Make Moving Less Stressful with 4 Key Steps

January 14, 2019 Published by 2 Comments
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Moving preparationThe start of a new year is a great opportunity to make positive changes in your life, including a move to a new living space. However, particularly for seniors and retirees, sorting, packing, and moving a household’s worth of belongings can seem overwhelming.

If you’ve decided that transitioning to a new living space (as opposed to aging in place) is the right decision for you in 2019, here are some steps you can take to prepare for your move and make the process less of a headache.

1. Give yourself more time than you think you’ll need. Especially if you are moving from a place where you have lived for decades and need to pare down your possessions to fit in a smaller space, you might need more time than you realize to properly prepare for the transition. Deciding what to keep, sell, store, and give away can be an emotional and challenging process.

2. Keep the blueprint of your new living space in mind when planning for your move. When deciding whether to keep or get rid of furniture and other items, looking at a floor plan of your new place can help significantly. according to Moving.com.

Measure all the furniture and decide where things will fit and the essential items you’ll need in each room. This will also allow you to see what might not work well in the new space and, as a result, what you might want to get rid of or donate.

3. Sort your possessions into three groups: Keep, donate/give away, and trash. Especially if you’re sorting through a lifetime of accumulated items while looking to move to a smaller place, you could probably stand to get rid of or give away a lot of items.

In addition to day-to-day essentials, you should keep things with sentimental or otherwise high value (e.g., important documents) that you’d like to keep close by, YourStorageFinder.com recommends.

In terms of what you shouldn’t keep, considering throwing away or donating (for items that are gently used/still in good shape) anything that meets the following criteria:

  • You haven’t used or touched it in more than a year and don’t plan to in the future either.
  • You never took it out of its original packaging in the first place.
  • It’s out-of-date, broken or you no longer need it.
  • It won’t fit in or otherwise isn’t compatible with your new living space.

For more info on this step, check out our previous blog entry on essential decluttering tips.

4. Consider bringing in a professional move management team. Skilled senior move managers can make the transition less stressful. The DWELLING Spaces + Places team can help you craft a plan to meet your specific needs and can guide you through all the stages of your move, from sorting to settling in.

We leverage our interior design expertise and organizational skills to help seniors and retirees in the Chicago area and the North Shore, including Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Highland Park, Kenilworth, and more.

To learn more about our senior move management services, call (847) 769-2412 or email drina@dwelling-sp.com.

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