What You Need the First Day You Have Moved into a New Home

There are few things worse than trying to rummage through all your stuff to find just one thing, the saying "like trying to find a needle in a hay stack" comes to mind.  You know when you can't find your car keys, and you've looked everywhere in the house?  It is an awful feeling to not be able to find something, and it feels like it always happens at the worst time  

It is about one million times worse if all your stuff is in boxes, trash bags, storage, etc., and all you need to find is one single item.  You opened up and emptied half the boxes where you think the missing object might be.  Even if you have labeled all your boxes, and boxed everything it has now turned into catastrophic mess, and you haven't even found the missing tooth brush.  Putting a house together is hard enough without putting a house together from a catastrophic mess!  So I'm going to suggest some things that you may need while you are trying to put your life together in your new home.  

  

Phone Numbers and Addresses:  You may not have the internet set up the first day that you move in, and even if you do it can be good to have emergency contact information on hand.  If someone hurts themselves while moving, it is good to know hospital and emergency numbers.  Also, it can be good to have an electrician and plumber number available, just in case there are any unpleasant surprises with your utilities.   Don't forget the number to the movers, if you have hired any, in case they are late in delivering your stuff. 

After all the moving, no one is probably going to feel like cooking, so you may want to pick out a place that will deliver your dinner.  You'll never enjoy seeing the pizza delivery guy more than after having a long day of moving.   

Clean Clothes:  Sweaty, dusty, grimy and all sorts of undesirable odors will be clinging to you after your move.  Make sure everyone has a set of clean clothes to change into after you move.  Then again, if it is just you and your significant other, you can celebrate your first night in your new home in your birthday suits. 

Toiletries: Have a towel for each person, toothbrushes, hairbrushes and all things related to personal hygiene ready for your first day.  There is nothing like taking a hot shower then changing into clean clothes after spending a hard day doing one of everyone's least favorite things, moving. 

Cleaning Supplies: If you are going to take a shower, you're probably going to want to clean the shower first.  I remember one apartment I move in the guy I had dumped his kitty litter into the shower before he left, and I was glad to have my cleaning product on hand to take care of that disgusting disaster right away.  Bringing basic cleaning supplies to sanitize your new kitchen and bathrooms will probably be something you'll want to have.  Even if the house looks in good condition when you move in, after kicking up a bunch of dust with all your stuff you may want to give everything a wipe down. 

Entertainment for everyone:  Something to keep the kids distracted is a big one in this, because sometimes the kids need to be occupied while the parents get some of the work done.  When I would move with my parents the whole family would watch a VHS movie together, because the cable/internet wouldn't be hooked up yet.  In more current technology a DVD or bluray player can be a fun way for the family to spend the night together in your new home.  Although you may just want to pass out after all of that work.

Storage Ottomans Make Me Look More Like a Normal Person and Less Like a Crazy Cat Lady

Its a stool, its a foot rest, its a cubby... no, it's a STORAGE OTTOMAN.  My recent discovery of storage ottomans has made my life a little less cluttered.  These things are such a brilliant design!  It is basically a piece of furniture that you can put stuff in.  There are different designs, but they are all hollowed out furniture with tops, so you can store a myriad of objects in them.  It is a such a simple idea- I wish I had discovered these back when I lived in dorms.

Still even for my house the storage ottoman I have invested in are great.  I have three cats, and we love to buy cat toys.  Having mice, balls, wands and all sorts of cat toys is normal to us, but we try to keep it on the down low when house guest come over.  Now we store all our cat toys in a storage ottoman that also functions as a stool in our living room.

Here is a list of different types of ottomans.

Traditional storage ottoman- The first of the storage ottoman designs is meant to be put next to an easy chair as a stool or foot rest.  It is great for storing throw blankets that you may use to cover you while sitting on the easy chair.  Also, it is great from hiding those special candy bars you didn't want to share with your husband and kids.  ;)

Coffee table ottoman- A coffee table you can put stuff inside of; even your children and small pets.  Those magazines and remotes that are cluttering your table or mysteriously go missing all the time can now be stored in the storage ottoman for easy access.
                                     

Bench storage ottoman- The are great to at the end of the bed or as a bench in any room to sit on.  It is a pretty big storage ottoman, and allows you to store lots of your junk.  I've recently been using our one that sat empty for a while as my "in between" laundry pile.  Usually I wait until two or three wears of a pair of jeans before washing them, and this is a great place to store them.  

                                       

More on "Why Can't it be Spring" Cleaning: Emptying the Garage

There are alternatives to just rearranging and tossing stuff that is in your garage like I did last week in the first installment of "Why Can't it be Spring" cleaning.  Sometimes you just have too much stuff, and it is time to think about moving the junk or valued items elsewhere.  There are multiple options for the type of storage you can get to help clean up your garage, and even make space for your family cars in the garage instead of using it as the junk room!  I'm going to give you some of these options you can utilize to clear up that space in your garage once and for all. 

Storage Sheds - click link to get reviews of different storage sheds! 

Storage sheds are a great option for you- if you have space in your yard for one.  A shed allows you to move lawn care supplies, bicycles, tools and other stuff taking up space in your garage, but you will be able to access of all the equipment conveniently in your back yard.  You will want to check your area for guidelines as to what type and size of shed you can have.  Some home owner's associations will not allow certain types or sheds- or even allow them at all.  So before you start investing your time looking for a shed, make sure you are following local rules to prevent future problems. 

Once you have found out about your local rules, it is time to start researching different sheds.  You can save yourself a bunch of time by looking at reviews of different storage sheds online, and even shopping around some online.  When trying to choose a shed thinking about what size you need, and what type of local weather it will have to endure.  Someone who is an area that is prone to hurricanes will need a different shed than someone who is an area prone to lots of snow.  Before you choose one make sure that you know about the installation procedures and warranty on the shed.  Prevent any headaches by making yourself as knowledgeable as possible.

When you make your decision on your storage shed remember that it isn't just storage.  It is an addition to your home.  You will look at it day in and day out in your yard, so you will want to choose one that looks nice.  Also, the better value of the shed the more value it will add to your home when and/if you ever decide to sell your house.  The shed will be an asset to anyone who wants to move into your house when you are gone.   

Self Storage - visit this link to get all the information you need on self storage.

Sometimes you just need to store stuff outside of your garage, and self storage is a great way to do this that doesn't involve storing your old baseball cards in grandma's basement or relying unnecessarily on friends or relatives.  Maybe you need to buy time until you reorganize your garage to figure out where to put stuff.  Maybe you need to store stuff until you move to a bigger space.  Or maybe you aren't ready to give or throw away your items, but you need to have them out of your garage.  Whatever your reason, if you want to store stuff off site self storage is probably a good option for you.  

You can store anything from a boat to a box as self storage facilities.  The important thing is that you find the right self storage for your needs.  First, you should shop around for cost of different storage facilities, and you can do this from the convenience of your home online.  Or you can visit different self storage places in your area to get a feel for what the self storage unit will be like.  There is no reason for you to compromise your needs in a self storage facility, so make sure you find one in the right price range that matches your needs as a storage facility.  

Don't feel bad about storing your stuff out of your home.  You can get insurance to protect your stuff that is in self-storage.  And when you finally get your stuff back out of storage it will feel like an early and/or late Christmas present to yourself!