Many of us have become very accustomed to living in a home for a long period of time. So, when it comes time to move to a new home or to simply downsize, the transition can be difficult. This can be exceptionally difficult if you’re moving after living in your home for decades. This is often the case that most of our parents face and struggle to deal with when it is time for them to move.
Sometimes when parents need to move it’s due to struggles that they’re facing in their home; they can’t keep up with the house maintenance, they can’t afford it the monthly bills, or their health has made it unsafe for them to live there. This can make an already stressful situation a lot more stressful.
Whatever the case, the transition will take time. Whether they’re moving in with you, a new home, or something smaller like a condo or an apartment, you’ll need to plan out the move. Here are some tips that can help make things easier on and your parents.
Plan the move ahead of time
Before you begin organizing any of the items in your parent’s home, it’s a good idea to understand how much space there will be in their new space. Go through with a tape measure and plan out how key pieces of furniture will be able to fit into each of the rooms. If this move is a downsize, you’ll need to be realistic about what can fit and what cannot. A great practice is to bring a sheet of paper to map out the room. It’ll allow you to visually see what space is available and will allow you to easily place items in the appropriate place on moving day.
Recruit friends and family
When a parent moves, there is usually quite a bit of downsizing in the home. This tends to lead to a big moving job, with many hands needed to help out. Try to recruit as many family and friends as possible to create a very smooth transitional move. This will no doubt be a stressful time for your parent so it can help to ease their stress if they have a number of family members or friends around. Surrounding your parents with loved ones can remind them that there are many people there to look after them.
Assign and Organize
As there will be undoubtedly many items to move in the home, try to form a plan of attack and organize all of the items before the move. Go through the home with your parent and the people who are helping you to move, and decide on how an item will be categorized. Will it stay, will it go with family, or should it be given away? Once you’re done that, label boxes and put similar moving items together. Putting things of a similar nature together will allow you stay more organized.
Cleaning and repairing
After you have completed organizing for the move, it’s time to look over what needs to be cleaned and repaired. Go through all of the rooms and assign people to clean rooms in the home. This shouldn’t take a long time if you have a team of people helping. Once this is done, spend time looking to see if anything needs to be repaired. Often, there will be small items that need to be touched up and will require little effort to fix.
If you’re in need of a mover to help with your parent’s transition into their new home, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® is always there to help.