Moving may not always be emotionally painful, but may cause unforeseen physical damage unexpectedly. There are simple ways to avoid causing injury to yourself and if you are smart to others…as you will pass this on as an act of good faith towards humankind

The first and most important factor of your move is your rented equipment. Renting proper equipment not only insures simpler more for heavier, larger items but more importantly saves your from back strain and further injury. Straps are also essential in securing boxes and items that are larger and hard to move on your own.

On that same note packing your boxes should be strategic as well. When packing for your move make sure that your boxes are no heavier than 50 pounds.  This will not only help boxes from not squishing one another but again will prevent back strain in your move.

Also, check out the safety of the area that you are moving into. Inspecting your new area is a vital part of your move. It prevents you from finding things out like “oh, that walkway has a bunch of loose floorboards” or “oh, I just hang-lined myself on that tree branch on my way in”. Inspecting these things before you move your things physically in is key.  Areas to inspect include: walkways, sidewalks, steps, trees, doors and any obstacle that you may encounter with a load of boxes in your hands.

Checking the place that you are moving into assures that you will arrive in one piece.

What’s the one thing you have to have when you move? Some might say a moving truck, some might say patience, but the number one thing you have to have when you move is moving boxes. Moving can be extremely wasteful, especially since a lot of people will just throw away their cardboard boxes after using them once. You can always reuse them or recycle them, but often people feel like it is “easier” to just throw them out. To avoid being wasteful and even to help with some home space issues, we compiled a list of some great Do It Yourself projects to put those cardboard boxes to good use, and keep them out of the landfill.

Brought to you by wikiHow, this article helps you learn how to create a fantastic Cardboard Box Storage System. All you need is boxes, tape, scissors and a Sharpie for labeling.

For those who have a love for playing games, how about a Faux Wood Checkers Box? It’s light weight, saves money and is easy to make!

And the daddy of them all, how about 101 things to do with your used cardboard boxes? Well that list exists and it is good! You’ll find anything from hot wheels racetrack to a robot to a toolbox and most importantly, because you never know, a homeless shelter.

Hope these DIY projects were helpful and sparked your creative and crafty side. If you do decide to create anything from the lists we included, please send us your photos, we’d love to see your handy work!

Here at Exodus we are all about finding ways of treading lightly on the planet as a moving company. We use durable bins when moving customers, wooden shelves on wheels for office moves instead of boxes, and we offer recycled boxes giving them a second life and reducing our resources. When we came across an article explaining what designers Diogo Aguiar and Teresa Ott did with their used storage boxes, we had to feature it on our blog.

What do you get when you put 420 IKEA boxes, LED lights and a metal base together? How about a 15-foot-high bar that has funk, character and uniqueness. The appropriately named structure; Temporary Bar, was constructed for a competition organised by the architecture faculty at the Universidade do Porto in Portugal. Finished in just one week with the help of students, this bar stands tall and proud in Parque da Cidade, Porto, Portugal.

Next time you move, think about the endless possibilities you could do to reuse those boxes instead of throwing them in a land fill. Moving somewhere dry and need to get rid of your umbrella(s)? Bars are not only made out of recycled boxes, but can also make a bar too, like the Bucky Bar in Rotterdam. Talk about creativity and reusing! This project references the famed geodesic domes of the late American architect Buckminster Fuller and attracted 300 visitors before the police intervened at 2 am on February 19^th, 2010.

Morale of the story, whether you are moving or not, look around your house and before you throw anything out, see if you can reuse it for something else, or donate it to someone else that could put it to good use.

As we all know, moving can be stressful. They say that moving, divorce and death are the 3 most stressful things a person goes through. When you move, you have so much to think about that many things can be forgotten. That’s why we suggest making a schedule that goes with a to-do list/checklist. Below are some things that you need to make sure you have on your moving list.

Turn off, or switch services – Sometimes when we leave this to the last minute (depending on the service) we are charged extra. We might have to pay for a couple of extra days of utilities, internet, etc. You might also forget and get into your new place and realize that you forgot to forward your mail, or get a new phone number (for our out-of-state relocates that still have land lines). Make sure you call and set up your cancellation or forward days, a couple of weeks before you move. Then, it’s off your list and out of your mind!

Get Boxes – We have found, that sometimes when people are moving, they leave packing to the last minute. This means its’ done quickly and sloppy. If you get boxes early, you can pack a box here and there as you are doing chores, cleaning, before you go to bed, etc. If you didn’t have boxes, you couldn’t do a little packing here and there. Be sure to get them early. They’re easy to store and helps make the week before moving much easier! (And less to do that week, so you can focus on staying calm and relaxed to relieve any stress you might be experiencing.) If you’re moving, and live in Northern CO, we have boxes so please contact us if you need some.

Know where you’re going – If you’re moving to a new state, getting some maps or learning the area is a good idea. Sometimes getting lost is the easiest way to getting to know a new area, but you don’t want to get lost on your way to your new job or the babysitter’s. Looking into this before you go where you’re moving to is a good idea because once you get there, you gotta get where you need to go…on time.

For moving tips to help with office moves, please check out our Office Moving Tips page.