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Moving can be a very stressful time. After sorting, culling, organizing and packing up years of life – wondering at how much stuff there is to sort through – everything must be carefully transported to your new home. You put a lot of effort into securing all your precious cargo. You’ve padded, swaddled and prepared your precious things to make the move with as little damage as possible.

How can you make sure the final leg of the journey is damage free? Accidents will happen, but you can stack the odds in your favor. Here are some tips on how to move into your new home without destroying it.

Measure & Model

You can minimize the effort and guesswork involved in a move by creating floor layouts and a basic moving plan.

• Take measurements of the new rooms so you know exactly where your furniture will fit.
• Be sure to measure all doors, entryways and staircases.
• Remove tight doors ahead of time to ease the traffic flow and avoid scraping your furniture.

Floor Finesse

Your new floors are designed to take their fair share of abuse but why subject them to the added punishment of a move?

If you want to avoid cracked tiles, scratched wood and stained carpet, take steps to protect your floors during a move.

• Pave a safe path with plastic sheeting or strips of cardboard taped along high traffic areas.
• Put a doormat or two outside the front door to keep movers from tracking in dirt.
• Use blankets underneath heavy pieces of furniture to keep from scratching your floors.

Check the Corners

Take a walk through your new space and identify areas that may get scratched, dented or damaged ahead of time. You can take steps to protect your walls, corners and stairs.

• Hang moving blankets on damage prone walls.
• Wrap your staircase banisters with towels or plastic sheeting.
• Attach felt pads to furniture items like bookcases, dressers and tables that will rest against the wall.

Top to bottom

Limit the traffic through your new home moving things into the farthest areas first. Move items into the upstairs and back areas before the areas closest to the entrance. This is where the prior planning mentioned at the start really comes into play. You’ll reduce the amount of back and forth across your floors and in the spaces farthest from the entrance and achieve a faster move.

A little planning and preparation will make your next move your best move.