Moving in a new house or apartment? Make a Day 1 kit, to have the essentials all in one place. I recently bought a house! Hoorah! When packing, I put together 2 large rubber totes filled with things I needed in the first day to be prepared in the new place.
Fast forward to moving day: Box #1 was exactly what we needed, and I used almost everything I put in there the first or second day. Box #2 was specific to our home, since we had things to fix right away. But even so, you may have furniture that needs to be taken apart and reassembled at the new place. Having tools in one place, for us, made this much easier.
These 2 boxes became the focus of our command spot. We put are car keys, and new house keys in the box. The box became the one "safe place" to leave papers we didn't want to lose and many other things. It prevents the many little things from getting lost we unpacked in that first week. When were looking for anything, our first stop was these boxes.
Day 1 Essentials Box for Moving:
Box #1: Essentials
- 2-3 rolls of toilet paper (we went through the 1st one fast with contractors, friends, and family all stopping by to help)
- hand soap
- hand towel
- first aid kit (try this FAK for a start, or make your own FAK)
- bleach/cleaning solution
- sponge/rag/cleaning thing
- water bottle
- ziplock baggies
- trash bags
- work gloves (my new favorite True Grip gloves!)
- paper plates
- napkins/paper towels
- plastic cutlery
- notebook
- pencil
- utility knife (my much loved basic knife)
Box #2: Tools
- Hammer (removing old hanging nails)
- screw drivers
- allen-wrenches (for re-assembling some shelves)
- flashlight/headlamps (our favorite Black Diamond headlamp)
- More specific things:
- mouse traps
- measuring tape
- power drill (we have the fashionable lime-green Ryobi)
Conclusion
These 2 boxes made moving much smoother. Did you pack an essential box for preparedness while moving? What did yours include? Let us know in the comments below.
