Room-By-Room Unpacking Guide

We can already picture it – you’ve basically finished your relocation to a new home. Your movers are done with unloading the very last box from their van and you can breathe a sigh of relief. All that’s basically left is for you to unpack all of the boxes and furnish your new household. But while many people don’t realize this, unpacking can be tough if you don’t approach the task with the right plan. With that in mind, we’ve prepared a room-by-room unpacking guide, to make the process much easier! Read on and enjoy. 

Where to start?

It won’t make a difference if you’ve let trustworthy moving professionals assist your Washington move – there are certain things you will have to do on your own before the relocation is done. And unpacking is definitely a large part of that. Naturally, there are many ways to approach this task. But if you follow our unpacking guide, your best bet will be to go room-by-room. Bear in mind that unpacking may take more than one day, depending on how quickly you do it and when you start. But one of the great things about doing it room by room is that, at the end of the first day, you’re left with at least one fully functional area that you can use.

So, considering all of that – where should you start? If you ask us, it all depends on when you actually arrive at your brand new house. If you’ve unloaded all of your stuff early in the morning or around noon, it’s probably a good idea to start with the kitchen area first. But if you start unpacking in the evening or the afternoon, we recommend making the bathroom area usable first. After such a long and hard day, you’ll probably want to take a nice long shower. 

Unpacking your bathroom

So, let’s say that you’ve decided to deal with the unpacking of your bathroom first. If that’s the case, you should begin by putting all of the essential bathroom items in place first. For example, the first bathroom box you unpack should contain your toothbrush, toothpaste, conditioner, shampoo, towels, and toilet paper. Also, if you’ve packed any shower curtains, now’s the time to set them up. As any unpacking guide will tell you – the sooner you hang those, the sooner you’ll be able to have that shower you must be craving by now. 

Once you’re done with the curtains and the toiletries, you can start arranging your medicine cabinet. Unpack all of the products you’ve brought to the new household and place them in the most convenient way possible. Ideally, you want the medical products you use most often to be more reachable than the rarely used ones. 

Dealing with your kitchen

Now that we’ve finished going over the unpacking of your bathroom, it’s time to take a closer look at how you’ll furnish your new kitchen. While doing this, bear in mind that, much like your bathroom, the kitchen area is very important in terms of functionality. So, when you’re looking at what you’ll unpack first, think in practical terms. In other words, take care of the major appliances. If you want to be able to prepare even a rudimentary meal, you’ll want to install your microwave and stove before doing anything else. Also, if you’ve brought your refrigerator into the house, don’t plug it in right away. You want to wait a couple of hours before you turn it on, as the oil that’s crucial for the cooling system will need some time to make its way to the fridge compressor. 

Next up, we’ve got the small appliances. We’re talking about the devices that fit neatly on your countertops – like a blender, toaster, coffee maker, etc. And let’s be honest – in the first couple of days in your new home, while you’re setting everything up, your coffee maker will be especially important. Make sure you place it in a spot that’s easily reachable for everyone, for a quick coffee pit stop.

Smaller Items

As you’ve probably gathered by now, unpacking your kitchen is a process you want to do logically, and practically. So, now that you’ve dealt with all of the major surfaces and appliances; you can start working on the smaller items. According to our unpacking guide, it’s time to unpack the kitchenware and utensils that you use on a daily basis. Obviously, you won’t need to unpack the expensive silverware right away; save that for once everything else is done. 

Also, you need to place all of the breakables – as in bowls, cups, plates, saucers, etc. – in their respective cupboards and surface areas. We’d be remiss not to advise you to wash the utensils and the breakables before you use them the next time – no moving box is completely sterile. 

Furnishing your bedroom

Got the kitchen all set up and ready to go? Great! Now you can start dealing with the assembly of your bedroom. After all, there’s nothing any of us would like more after a hard day of unpacking than a good night’s sleep. With that in mind – unpack and reassemble your bed first, if you’ve brought one with you. And if you already have one in the house, unpack the box in which you’ve kept your blankets, pillows, and bed linens. You’ll need those in order to make the bed as soon as possible.

Once you’re done with that, it’s finally time to unpack your mattress. And remember – if you’re too tired to assemble the bed and the night is creeping closer, just find a good spot on the floor, place the mattress there and grab a pillow. You can have a nice nap right away! 

When you’ve finished dealing with the bed, there’s one important piece of furniture left to set up in your bedroom. If you trust our unpacking guide, you’ll want to put in your wardrobe as soon as possible. That way, you’ll be able to start unpacking your clothes as well. 

Following this guide is a sure way to start the process of settling into your new space with ease so that you may begin enjoying your new home.

Written by Sophia Perry and Editing by Ashley Pasquale