Let’s be honest, the entire moving process can be a bit stressful. In fact, did you know moving ages us? We asked one of our Camden experts for his number one things to consider for a stress-free moving day. From learning what steps to take, what materials to use, deciding the best way to pack your belongings, to your actual moving day. We have compiled these easy tips to help your moving day feel like a breeze.

Pre-plan your move

Dedicate time prior to your move and get rid of items you don’t need or use.  Think of your new apartment and the space available. The more you prep in advance, the easier your moving day will be.

• Move only what you need to move.  Donate, sell, and get rid of unneeded items. If you are moving from one Camden apartment to another, MyCamden.com, your resident social site, is a great way to sell or give away unwanted pieces.

• Be aware of your furniture dimensions and your new living space layout. Make sure everything will fit. The last thing you want is to find out your couch won't fit through the door or on the wall once you arrive at your new apartment.

Photo courtesy of Pre-plan your move by measuring your furniture to ensure it will fit in your new space.

Packing

Collect all your packing supplies below and get started. 

• Boxes: Stay clear of random or unique shaped boxes. They are hard to stack and maneuver and not worth the hassle.

• **Filler: Always stuff paper into any voids within the box (newspaper, tissue paper, blank news print from a storage facility can all be used as filler). Use the linen closet to your advantage. Towels and blankets also make good box filler.**

• Tape: Never use duct tape! It damages and does not work well with boxes. Use packing tape for security.  Heavier boxes may need a few extra strips of packing tape.

• Label Boxes: Always label boxes on tops and sides with its contents and final room destination with permanent marker. Identify light or fragile boxes to be loaded towards the top. Labeling allows for easy identification without having to move boxes around.

• Closet: Keep clothing on hangers. Simply transfer clothing to the back of your vehicle then to your new closet. Use medium sized boxes for shoes.

• Kitchen: When packing breakable plates and cups, always pack them vertically while using stuffing paper to fill all voids. Vertically minimizes chances of breaking.

• Pantry: Items such as cooking oils, canned foods, and sprays, pack those vertically as well to avoid spilling.

• Refrigerated Items: Place refrigerated items in coolers. Should be the last thing to be packed and the first thing to be unpacked.

• Essential Items: Pack essential items last, such as medication, keys, important paperwork, and valuables. Pack these items last since you may need those readily available.

• Non-Essentials: Pack non-essential items first, such as books, knick knacks, and small picture frames etc. 

• Heavy Items: To avoid collapsed boxes during your move, heavy items such as books should be packed in small boxes.

Packing Large Furniture

After you've got your little items packed way, it's time to prepare your large furniture! Follow these tips to secure your furniture for the move.

• Mattresses: You can find mattress bags at your local hardware or storage facility.  Easy to bag and inexpensive and you won't regret keeping your mattress clean and protected during your move.

• Dressers: If it has fixed mirrors, detach them from the dresser. You have two options when packing your dresser:

  • Leave your items inside the dresser and make sure to wrap any fragile items within.  Then wrap the entire dresser with plastic wrap to avoid drawers from falling out during the move.

  • If the dresser is too heavy, remove the drawers from the dresser for easier handling. Pack the items inside the drawers separately or wrap each drawer completely in plastic wrap

• Tables: Glass and stone table tops are very fragile. Always remove these tops from their base - I've had the wooden base of a stone table break before because the table top was too heavy. It's not fun.  Wooden table tops can be used as is for light stacking.

• Couches: Plastic wrap your couches to avoid any scratches or stains during the move. Again, you'll be thankful when your couch arrives at your new apartment without any damage.

Moving Day

The day has arrived! You're all packed up, your furniture is wrapped up and deconstructed, you've been eating take-out off paper plates for a while...You are now ready to move! Here's what to do on the day of your move to have a stress-free moving day:

• Deliver any fragile or valuable items you are worried about getting lost or broken in the moving truck in your personal vehicle to your new apartment. If you chose to hire a professional moving company, personally pack and move any items you do not feel comfortable them moving or handling.

• When loading the moving truck, load boxes first and furniture last. This allows furniture to be unloaded and placed first within your new home and then all other boxed items follow.

• Load large rugs last or at the end of the truck. Large rugs typically are placed underneath furniture.  

• FINALLY and most importantly, if you do hire professional movers, be familiar with any damage your furniture may have acquired to avoid potential conflict. Do a quick visual inspection before movers leave to make sure there are no damages.

Whether this is your first time moving or last, it’s never a fun process. But planning ahead and staying organized will make it so much easier.  

If you're moving into a new apartment, that means you're also moving out of another one. We have tips you may not have thought of for moving out as well. Apply these moving tips and others from Simply Camden.

Yadira Ibarra, guest blogger, is the Marketing Production Coordinator at Camden.