You have to go to the new house before you move, measure and find out where all your large furniture is going to go. Where will you put the sofas? Where will the entertainment center fit? On which wall do you want to place the headboard of the bed? Where will the dresser go? I know this must sound insanely crazy, but I NEVER packed anything, at all, before 3 days before I moved in. Listen, even as a single mom, I can pack up my whole house within that time frame, and so can you. Unpacking your house quickly requires patience, determination and a good system.
While we can't provide the first two, we can offer an effective system to quickly unpack your home. Follow these steps to unpack in less than a day (and still have time to decorate). Place all dry goods in the pantry or cabinets, and unpack your everyday dishes, pots and pans if you haven't already. Breaking the boxes as you go along will help avoid the clutter of the boxes as you unpack them and, especially, prevent a large stack of empty boxes from getting in your way.
Set up your electronics and furniture before unpacking small office supplies and optimize your desk layout. The first step in the unpacking process starts counterintuitive as you pack in the first place. Unpack a box of off-season clothes that you set aside when you unpacked your room and other items, for example, in a closet in a hallway or spare room, wherever you want them to live. If your goal is to organize your new home after you move, then it makes sense to unpack with that in mind.
Unpack the room essentials, your daily clothes and any items you need to hang up as soon as possible, and then come back for the rest later. It is perhaps the most compartmentalized room in your home and, as such, it has a lot to unpack and organize. It may take longer to pack, but unpacking is harder because it's easier to forget what you have or don't need. Start with a bedroom and work your way around the house in order of the room you would use first (kitchen, bathroom).
Take these items out and unpack them wherever you want them to live, in the hallway closet, in your spare room, anywhere, until all that remains to be unpacked is the decor. You're almost done, your guest room is the last room you'll ever unpack and you've learned the correct order to do it. This way, unpacking can start in an organized manner and you'll find that it's quicker and easier to unpack everything. If you think you'll be distracted, don't do it until you finish unpacking in the rest of the room and other rooms in your house.
Unpack some basic items, such as drinking glasses, plates, cutlery, and a pot or pan so you can eat when you take breaks.
