When quarantine hits, and people are forced to stay at home more than normal, it seems like everyone and their neighbor puts a For Sale sign in their yard. Including us! We’ve got one week until the big move and I’ve loved reassessing our belongings as I pack and dreaming of all the ways we will make our new house a home.

I’ve been fortunate enough to help several families prepare for a move (in some cases, cross country; in others, down the block) and wanted to share my tips for a streamlined experience from start to finish.

PREPPING TO LIST:

1. Plan Early - If you are interested in a move next Spring, schedule time with your realtor now. They have fantastic connections (stagers, designers, organizers, cleaners), to help prep your home for sale. If you know when you are closing on your new home, schedule time with a professional organizer to help unpack and get your space organized as quickly as possible. These are some of my favorite jobs!

2. Declutter as you Pack - Don’t pack a single item that you don’t love, need or use. Keep this as your guide when packing items away for your new home. This goes hand in hand with “planning early,” so that you don’t get to that place where you are just shoving all sorts of random stuff in boxes and saying “I’ll deal with that at the new house.” As I packed up our current house, I dedicated the dining room table to all of the things I wasn’t interested in taking and did a big donation run just prior to moving.

3. Label Every Box with a Destination - Label each box for where it will be unpacked in your new home, and write a little key of the contents on the box too (for your benefit, not the movers). Of course, there will be some items that won’t have a home until you move, but many items can be organized prior to the move. Use these labels, and let the movers get boxes to the appropriate floor and room in your new home (they are also great for labeling paint cans and light bulbs for your buyer). And don’t forget an “OPEN FIRST” box filled with the essentials you’ll need on Day 1.

4. Declutter Some More - Be ruthless as you pack up your belongings. Consult my donation guide and donate items BEFORE your get to your new home. And I always recommend using big black yard waste bags to house your donations - once an item is in there, don’t peek or think about it ever again.

5. Tackle One Box at a Time - As you pack up your house, if you’ve got a standard 45-day close, just tackle one box a day. If you’ve got kids, ask them to help with packing up their bedrooms and playroom. And if you want free boxes, Facebook Marketplace and local neighborhood groups, like Next Door, are a great way to acquire them.

STAGED TO SELL:

1. Tour Your Home as a Prospective Buyer - Go outside and walk in the front door and really look at your space with a fresh perspective. Is your space inviting? Does it look too cluttered? Have you touched up paint and deep-cleaned?

2. Look Behind Closed Doors - While garages, basement storage areas, cabinets and closets are rarely showcased in listing photos, they will be scrutinized by potential buyers as they tour your home. Having a professional organizer come over and help stage these spaces can make them shine as spaces with great storage potential.

3. Consider a Temporary Storage Solution - Consider renting a storage unit or POD to tuck boxes away from the time you list until the time you move, so that potential buyers can see all of the potential in your home. The more depersonalized, yet cozy, you can make your space, the easier it will be for families to envision their life in their future home.

SETTLING IN TO YOUR NEW HOME:

1. Label Drawers and Cabinets - Whenever I help a client unpack, I always bring a big stack of post-it notes. I will label the outsides of cabinets and drawers so that everyone in the family can get a feel for where items are now housed. As soon as the system feels like it works, those post-it notes can be tossed! Post-it notes can also be hugely beneficial if you have family or friends helping to unpack - you can label the drawers and cabinets for where you intend for items to go.

2. Have a Drop Zone - Even though you decluttered all of the excess prior to the move, there will inevitably be items that just don’t work in your new space. Set up a card table in your garage for these items, making it easy for Habitat ReStore or Salvation Army to drop by for a pick up.

3. Live for a Bit - Finally, I encourage you to live in your space and make any necessary tweaks prior to running over to the Container Store and purchasing all. of. the. product. This is such an exciting part of the unpacking/organizing process, but we often times make mistakes if we haven’t lived in the space for awhile.

And finally a tip for when you move into your dream home. If you don’t unpack a box for six months, donate the contents. The same could be said for items you put in temporary storage. If you don’t find yourself needing those items, chances are you don’t!

The Baer Minimalist helps busy families create ORGANIZED + STYLIZED spaces throughout Indianapolis. She was #quarantinedobsessed with checking the MIBOR listings for her dream home to pop on the market and it finally paid off.

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