Unpack and Stay Sane: It’s Possible With These 5 Tips

The good news: Your possessions have arrived at your new house.

The bad news: Now you have to unpack them.

How do you find a place for every book, every plate, every towel and every dustpan without losing your mind?

Unpacking tips

It’s a good question and the answer comes down to two things: prioritization and pace.

1. Put boxes in the right rooms

Perhaps an obvious suggestion but one that bears repeating. You may be tempted to place every box in one room and attack ‘em one by one.

Take the boxes for the kids’ room to the kids’ room. Take the kitchen boxes to the kitchen. Don’t open them until you have them in the right place.

2. Start with the essentials

You know the things you couldn’t box up until the last minute because you needed them right until the end? Yeah, unpack that stuff first, because odds are if it was important to you in your old house, it’s going to be important in the new one.

Check out this post from unclutterer for more details.

3. Set up before you unpacking

Get your living room set up how you like it before you unpack the boxes. Unpacking stuff without a set place to put it will result in clutter and chaos.

And you’ve probably had your fill of those twin demons already.

4. Pace yourself

For the love of bubble wrap, don’t try to unpack everything in one day. Get the kitchen under control, get the beds set up, put on some sheets, and then pass out.

Wake up fresh as a daisy and work on the bathroom(s), dining room and the rest of your place on Day 2.

5. Make it feel like home

Here is a great tip from About.com for making the unpacking process a little less painful: Put up some artwork before you’re completely settled.

It’s a little contradictory—because you may have to move it—but seeing some familiar stuff early on will make the unpacking less painful and the new house a bit more like home.