How to Make Moving A Little Easier.

// Photo: Museum of Natural History //

It's Ongoing.
We moved into our Upper West Side New York City apartment almost two weeks ago. And it's still a wreck. Why is that? I'll tell you why. Because moving is HARD WORK. I'm beginning to understand why people don't do this very often.

Our backs hurt. From building stuff.

My husband and I have been married for 6 years. In that time frame, we have moved 5 times, with 4 of those moves taking us to different states. We haven't had the chance to get too comfortable anywhere yet. However, we always feel at home, no matter where we live. We purposefully take the time with each move to create "home" where we are. It takes a lot of time, building shelves and arranging photos and measuring every inch of our tiny abode (we have only lived in apartments), but the extra effort is worth it. Though we haven't finished unpacking quite yet, I am beginning to see a pattern of how to make moving easier.

// Left to Right: // Forgot the key to the storage unit. This is how the door was opened. // Anthropologie trinkets and Black & Decker tools. // Brown boxes and Blue Moon. //

1. Set up your TV. 
This should be almost the first thing you do. I'm not kidding. Because at the end of a long day of unpacking, you just want to kick back with a beverage and watch a re-run of Friends. Do not underestimate the importance of zoning out for just a bit. Because the next morning, it's back to the boxes. And those boxes? They are practically never-ending.

2. Visit Starbucks. Home Away from Home.
The Starbucks tip is two-fold. Not only do they brew the happy stimulants that make the day go round, you can get online well before the Internet is up at your new apartment. There is always a reason to need Internet, which becomes blazing-ly clear when you don't have it. Where is the local hardware store to buy the extra drill bits you need? How to clean the strange bathroom scum left by the previous tenant? What is the amount of weight that IKEA shelf can hold? All of these answers can be found on the World Wide Web. At Starbucks. With the happy coffee in hand.

3. Get IKEA Delivered.
IKEA has made a pretty penny off of us over the past several years. I don't mind. Being car-less in the city is wonderful, but it makes bringing home furniture from my beloved IKEA a bit more challenging. This is the first time we have ever gotten furniture delivered, but wow. It was well worth it. We trekked out to the Brooklyn IKEA, picked everything out, paid for it, and then paid a mere $99 extra for everything to be delivered directly inside our apartment. We couldn't have rented a truck for cheaper than that, let alone attempted to move all those heavy furniture packages up and down the stairs by ourselves.

4. Visualize Your Goal.
One of the fun parts of moving (for me), has been the opportunity to try out different types of decor. We always sell most of our stuff before each move so that we can buy specifically for the new space, which gives us the opportunity to try out a new aesthetic. Trying out new styles is an exciting part of the move. For me, I visualize exactly what I want the "feel" to be, and I build the rooms around that. I have taken risks, made quite a few trendy mistakes, and slowly learned the patterns within my own preferred style. I am becoming more confident in what I know I like and don't like. Visualizing the goal helps overcome those "stuck" moments.

5. Grant Yourself Permission.
There is a lot of hard work that goes into moving, but one of the most important keys is having grace. Give myself permission to take time, think about where I want everything to go, and reorganize the last's apartment's mess. If you're in the midst of a move, take your time. Take breaks. Make sure to laugh, even if you feel like crying. Being surrounded by an endless amount of "We don't need ANY OF THIS!!!"-stuff can be overwhelming. It's okay. Just take a deep breath, maybe take a re-run break, and then get back to it.

These few elements have helped with this particular move. It doesn't make the art of moving a stroll in the park, but it certainly helps. And this move has been particularly special, because this time, it's NEW YORK. This stellar marvelous city. I'll take it.