items to donate to your local food bank or someone you know in need. Once you have cleared out all unwanted items and wiped down your shelves, it’s time to put the remaining items back into the pantry. By decluttering the things that have expired or that you won’t use, you can maximize the space that you do have. You will want to group similar items together by type, making them easier to find in the future and make sure you put your foods that will expire earliest at the front. You can also utilize many different storage options when it comes to your pantry. Wire shelving can help you use vertical space, or wall hooks can help maximize wall space. This task does not have to be done all at one time. You can always tackle it one shelf at a time if you work better in shorter intervals. Try the Box in, Box out or Tape Methods As already suggested above, the beginning process of all spaces should be similar, doing a sweep and donating, selling, or throwing out any items that you already know you don’t use. With the “box in, box out” method, once you have removed all unwanted items, place the utensils remaining in your kitchen into a box and decide on a time frame. When I used this method in my home, I decided on a one-month time frame; If I didn’t use it in a month, I didn’t need it. (This timeline may vary for you depending on how often you’re actively using your kitchen.) At the end of the month, I donated all the remaining utensils in the box, minus a couple of seasonal items that I knew I would need come turkey time, of course! I have also tried the tape method in other areas of my home, and I loved the result. With the tape method, you will place a small piece of masking tape on each item and only remove the tape when you use the item. At the end of the month (or whatever time frame you established for yourself), anything that still has tape attached can be donated or thrown out. Managing Your Overloaded Closet We should treat our closet like any other space; Your first step should always be to remove things you know you don’t want. Once you have removed these items, you can move on and try the hanger trick! A method similar to the box and tape methods, just this time, you’re using hangers to help narrow down the clothes you don’t wear. Turn all your clothes hanging in your closet around so that the hangers are facing back-to-front. For the next six months, when you wear an item of clothing, return it to the closet with the hanger facing the correct way. You should consider donating any clothing on hangers that are still hung back-to-front at the end of six months since if you haven’t worn them. Decluttering can take some time. We don’t generally accumulate all this excess stuff overnight. So we shouldn’t expect to get rid of it overnight either. If you have items that don’t have a place in your home but you’re not ready to get rid of yet, feel free to contact our friends at Crate It Storage to help you find a storage solution that works for you!
Packing to move? Here are our top 5 expert tips!
When beginning to pack for your move, it can be overwhelming to figure out where to start and how to pack certain items. Fortunately, we’ve had a ton of experience packing all kinds of things and both large and small volumes of items. Here are our top ten expert tips to put into play when you’re packing to move to a new home! Start Early When you start packing early, you save yourself a ton of stress. For an average 4 bedroom home, you could easily spend 4-5 days packing-which is a lot of time. That timeline also assumes you have all of your supplies on hand and experience no delays. With that in mind, the earlier you can start packing the better. Anything you won’t be using until your move can be packed away. Some great items to start with early on (even months in advance) can include seasonal items, home decor, guest bedroom furniture and items, and any collectibles or items of sentimental value. Since these are all items you won’t need before your move, it is simple to pack them away safely well in advance. Packing early also saves you from rushing through, running the risk that some items get broken. Don’t Leave the Kitchen for Last Many individuals leave the kitchen for last when they are packing. We highly advise against that. Kitchens are the room in your home that takes the longest to pack by far. Think about the number of breakable items, small appliances, or oddly shaped items in your kitchen. That’s why it takes so long! To avoid packing your kitchen up at 11 pm the night before your truck arrives, pack all the non-essential items up in the week leading up to your move. Save only a few cups and glasses or opt for paper plates and cups to save yourself even more time or opt for take out for a couple of days before your move. Taking the time to pack your delicate kitchen items properly will be well worth it-we promise! Label Your Boxes This is not optional, so don’t skip this one. When packing to move you need to know what is in each and every box, which room it belongs in, and if it is fragile. It’s incredibly helpful to your moving team to know this as well. It saves you from getting to your new home with a pile of boxes in your living room and no clue where anything is. When your moving company is aware of what is in each box and where it belongs it makes the unloading process straightforward. Invest in Good Boxes You may be tempted to take all of the cheap or free cardboard boxes you can get your hands on to save some cash when moving- afterall it is expensive. We highly recommend you don’t. Cheap, or overused boxes are going to be flimsy and lack the strength to keep your belongings safe during your move. Invest in boxes that are actually designed for residential moving. They are made to handle household items, and even give recommendations of the kind of items to use them for. Using proper packing supplies will keep your items safe, and give you the best opportunity for things to arrive at your new home in pristine condition. Resist Reminiscing As you’re packing you’re going to come across an old photo album, some baby items or even an old toy and be tempted to take a trip down memory lane. We know it can be exciting to come across these items you haven’t seen in a long time, but reminiscing can end up eating up hours of your packing time. Push yourself to push through the packing and allow for reminiscing on the other side of your transaction when unpacking. You’ll have more time to go through your memories and think about past situations when unpacking vs. packing. You definitely want to save yourself the time during packing so you’re not scrambling all night the night before your move to finish packing. Trust us-you’ll be glad you put that extra time to effective use. These tips will help you to pack efficiently and effectively. The experts at Relocate Stress Free are here to help you and support your move!
