After the Move: Moving-In Checklist

Once you arrive at your new home, you can finally relax knowing that the biggest part of the moving process is over. But before you settle in and make it feel your own, there are a few more things you need to take care of. To go through the tasks smoothly, make a checklist and prioritize those tasks to stay on track and avoid stress. Your move-in checklist should include important things. Some of them are setting up utilities as well as smaller tasks, such as decorating the living room. To help you settle in as soon as possible, we’ve prepared a few tips that you’ll find helpful if you’re wondering what to do when you move into a new home. Carry on reading to find an after-the-move move-in checklist.

Make your new home shine

Whether you’re moving into an old home or a brand-new one, you want to make sure that it’s clean. The best time to clean your home is before unpacking because you’ll have a fresh start and no obstructions. Pay special attention to the bathroom and kitchen, and then proceed to the rest of the rooms. You can DIY and spend some time cleaning your new space, but you can also hire professional cleaning services.

Create a perfect layout

The next thing to do is to arrange your furniture. You want to create a unique layout that works for you and that will make space feel truly yours. There are numerous online tools to help you with making a floor plan, and you can play with options even before you move in. Once you have a plan, start arranging the furniture − don’t worry if it doesn’t work, simply keep moving the furniture pieces around until you come up with a perfect solution.

Unpack

Now comes the unpleasant part for most people – unpacking. While it can be boring and time-consuming, unpacking your things is something that needs to be done and the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll be done with it and have your home comfy. The trick is to take small steps and unpack one box at a time. Start with unpacking one room and don’t move to another one until the previous one is unpacked. If this way doesn’t work, you just create a different strategy but do avoid trying to do everything at once because chances are you’ll get overwhelmed and in the middle of the mess. Or just follow our ultimate guide to unpacking after the move.

Sort out clothes

Organizing your closet will make a big difference in organizing your new home. Because clothes take up so much space and a great number of boxes, unpacking and placing them in a designated area will certainly make you feel better about the new space. Organize bit by bit, and use all the tools that you can, such as storage bins, organizers, racks, etc. Start with your favorite pieces and the ones suitable for the current season, and work towards those clothing items that you don’t use as much.

Utilities

When you finally arrive at your new home, you want to make sure that electricity and other utilities are set up. Imagine arriving late at night only to find the apartment cold and you can’t turn the heat on. Hopefully, you took care of the essential services before moving in. However, there might be some other services that you hadn’t arranged. The best thing to do is to make a list of all services providers you had at your previous home and figure out whether some of them were forgotten.

Get emergency contacts

Once you move to a new city or a new state, one of the first things to do is to write all the emergency numbers. You should have the nearest hospital’s phone number. Also, the number of the police, fire department, and similar emergency services. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so make sure to make an emergency list straight away rather than waiting until you need it. Another person you should be able to reach is your landlord. Make sure you know who the landlord is and how you can contact them because you’ll probably need to speak with them during your tenancy.

Get the moving receipts

It’s always advisable to keep all of your moving receipts in case you can refund them later. If you’re moving for work, your employer might be willing to cover some of the expenses. Any written documents about moving costs can be helpful when the tax time comes. In case you haven’t kept all the receipts together, now is a good time to gather them and make notes about each document.

Make inventory as you go

Hopefully, you’ve created an inventory list before moving. While you’re unpacking, use your list to make sure all of your belongings arrived safely. This is especially important if you hired professional packing and moving services because you’ll need to claim any damaged or lost items.

Submit a claim

If some of your belongings didn’t make it to the new address, or arrived damaged, file an insurance claim as soon as possible. Most moving contracts oblige the moving company to acknowledge the claim within a month, but there might be a time limit for you to submit it. So, remember to check the contract for a deadline and file your insurance claim as soon as you can.

Test smoke alarms

It’s an easy thing to overlook when you have so much to take in, but it’s definitely one of the important ones. You want to make sure that the place is safe before you start living in it. It’s your responsibility to test the smoke alarm and see if they all work. Besides that, you should also check all the fixtures around the house, and run all the taps to know if anything needs to be fixed or replaced.

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