Making Moves: Prepare Before There

To prepare for September, NYC’s unofficial moving month, New York At Home is rolling out a three-part Making Moves series. In June we took stock and assessed our current spaces. Now let’s focus on move-in preparation.

Get Professional
Friends and family members are great, but when it comes to moving it’s best to hire professionals. First figure out your moving budget to know if you’ll be hiring man-with-a-van , Flat Rate or Steinway services. Regardless of if you have an Ikea or Restoration Hardware budget, be sure to book movers in advance so you can be the first client of the day so the job starts on time. There are differences between these services that are worthwhile or even required by some buildings. Let your property manager know what day you plan to move since many buildings allow only one per day.

Personalize It
Pre-move in time is ideal for putting a personal stamp on your new apartment. Painting the walls in chosen colors, adding a quality window treatment, or even applying this handy privacy decal with just water can turn a strange new apartment into a comforting home. Wallpaper like the one above always delivers, and the application is a smoother process (pun intended) in an empty space. A great reward after a big move is when you feel at home in a new space. And don’t worry if you’re exhausted from prep and hit a wall, New York At Home is happy to help you get it done.

Get On The Floor
Don’t get intimated by fancy floor plans, you can do this yourself and in your own visual language. Start by making a rectangle for each room of your new place, then label the sides (window, door) to anchor your location. Now it’s time to start sketching in your furniture. As you draw different layouts, write down questions that come up like, “will that armoire block the window?” and “wait, how wide is that hallway? Will we able to walk through with that credenza there?” Then take your completed sketch (and some painters tape) to your empty apt and mark up where things will potentially go. Getting major pieces in the right spot from day one will not only save you a lot of time and energy, but also ensure the right furniture is going in the moving trucks.

Departures and Arrivals
Larger items like a floor rug, sectional couch or shelving units should fly first class into your new apartment. First class always boards first. If you’ve purchased new furniture, schedule it to arrive early (even just a day before) so you can get them assembled, placed, and ready to support the rest of your belongings. Many buildings need insurance documents on file before a delivery can be made so check in with your new property manager.

Check The Forecast
Preparation time gives you the opportunity to mentally walk through the moving journey and assess what might trip you up on the way. Like say you have a great armoire that traveled to your old place via elevator, but your new place has a narrow staircase. Or, maybe you need to make peace with the fact that build-in-place Ikea pieces like Billy & Pax are furniture orchids and will most likely not survive a move. Forecasting for furniture replacements, and communicating your diagnosis to your mover will make the actual journey problem free.

Remember that sketch of a floor plan? These are the real life results.
Prepare To Get There
A little planning and pre-move preparation is not only necessary to make your new apartment feel like home from day one, but it will save you tons of time and energy on day two (and three, and four…). And if you need help with your prepare to get you there, New York At Home is here.
