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Large Family Moving – Unpacking

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Large Family Moving Series {unpacking} | RaisingArrows.net

It’s been a month since we moved.

There are still boxes to be unpacked.  Lots of boxes.

If you are looking for a post on how to QUICKLY unpack your home, you might want to leave now.  This post will not get you there.  Remember, slow and steady wins the race…{at least that’s what I keep telling myself!}

So, how does the large family manage to unpack?

The buffalo in a box.

1. Make the living room and the kitchen a priority.

These two rooms are the heart and soul of your home.  My goal was living room first, kitchen second.  Having the living room void of boxes allowed me one room in the house that was relaxing, a haven from all the clutter and craziness.  Secondly, the kitchen is a much-used room when you have a family.  Too much time spent in boxes there will equal too much money spent on eating out.

2. Make unpacking part of your daily routine.

Remember how I put unpacking on our daily schedule?  As a mom of many, I could easily spend my entire day caring for the urgent and totally ignoring the important.  If I don’t purpose to unpack, I won’t.

3. Phone a friend.

Yes, I know that sounds counter-productive, but here’s the way it works…

Either call or email or facebook a friend and tell them you are going to unpack a certain room, area, or box.  They are your accountability partner.  When you do it, you check back in.  I find this to be a great motivator.  You can also simply call a friend to occupy your mind while you unpack a box or two.  Sometimes that is all we need to keep us going amongst the drudgery of unpacking, and it is a great way to keep connections with old friends.

4. Take BEFORE and AFTER pictures.

Changing Table Before (obviously NOT being used as a changing table)

Changing Table After (complete with spit up from baby Garin’s first diaper change upon it)

Pictures are HUGE motivators to me.  I share them here, on Facebook, via email.  They prove to me I have accomplished something tangible, and they make me smile.

5. Don’t buy anything extra until you have a room fully unpacked.

There have been about 50 things I have THOUGHT I needed to make areas in this new house more organized.  However, once I’ve fully unpacked a room, I’ve either realized a) I don’t need those things after all or b) I have something already on hand that will work just as well.  Give it time and don’t do anything rash just yet.

6. Be creative.


One place I got creative was in the boys’ room.  We moved our oldest son back in with his brothers, but that meant decreased closet space.  However, I gained an entire walk-in closet of my very own, for which I could never find enough clothes to fill, so we put the boys’ dresser in the closet, hung Blake’s clothes on one side and Keian’s on the other and put Micah’s and Garin’s clothes in my closet on a lower rack.  It wasn’t the conventional use of a closet, but it works!  So, think outside the box as you unpack those boxes!

7. Just put it away…you can always change your mind later.

Initially, I wanted to put everything in exactly the “right spot.”  I quickly realized no such “spot” existed!  And if I spent all my time waiting for the right spot to present itself, I would NEVER get anything put away!  So, I thought through things as I unpacked and then made the best decision I could as to where something should go, knowing full well I would probably change my mind at some point.  But, what matters here is a clean, clutter-free slate to work with.  Once everything is put away somewhere, you can reassess and redo as needed.

I am so anxious for the day when there are no more boxes and everything IS in its place.  It is often overwhelming to see all that still needs to be unpacked.  But, if I look back at where we were, I am encouraged!  Slow and steady wins the race…

The master bathroom all put together!

Posts in the Large Family Moving Series:
The Logistics
Making an Abnormal Schedule
Saying Goodbye
Unpacking - this post
Starting Over

The post Large Family Moving – Unpacking appeared first on Raising Arrows.


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