How to Stay Organized During a Move

This year, my fiancé and I moved out of our one-bedroom apartment into our three-bedroom house. Despite doing as much research as possible beforehand to ensure the process went smoothly, we still hit a few snags. Here's my advice for getting through a move the most organized way possible while keeping your sanity.

Moving soon? Be sure to follow these 9 easy steps to stay organized and keep your sanity!

Consider making a moving binder. I decided to make a moving binder and it was SUPER helpful! I had all my labels, packing lists, receipts, etc. all in one place. This meant that if I ever needed anything, I just had to find the binder. For me, this was so important because things got chaotic and it was much easier to find an entire binder than just one piece of paper.

Get a storage unit near your new home. Since our apartment was super crowded, we knew we wouldn't have enough room to pack and pile boxes. We decided to get a storage unit near our new house. Even though we had to drive an hour away to store the items, we were unable to fit anything more in the moving truck at our apartment and had to make a separate trip to the storage unit after unloading it.

Label everything well. Notice I didn't just say to label everything. It's important to be thorough! I tried so hard to do this on my recent move, and I thought I did a great job. That is, until my movers (aka my MIL and her friend) asked for coffee, and I had no idea where the sugar was. I had to open every single kitchen box until I found it for them. Do yourself a favor, and be as detailed as possible.

Be specific. This goes along with my last point. Don't write kitchen, write "plates and bowls". Don't write cups, write "drinking glasses" or "mugs". It will be extremely helpful once you're in the new home and just really want a glass of wine out of a proper glass, or need to find a scarf on a chilly day!

Face all the labels outwards. This is pretty obvious, but if you're enlisting relatives to help, make sure they are aware of this and adhere to it. Nothing like trying to rotate a 3-box-high pile to see what's in the bottom one.

Start early. To ensure you don't go into panic mode, start packing as early as you can. Begin with things you know you won't be needing. For us, this meant books, artwork, and rarely used appliances. This is also a great time to go through stuff and toss out trash, so be sure to leave enough time to de-clutter instead of just tossing everything in a box and moving junk you don't need.

But don't start too early. I was so ready for this whole moving thing and we timed everything perfectly. Unfortunately, we had a delay with our mortgage bank and were unable to close on the original date. This would have been ok except that someone (cough, fiancé, cough) decided to pack all our pots and pans, most of our dry goods and our DVD player! Be sure to leave certain items out until you're 100% sure of your moving date.

Make a first day box. We made a first day box, and packed an overnight bag with important items, toiletries, and clothes. This was really helpful that first night when we were exhausted from the move. You'll be so glad you had everything you needed easily accessible, and this makes the first night feel kinda like a hotel stay!

Know when to wing it. On moving day, there's always those last few items that haven't been packed. Additionally, you'll feel as though everyone needs something from you and you're being pulled in all directions. At this point, it's ok to give up on being totally organized and just toss everything left over into one big box until you get to the new house. Try to label its contents, but sometimes just writing "last minute items" will have to do!

Be sure to follow my organization Pinterest board for tons of ways to keep your new home clean and organized!