You have purchased or signed a lease for a new place, packed all your belongings into boxes, and booked a moving company. You’ve started to gather the items you need to furnish and decorate each room. You are excited and anxious to relocate and get your hands on that space. Moving day has come and gone. Now what? 

Figuring out what to do after moving into your new home can be difficult and frustrating. Without proper preparation or direction, moving can take much longer than it needs to. It may feel like months until you are able to enjoy and reap the benefits of your new house, apartment, or condo. By making sure you follow the suggestions below, you can speed up the process significantly.

Take the time to deep-clean each room. There is no easier time to clean a house than when it’s completely empty or the items in the room are easy to move from place to place. When moving into a previously owned house or apartment, you aren’t always sure of the last time it was cleaned up; it is best to take matters into your own hands to ensure the cleanliness of your space. Before you begin to unpack a room, clean every surface, vacuum any rugs, give your newly moved furniture a wipe-down, and make everything feel as fresh as you can. After cleaning, you can begin to unpack the boxes that belong in that room. Doing this process individually for each room will break up the monotony of cleaning and keep you excited to set up your new home.

Determine what maintenance tasks need to be done now. Not all spaces are exactly how you want them when you first move in. After being inspected, there may be large structural or functional maintenance that must be taken care of before you can live there. Aside from the large and more necessary changes, you may want to make some cosmetic changes so that the house fits your decor style. One simple change that can significantly alter how a space looks is painting the walls. Painting is much easier to do when there is no furniture to cover or work around. 

Unpack ASAP. According to the New York Post, it takes Americans 182 days on average to unpack the last of their boxes after moving. While unpacking can be a daunting task, waiting to put all of your belongings into their rightful place can make the moving process feel never-ending; it is better to just get it over with at your earliest convenience. After everything has been taken from the moving truck or van and into the house, arrange the boxes so that each box is in the room it belongs. Choose one room to start with so that you are not overwhelmed by the amount of unpacked goods in your space. After you’ve cleaned the room, take each box one by one and choose a place for each item. Once you’ve gotten through one room, choose another and repeat! If you have friends and family around who are willing to help, ask them to help you with this process as mentioned in one of our previous blogs. With more hands, you will be able to get unpacked in a much more timely manner.

Turn on the utilities. If you have not yet contacted your utility companies, it is a must-do after moving into your new home. A lot of companies will allow you to schedule a start date for their services before your moving day, but if you’ve procrastinated or forgotten, it is better to do it as soon as possible. Now that the place is in your hands, you’ll need electricity, water, gas, sewer, and internet/cable services in order to live comfortably. The sooner you take care of these services, the sooner you’ll be able to get settled in and make that new house a home. 

Change your mailing address where needed. Contact your local post offices to set up mail forwarding so that you don’t miss any mail that may be sent to your old place. If you pay for any subscription services such as Amazon Prime or Ipsy, make sure to update your delivery addresses and delete your old ones. The sooner you make these changes, the less likely you are to accidentally send something to the wrong address. Be sure to tell your friends and family what your new address is, or send out an announcement to those who would want to know or may send you mail.

Looking to move in the Cleveland area? Moving Buddy makes relocating in Northeast Ohio easy with pay-as-you-go pricing, instant online booking, and boxes delivered to your door. You can rest easy knowing your items are being safely transported and delivered at the date and time chosen by you at booking. Book a move with us today!