So you’ve just closed on your new house and are moving in soon – congratulations! But you might be asking yourself, now what?
The home buying process can be tedious and draining, taking up all your time and energy for months at a time. Once the paperwork is complete and you finished packing up your current home, you might realize that you forgot to plan your next steps. You’ve acquired the house, what happens after that?
To help make moving a little easier, we’ve got a 10 step plan to get you settled nicely into your new home!
1. Stay Organized When Packing
Going into the packing process with a plan will help to save you a lot of time in the long run! Before you even buy boxes for your belongings, make sure you know what type of items will be going where. When packing your home, it is always best to go room by room and make sure each box is labeled accordingly. Doing this will help your old home feel less cluttered as time goes on and will allow you to more efficiently move items into your new home. And when moving these boxes into your new home, it is important to place the boxes in their respective rooms right off the bat. In the moment, it may seem better to get all the boxes in the house before sorting everything out, but this only adds and extra step. Rather than piling all boxes in the foyer and then moving then to the room they will end up, safe yourself a trip by bringing it straight upstairs.
2. Have a List of Priorities for Unpacking
Getting your entire house unpacked and decorated in one day is unrealistic even for the most quick and efficient of movers. Because it can’t all be done in a day, it is important to create a list of rooms that take priority. If you are moving with children, making sure that their rooms are unpacked first will help them feel settled and provide a sense of continuity in their lives. With that being said it is qually as important to make sure your own bedroom falls on the top priority list – this will allow you time to relax and recharge during this draining process. Another high priority room: the kitchen. Getting the kitchen sorted out early in the process with reduce the need for takeout meals and give you a place to congregrate as a family!
3. Change the Locks, Garage Remotes, or Door Codes
Although you are given all known existing keys, remotes, and codes at the time of closing, it is possible that some items may have gotten forgotten or lost. To be safe and take extra precautions, it would be best to have all external entry points resecured upon move in. Whether this means hiring a locksmith or DIY-ing the switch, changing locks and reprogramming remotes would not only give you peace of mind, but it would also help to ensure the safety of your family.
4. Get Children and Pets Settled
Moving can be tough, especially with young children or pets. While it is an exciting new change, it could be incredibly tough on your children and pets if they are not properly prepared or ready for the move. Making sure that the children have a positive experience will help get rid of any feelings of unsettlement on their part. As mentioned before, setting up their spaces first makes them feel involved in the process and properly settled in their new homes. This same mentality goes for pets, who may feel anxious about the move. For a sense of familiarity, it is important to not wash their bedding or toys until after they have been settled – the familiar scent can help them feel safe and secure in an otherwise unfamiliar environment.
5. Start Your Daily Routines As Soon As Possible
Moving takes a lot of energy – this is no secret. But you shouldn’t allow your move to take over your life, bogging you down. The quicker you get the heavy lifting of the move done and start to get back into the normal rhythm of your life, the easier it will be to get settled and the happier you will be. Embracing your daily routines will allow both you and your family to view the move as a temporary transition. If you drag out the unpacking process and transition time, your new home won’t feel like a permanent fixture in your life and could cause additional stress.
6. Go Shopping, Decorate, and Create a List of Projects
Once the more tedious and time-consuming task of unpacking is completed, the fun gets to start! Unpacking the larger, staple items will allow you to have a better idea of how you can use your new space. Whether you decide you want to take on a few DIY home improvement projects or you have a million ideas of items to buy to better utilize and decorate your space, these should be done after unpacking. Not only can the decorating act as a fun family activity, but it could also be treated like a little reward to yourself for getting the heavy-lifting finished!
7. Walk, Bike, or Drive Around your New Community
Once you’ve gotten your physical space organized and decorated to match your style and personality, you can start to familiarize yourself with your community and surroundings. Going for a bike ride, walk, or drive around you new home will help you discover places or things you otherwise wouldn’t have found for a while. Taking a day or two to just explore will help you get familiar with your new home, and it could help introduce you to others within your new community!
8. Introduce Yourself to Neighbors
While out and about exploring, it could be very beneficial for you to introduce yourselves to your surrounding neighbors. Popping by to say a quick hi, bringing over any baked goods, or answering the door while you’re busy unpacking could make all the difference in getting properly settled into your new home. Being friendly with neighbors will prove to be helpful down the road when you are needing someone to water plants while away on a trip, checking on the dog after a long day out, or having friends who can help you discover the lay of the land! And if you maybe don’t hit it off with your new neighbors right away, that also would not be the end of the world either.
9. Host a Housewarming Party
We understand that a new home can be an exciting things you can’t wait to show off to all your friends and families, but trust us when we say it would be best to wait until after decorating and getting settled in yourself. Taking the time to plan a party will ensure that you have spent some quality time with the space, falling in love with everything it has to offer! Once you’ve spent some alone time with the home, you can invite friends, families, and neighbors over to show off your handy work. Having a housewarming party in the style of an open house would not only take off a lot of the pressure to entertain participants, but it could provide another great opportunity for you to get to know your neighbors better in a low-stress setting.
10. Relax! Enjoy your New Home
Now that you are unpacked, decorated, and you’ve shared your new space with your loved ones and community, it is important to actually sit back and enjoy your home! Taking the time to sit and relax in all of the rooms of your home gives you the opportunity to not only appreciate all your hard work, but it will allow you the opportunity to embrace the space and find little things to fall in love with every day! Choosing to sit in the front room in the afternoon could make you realize that lighting is perfect for reading around a certain time, or maybe you find the perfect time to sit in the sunroom so you don’t get too while enjoying a cup of coffee. You’ve explored your community, now take the time to truly explore your home!
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