31 Days from House to Home: day 3 – A Packing Tip

I learned this little moving tip 3 or 4 moves ago, but it has been so helpful that I really need to pass it on. In fact, I didn’t have a chance to do this on my last move, and I really wish I had!

Make labels (computer labels) for the various rooms of your new house. Print several pages of the labels. Apply the label to each upper left hand corner of the box. Label all sides of the box. This way when people bring the boxes in you can identify the room it goes in without searching the top of the box. This is so much easier than writing on the box!

Also, I think it’s important to make a list of contents on the boxes that go in the kitchen. If you don’t have the luxury of unpacking it all at once, at least you can get to what you need without opening all of the boxes.

Do you have any tried and true moving tips?

31 Days from House to Home: Day 2 – pick a paint

Welcome to day 2 for my 31 day journey from house to home.

Would you help me? I am trying to choose a paint color for my new home. I know I don’t have pictures up yet. And actually, I don’t even know if I can get in early this week to paint before the big move on Saturday. But I want to be ready just in case!

The house doesn’t have as much natural lighting as previous homes we’ve lived in. Also, when you walk in the front door, you can see upstairs and downstairs at the same time. Because of these factors, I’m thinking I’ll use one very light color throughout the house. We plan to just paint the entry (currently yellow) and living room (currently pink) initially.

Here are the colors I’m drawn to right now. I’m liking grayish browns. The computer doesn’t show the color perfectly, but enough to give you an idea.

pratt and lambert, gossamer. too plumy? too saturated?

B. Moore, Gray owl. too gray? too light?

B. Moore, Pale Oak. too bleh? too light?

Just to give you a feel for what I’m going for, here is a photo from Martha’s website, but of course, there is no mention of the color name for the wall. I love this color scheme.

pretty wall color

So there it is, my idea for wall color. Any suggestions? Which of the three do you like best? Is there another swatch somewhere that would suit this style better?

31 Days from House to Home:: Day 1

This week I am making my fourth move in four years. I think this occasion provides plenty of material for the 31 days project. It may not provide much time, but I need some sort of catalyst to get me writing regularly again. And I really want to remember what is always such a blur in hind-sight: the crazy, fun, messy, hard process of making a house a home.

I’ve learned a lot during this process of moving (this is my 8th move total). I’ve learned things ranging from how to purge, pack, then pick a house to how to move the kids along as smoothly as possible when their lives are turned upside down. I’m getting ready to learn how to do a significant down size – losing 1000 square feet of living space and going from the luxury storage of a massive basement and three car garage to no basement and a one car garage. I’m not complaining. I truly love our new home. I’m just saying it’s going to be a challenge, but one that I’m actually excited about (right now while it’s still theoretical ).

So exactly one week from today, I will move my stuff to a new (to us) house in New Jersey. I’m not sure how much sense these posts will make because I am already mush-brained and tired (we packed and moved the stuff from the house in Akron Wednesday, Thursday, and came home yesterday), but I’m going to make an attempt anyway.

I’d love if you joined me. You may even be able to help me. I’ll try to post pictures and ask for help especially with my new space/storage challenge. If you have any ideas, please comment!

Okay, gotta go. I’m going to gather paint swatches for my new diggs. Any suggestions?