The move, week by week.

A checklist from crews who have done this five thousand times. Follow it and moving day becomes the easiest part.

4 wk

4 weeks before the move

Book your movers — mid-week, mid-month dates are cheaper and easier to get. Declutter room by room: sell, donate, or toss anything you haven't used in a year. Every box you don't move is money saved. Start a move folder (or notes app) for quotes, receipts, and your inventory list. Order packing materials, or reserve full packing service with your movers.

2 wk

2 weeks before

File a change of address with USPS and update banks, insurance, and subscriptions. Schedule utility shut-off at the old place and turn-on at the new one — internet installers book out fast. Start packing rooms you rarely use: garage, bookshelves, seasonal clothes, decor. Arrange parking for the truck at both addresses; reserve elevators in apartment buildings.

1 wk

1 week before

Pack everything except daily essentials. Label every box with its room and contents. Confirm details with your moving coordinator: time window, crew size, access notes. Use up frozen and perishable food; defrost the freezer 48 hours before the move. Disassemble what you can and keep hardware in labeled zip bags taped to the furniture.

Day

Moving day

Pack an essentials bag: documents, medication, chargers, valuables, a change of clothes. It rides with you, not in the truck. Walk the foreman through the home and point out fragile or high-value items. Keep pets and kids with a friend or in one closed, clearly marked room. Before the truck leaves, do a final sweep: closets, cabinets, dishwasher, garage, behind doors.

After the move

Check items off your inventory as they come off the truck; note any issues with the foreman on the spot. Assemble beds first — everything else can wait until tomorrow. Test smoke detectors, locate the water shut-off and breaker panel in the new home. Break down boxes as you unpack; many Bay Area cities collect flattened cardboard curbside.

Packing tips
from the crew.

Heavy in small, light in large

Books go in small boxes, pillows in large ones. If you can't lift a box comfortably, neither can the person carrying it down three flights of stairs.

Don't empty the drawers

Light, soft contents (clothes, linens) can stay in dressers — we wrap the whole piece. Remove anything heavy, fragile, or likely to shift.

Plates on their edge

Dishes packed vertically like records survive far better than stacked flat. Cushion with paper above and below, and mark the box FRAGILE — THIS SIDE UP.

The hanging-clothes shortcut

Ask about wardrobe boxes — we bring them on moving day for free use. Closet to closet, still on hangers, zero folding.

Photograph the cables

Before unplugging the TV and router, take a photo of the back. Future you, sitting on the floor of a new living room, will be grateful.

The "open first" box

One clearly marked box with the kettle, coffee, toilet paper, sheets, towels, and a toolkit. It gets loaded last and comes off the truck first.