Apartment Moving Tips | How To Move Into An Apartment

When it comes to moving, the more tricks you have up your sleeve, the more efficient your move will be. And we all know that when it comes to moving, efficiency is key to sanity and success!

12 Best Apartment Moving Tips: How To Move Into A New Apartment

Before you move into your new apartment, take some time to review these fun and simple moving tricks and tips.

1. Make Arrangements Early

Procrastination is your worst enemy. Hands down.

Begin making moving arrangements months before your scheduled move. Contact a moving company, schedule a sitter for your pets and/or children, find new schools for your kids, and don’t forget to ask your local doctors for copies of your medical records. The more you get done early, the less cramming and craziness will fill the final days before your move. Read more here for a checklist if this is your first time moving out.

2. Know the Size of Your New Space 

When you’re discussing the move with the moving company, it’s important to give them an idea of the size of space they will be moving you out of and into. Let’s say that you’re moving out of a very tiny space, maybe a studio apartment that’s a few stories up some stairs with no elevator. Even if you have a lot of belongings inside your place, having too many people on the moving crew is going to cause more pain than gain. Too many people in and out of a small space and trying to work around each other on the stairs is going to cause a lot of misused time spent dancing around each other.

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3. When In Doubt Choose Three

If you’ve got more space in the apartment, you may not be sure how many movers to hire. It may feel counterintuitive because many of us are looking for the best savings, but often if you are unsure whether it’s a job for two or three, then it’s a job for three. Usually, the only way to save money by hiring two movers is if they can get the job done in four or fewer hours.

Adding the third mover increases their efficiency by double, rather than just 33%. That means a two-man crew takes around eight hours to accomplish what a three-man crew can get done in half the time.

With a three-person crew, two of the people can do the heavy lifting while the third is able to efficiently stack and arrange the moving truck to maximize space. This type of ‘relay’ is more difficult to achieve with only two movers, causing the job to take longer (and therefore cost more money).

4. Pack in Advance

Another anti-procrastination tip — start packing months ahead of time. I know when your moving day is still months away, it seems like you’ve got loads of time. And what if you pack something that you end up needing?

You would be surprised at the number of items you can pack ahead of time and not need (not even once!) before you move. Little-used items, decorations, and seasonal items can get be carefully sorted and stashed in labeled bins.

5. Free Boxes

Unless you’re planning to store items for some time, don’t bother investing in high-quality plastic or thick cardboard moving boxes. You can find good quality boxes for free. How?

Clothing stores, grocery stores, shoe stores, vitamin shops, and home decor shops are great places to inquire about free boxes. Most of these shops are more than happy to give the boxes away instead of breaking them down to shove in a recycling bin. If you can’t find any this way, Craigslist is also a great place where you can look for good boxes at no cost.

6. Purge

The sooner you start packing, the more opportunity you will to sort your belongings and clean out any unwanted belongings. The fewer items you have to take with you, the easier unloading and unpacking will be. Making these keep-or-toss decisions slowly will help you make the break. Whenever people feel rushed, they tend to keep more things that they really need.

Don’t pack any items, clothing, or furniture that you don’t use or want anymore. If you find that you’ve ‘toss’ pile is getting large, consider throwing a garage sale or selling things on OfferUp or local Facebook groups in your area. Because you didn’t procrastinate, you’ve got plenty of time to gather a little extra cash by selling those unwanted items.

7. Donate Unused Furniture or Clothes

If you don’t have the energy or time to throw a garage sale or sells belongings online, you can always donate them to a local charity or thrift store. This is also the destination of any belongings remaining if you did have a sale. Don’t ever keep what you didn’t sell. If you made the decision to toss it once, you don’t need to go back and reconsider.

8. Leaves Clothes on Hangers

Packing clothes in boxes can take up a lot of space and waste precious time. Instead, leave your clothes on their hangers and zip tie clusters of the hangers together. Wrap the individual clusters in plastic wrap or find a plastic cover to put over the clusters. Once you arrive at your new apartment, all you have to do is strip the plastic wrap and clip the zip ties, and you have your closet back! Learn more here about how to pack clothes for moving.

9. Pack Plates Vertically

Although it may seem counterintuitive, our movers have found that packing plates vertically helps reduce the chance of damage during the move. Cover and surround the plates with plenty of plastic and bubble wrap to keep them well cushioned during the move. Also be sure to mark the contents as fragile so the movers know to handle the boxes with care. Read more here about how to pack dishes.

10. Use Sheets, Towels, and Rags

Consider using your sheets, towels, and rags as useful packing supplies! Use these to pack your delicate or fragile items. This helps you save a little money on bubble wrap and other packing materials, and is a lot friendly for the environment.

11. Set Up Color System

If you’re moving into a fairly large apartment, it is important that your movers know where to put various boxes and furniture. Families have found that by setting up a color system for their move, they can make the unloading process much faster and more organized. Simply assign a color to each room in the apartment, and then label each box accordingly. Movers can quickly put belongings in their designated areas without the fuss of wondering what goes where.

12. Pack TV

To make sure that your TV arrives at your new apartment unscathed, it is important that it be properly packaged. Start by wrapping the screen in a towel or a soft material that won’t scratch it. If you do not have the TV’s original packing materials, construct a custom box to transport the TV. Always keep the TV upright. Read more here about how to pack a TV for moving.

In Need of Apartment Moving Services?

If you’re preparing to move and looking for a professional Seattle apartment mover, we would love to help you make your move a fast, smooth, and efficient one. At On The Go, we not only provide residential moving services, but we also offer packing and storage services as well. Our teams of experienced movers are trained to provide careful and reliable services so that your move is fast and stress-free. Contact us today!