Final Week Before the Move: Our Packing Progress and Plan

Our house is looking surprisingly tidy for being just days away from a move. With fewer than five days left, packing has proven to be a full-contact sport. We’re keeping momentum by staying hydrated, listening to upbeat music, and breaking into impromptu dance parties to keep Clara entertained—when the baby’s happy, the packing keeps moving.

We hunted down most of our boxes secondhand, scoring them on Craigslist, Freecycle, and even from a generous reader who offered theirs on Facebook. When we ran out, we grabbed the rest from Walmart; at least those boxes are made from recycled material and can be passed on when we’re finished. Small comforts matter when you’re elbow-deep in bubble wrap.

Our to-do list has been intense, but here are the tasks we’ve already completed:

• Removed everything from the walls and patched and painted all nail holes. Tackling removal, spackling, and painting in batches room by room made this much faster than doing each task for a single room before moving on.
• Scheduled utility transfers so all services restart at the new place on move-in day.
• Packed the entire bathroom except for travel-size shampoo and conditioner, our toothbrushes, and the shower curtain.
• Boxed up frames, mirrors, books, ceramic figurines, and most fragile items—about 80% of the breakables are now packed. Dishware is still looming on the list.
• Put aside a “vacation stash” of essentials we’ll need over the next week: a few changes of clothes, baby supplies, and toiletries so we won’t have to raid boxes for necessities.

Here’s what’s still on our agenda before closing day:

• Finish boxing up the kitchen and about 20% of other rooms that remain.
• Rake the yard so the new owners don’t inherit a lawn full of leaves.
• Oversee completion of a few inspection items—there’s a professional handling some flue work tomorrow.
• Have our remaining heating oil measured for the closing; the buyers will pay for what’s left in the tank, which seems fair.
• Say goodbye to our tan slipcovered Pottery Barn sofa in the den—someone is scheduled to pick it up via Craigslist.
• Clean the oven and refrigerator; these are tasks we’ll handle right before we leave.
• Give the house a final deep clean—vacuum, sweep, scrub—and lock the door one last time.

If everything goes according to plan, the buyers will close on our current house Monday morning, and we’ll close on the new home Monday afternoon. There will be a brief window during which we won’t technically own either house, which feels strange and requires a tight-moving schedule. To avoid extra trips, we’re packing nearly everything into a large U-Haul by Sunday night and renting it overnight so it functions as a secure mobile storage unit until we unload at the new place on Monday afternoon. The alarm system will be installed at the new house around the same time, so timing is crucial.

We’re embracing DIY moving rather than hiring professionals—John’s family is generously helping with loading and unloading. We’re on a budget and enjoy tackling things ourselves, despite the inevitable chaos. Fingers crossed for a smooth transition and that all our fragile items survive the trip. With teamwork, playlists, and a little humor, we’re hoping for a happy ending to this hectic chapter.