As I moved all of my things from my university into my first apartment, I realized something really quickly. I have a TON of stuff. Too much! Moving always makes me want to be a minimalist, perhaps out of sheer laziness and an aversion to making fifty trips to and from my car. Miraculously, our apartment seemed to expand and absorb all of my stuff, but not until after a deep spring cleaning.
I learned a LOT through this process, and have summarized the key advice I have below.
Here are things I think you should do while moving:
1. Organize your clothes.
Something that I do (that my boyfriend does not!) is sort my winter/summer wardrobes. I then pack up last season’s clothes (now that means jeans, sweaters, boots) and put the bins into storage. Doing this allows for much more room for clothes that I’ll actually be wearing all summer and reduces clutter. Moving gave me a great opportunity to donate clothes and shoes I don’t wear anymore.
2. Reduce!
Let’s be honest here. You are probably carrying around junk you don’t need anymore. I’m as guilty as anyone (My personal vice? Saving birthday/Christmas/Easter/Earth Day cards from basically my whole life). This move taught me that I don’t need that much stuff and I took this chance to eliminate things I don’t really need, including stacks of cards. It was cathartic and reduced the amount of things I had to pack and unpack!
3. Spring clean before you settle in.
No matter the season, your apartment can probably use a good clean before you settle in. I never can forget that someone else lived here before I did!! My boyfriend and I got to serious work cleaning carpets (we rented a machine), scrubbing the shower and sanitizing the kitchen. AND, this only took a couple hours on a Saturday. Definitely worth it.
4. Figure out how to do laundry.
I found these laundry tips are really useful. My advice: Make sure you learn the communal laundry room code so you don’t get stuck outside with two overflowing baskets of laundry. That’s not the greatest experience.
5. Create personal touches.
I’m not the craftiest person (and neither is my boyfriend) but we decided that the bare walls were in need of some decoration. Fortunately (?) Matt has a ton of sports memorabilia and some big frames to hang up; while this makes our apartment look a bit like a bachelor pad, I’m a fan of his favorite team too. Plus they add some color! We also spent a Sunday afternoon creating a cool way to display our vacation pictures. I’ll show you how later.
After getting all of this done, Matt and I are happily settled in. Stay tuned for more of our adventures this summer!
