You did it–you bought a house, packed your belongings and successfully transported everything into your new home. You’re a homeowner! After a move, though, what do you do with all those boxes? How do you go about unpacking your stuff?
Unpacking can seem overwhelming, and it takes time. Many professional moving companies offer unpacking services where the crew does the work for you, but if you’d like to tackle the job yourself, the experts at Atlas Van Lines offer the following guide:
Keep your inventory list handy. If you took down inventory as you packed your belongings, now is the time to consult that list and check off items as you unpack them. This is the best way to ensure that nothing was left behind.
Make your bed first. After a long, hard day of moving and unpacking, the last thing you’re going to want to do is put your sheets on your bed before diving into it. Make sure your bed is put together and ready for a good night’s sleep before you do anything else.
Prepare surfaces. If you want to line shelves and drawers, this is the best time to do it. Take an extra few minutes per surface to cut some shelf liner or contact paper to size.
Unpack the essentials. Put away the items you use daily, such as towels and toiletries, dishes and flatware, kitchen tools and appliances, and your children’s favorite toys.
Assemble and arrange furniture. As long as you planned where your furniture should go ahead of time, this part should be easy. If not, you may want to map it out on paper first.
Make it yours. Decorative items should be unpacked last so you’ll have a better idea of how they fit into the scheme of your home.
Get organized. Now that the major aspects of your home are in place, you can get into the nitty-gritty of organizing your things in a way that makes them easy to access and keep tidy.
Once you’ve completed unpacking, sit back, relax and enjoy your new home.
