By: Sonya Weisshappel, President
Seriatim, Inc.—Professional Organizers and Move Managers
(212) 877-3267
www.seriatim.net

You’re moving into a brand new home and the excitement level is high. New beginnings in fresh spaces  is what brought me to the profession of professional organization, having spent my childhood moving with high frequency. I learned naturally how to stay organized and harmonize my space through this constant flow of transition in my early life. Years later, running my own professional organizing and move management company, I cannot understate the importance of packing your precious life possessions in sturdy, well-made boxes. Getting your life moved in one piece cannot happen without this important tool.

I’ve seen people in the last-minute fluster of a move pour all of their possessions into various boxes, only to find that they are moving a bunch of unwanted clutter from their old home into their fresh new space. In order to avoid this chaos, here’s a few helpful tips on how to prepare before the MovingBox Guy arrives at the door with your wonderful new boxes. These tips will help you assess what you have, make decisions about what you need and move forward into a newly harmonized home.

Here are 4 steps which make up the natural flow of finding order so that you may harmonize prepare to pack what you want and leave behind the clutter. Gather—Gathering is like taking an inventory. You gather all of something so you can see just how much you’re dealing with. For example, you may have plates in the kitchen cabinets, diningroom hutch, and your storage facility in your building. Bring all of those plates into one workspace.  Sort—Sorting is separating. You sort to break down the job and find out exactly what you have. Sort paper either chronologically or alphabetically and sort clutter by color, individual or type of object. For example, if you have a ton of vases, you may sort by color, size or value, depending on your priorities. Purge—Purging frees people of chaos. Many people are reluctant to purge, but feel a weight lifted when they do. Put all of your donations items into one pile and throw the rest in a trash bag to be tossed.  These simple steps will ensure an organized packing process and, ultimately, a clutter-free unpack that will leave your new home feeling harmonized.

Once your boxes are packed, you want to make sure you know where everything is. Label all boxes on the sides, not the top, so if they are stacked, you can clearly see what room a box came from or is going to. Also, if a box has fragile items packed in it, make sure it is a labeled as such. As the boxes are being packed write which room the box was packed in on the label to ensure easy unpacking at your destination. You may further specify labeling by putting storage unit in which items have come and to which they will return (ie Dining Room: Hutch: Left shelf: Right).

With sturdy materials from the MovingBox Guy and an efficient, stress-free packing process, you’re on your way to having a newly harmonized home before you even walk through the door of your new