Moving is one of the most onerous and dreaded tasks that any family has to face. It can be physically and mentally exhausting, especially when complications crop up. However, it must be done! And so, here are some tips to hopefully make your next move go more smoothly:

1. Keep each box below 30 pounds. Moving can be back-breaking work, but it really shouldn’t be. The continuous motion of lifting and setting down is hard enough. You don’t want any one box to be more than you can handle. So, do your best to keep boxes a manageable weight. This will protect against drops and damage–and, of course, injury! This tip is especially important when you’re working with something that gets really heavy really fast, like books or dishes. Consider packing these items in smaller boxes, or mixing them with other things, like putting books at the bottom of a box, and then filling the rest of the space with well-padded knick knacks.
2. Get equally-sized boxes. This makes moving the boxes around, and stacking them, much easier. Obviously, there will need to be exceptions, but if you have a fairly standard size of boxes, then you can easily move them around and find the things that you need, instead of moving your way through a complicated tetris-stack of interlocking size boxes.
3. Remember when stacking to put the heaviest items at the bottom.
   Protect mattresses, chairs, and couches with plastic covers. This is especially important if you need to store one or all of these items for a more extended time. Plastic covers prevent damage from dust, water, and mold. You might consider adding some extra protection to other items, too, like leg covers for your tables and chairs, or blankets to prevent nicks and scratches on your favorite wooden furniture.
4. Label well. One of the most common complications of moving is not being able to find certain items, or having to continually move boxes from one room to another, even after you’re done moving everything into the house. If you label boxes according to which room they’re going to go in, you can make unpacking a lot smoother. For example, label one box “Living room #1 (of 8) – books” and another “Living room #2 (of 8) – shelf decorations.” The more specific and organized you are, the more trouble you can save yourself later.
5. Get a storage unit. Many people find themselves needing to move out of one location before they’re able to move into the next one. This is a huge bother, but it can be easier when you get a storage unit. This way, your possessions are safe and secure, and packed away, until you can really move into your new home. Our storage units, conveniently located just off the freeway in Midvale, are equipped with wide aisles, which makes unpacking and packing things directly from the moving truck easy.
6. Take the opportunity to minimize. Moving it the perfect time to take stock of all your possessions, and consider whether or not you really need them as you start the next phase of your life. If there’s something that you never really care about unpacking, get rid of it!