Don’t freak out!  Keep it together and you’ll be OK!

All joking aside, there’s little more frustrating than getting to your new home and having to root from box to box to get things unpacked and set up.  Thankfully there’s an easy way to avoid this conundrum: keep stuff that goes together, together.

Imagine you move from Chalmette to the CBD.  You take this short ride and end up in the Central Business District – oh just look at your lovely new in-town apartment.  Time to unpack.  Oh wait – why is the bookshelf full of kitchen supplies?  Why is the shower curtain wrapped around a mattress?  Poor planning, that’s why!

Keep books near the bookshelf.  Wrap the soap, shower brush, etc., in the shower curtain.  Put the kitchen supplies all together.  Roll up clothes and put them in the wardrobe drawers.  Put your cleaning supplies together and pack them last, especially if you have to clean your old place before you move.

Taking this simple precaution against disorganization can reap untold hours in relaxation that would otherwise be spent wondering if you left all your sponges back in Chalmette.  It’ll also save you from having those boxes cluttering up your new home any longer than necessary – you empty one out, set up all the stuff in it and get rid of it.  No need to keep it full of books when you’ve just unpacked your bookcase!

There you go, now you’re ready to pack up and move within New Orleans or all the way to Thibodeaux!  Happy trails!

You want to know whats in your boxes when you get to your destination?  Color coordinate for a move as short as the French Quarter to the Marigny or as far as Slidell to Lafayette.  No, folks, we don’t mean packing all your red t-shirts together or putting your black ties with your black socks – though that can be a good idea, too.

No, when moving in Louisiana or anywhere else, professional movers tell you to label your boxes.  But real professional movers tell you to label your boxes by color.

Assign a different color to every room in your home.  Got more rooms than different colored stickers, markers or crayons?  No sweat – just decide that one room is checkerboard or another is paisley.  This is pretty fun for the kids, or the kid in us all.

The advantages to color coding boxes are clear almost immediately:

• At-a-glance room identification.
• No need to read: Especially useful if you hire non-english speakers to help you unload the truck.
• No need to write: swipe the marker and keep packing.
• Makes sorting boxes quick and simple.
• You can mark the items to go into each specific box as well, that way if there’s a spill or mix up fixing it is quick and easy!

And you thought color coordinating was just for interior design getting dressed!

Moving from Mandeville to Covington?  New Orleans to Slidell?  If you’re moving in Orleans Parish – or any of the river parishes, really – this moving tip is for you:

Check your boxes!

Too many people set a date for their move and decide they’ll wait to pack.  This is a mistake in itself.  No one wants to do all their packing at once, and no one realizes how much stuff they have until they try to pack it all up.  But moving from anywhere near New Orleans presents another challenge: Unusable boxes.

Check your moving supplies now.  You may find the boxes you used to move into your current home have been exposed to so much moisture that they’re better suited to papier mache art projects than to carrying your valuables.  You don’t want to wait to make this discovery until you’re carrying your dishes or Faberge eggs.

Even if your boxes are fine, take inventory.  Do you have bubble wrap?  Packing tape?  Insulating paper to keep your breakables from rattling around?  Go room to room in your home and make a plan for how to pack.  Think about the differing weights of your possessions – books weigh quite a bit and need small, sturdy boxes.  Dishes weigh less but need more care to keep them from chipping or cracking, especially on our bumpy Louisiana roads!

Naturally any reputable mover should help you pack, but some people prefer to handle their possessions personally.  Whatever mover you end up choosing should respect that, but any professional mover will have supplies for sale.  We at Nichols Moving have a six different bundles of packing supplies to help you get your move in order.

Don’t wait until the last second to get your moving supplies and start packing – do it a room at a time, and make sure to keep your boxes in as little humidity as possible.  That can be a challenge anywhere between Harahan and Baton Rouge, but you’ll know it’s worth it when you don’t have to pick your cherished heirlooms off the lawn.