Tips on what to pack last
There’s nothing worse than unwrapping a neatly packed and sealed box after realizing that something in the box is still needed. A nice packing strategy is beginning with those items which won’t be needed before the day of moving. But which items should be packed last? Here’s a simple guide on that. What to start with Items that should start the packing process in preparation for the move include formal dining crockery, books, papers, shoes and off-season clothes. Items which are fragile should never be packed last. Breakables such as china cups and wine glasses are best surrounded by items that can act as padding. Items that can be sued as padding include pillows, towels or spare clothes. If all the clothes are packed already, the moving boxes with clothes may need to be unsealed to find pieces of cloth that can be used to surround the delicate glassware. What to end with Several empty moving boxes should be left to pack the clothes removed on moving day plus the towels. Wet towels should be wrapped in plastic bags. Other items to be packed last include are those needed during the journey before arriving to the new home. These include toiletries, phone chargers, tissue papers, snacks and drinks. They should be left outside till the last minute or in an open box and set aside. Additionally, items that will be needed right after arrival to the new home should be packed last. Everything needed after arrival will be easier to find when packed last. Some of these include clean clothes, towels, sheets and overnight necessities. They should be packed last and be put on top of the other boxes. Other items to pack last include: first aid kits medications tape measure work gloves scissors batteries flashlights extension cords eating utensils coffee makers sugar powdered milk snacks pet supplies light bulbs screwdriver hammer alarm clock They should kept in easy to access boxes, which can be left open or sealed lightly. Professional Calgary Moving Company and Relocate Stress Free can also offer assistance on what to pack last prior to moving day. As a result, this should make the journey to your new home easier and stress free.
Summer Moving Tips
For many Canadians, summer is the most opportune moment to move- the weather is favorable, kids out of school and home buying at its peak. Moving can however be stressful despite the favorable weather, but with helpful summer moving tips and movers, it’s possible to relocate stress free. Here are essential tips from Relocate Stress Free for renters and homebuyers planning to move this summer. The tips are arranged in time frames to make the process much easier. Start early preparation Preparation should start as early as 4 weeks to the moving date. This is the time to prepare and start informing your moving company and people about the moving date. Homeowners should find professional and licensed moving company, like Relocate Stress Free, that will conduct the process. Take inventory of belongings Once a mover has been found, moving checklists on all the belongings and their worth should be prepared. Selection of things being moved with to the new home should also be done. Cleaning drawers, closets and storage areas. Items should be divided into pack, recycle and give away piles. Some may also be donated to charity or sold. Items that may not be needed 30 days to moving date can be packed in moving boxes. Pictures of the new home should be taken so as to plan in advance on where to place furniture, artwork among other things. Begin packing Packing items into moving boxes should begin two weeks to moving date. Homeowner should also determine what items are in the allowable category of the moving company. The non-allowable items should be discarded or alternative transportation sought separately. If moving to a far place, travel arrangement for pets should also be found. Move out cleaning services such as carpet and heavy appliance cleaning should be done at this time. Sort out valuables Valuable items should be kept aside in safe place. The house or apartment should then be cleaned. Payment details with the company should be taken care of. Frozen foodstuffs should be consumed or given away. Necessities such as toiletries, cooking supplies should be put in moving boxes and marked appropriately. Moving day One last trip around the house should be made to ensure that nothing is left behind or overlooked. Relocate Stress Free is a reputable Calgary moving company that can then take care of the transportation process to deliver items safely to the new home.