Ask the Experts: Residential Moving Tips and Tricks

When planning a big move, it can help to come up with a few tricks to help along the way. At 1^st Choice Movers, we provide residential moving for St Paul and the surrounding areas and we know a thing or two about planning a successful move. So we would like to provide some expert advice! Here are a few great tips and tricks to help make your move as smooth as possible.

• Vacuum seal any out-of-season clothing or any clothing you don’t plan on wearing anytime soon. Not only will they take up less space, they will be a breeze to unpack and go directly into storage at the new home.
• Keep clothes on their hangers for much faster packing and unpacking. When you choose 1^st Choice Movers, we provide the free use of wardrobe boxes! Each 4’x3’ box comes with a metal rod so you can simply take your clothing directly out of your closet on their hangers and hang them up in the boxes. We can provide as many boxes as you need!
• Number your boxes. Make a list of what’s in each box by number. This can help you make sure you aren’t forgetting anything.
• Use color-coding! Pick a color code for each room in the new home and label that room’s boxes accordingly with brightly colored tape. With 1^st Choice Movers, we can even provide these color coding systems and labels for you!
• Hire professional movers especially if you have a lot of fragile valuables. Also, remember to book your residential moving company weeks in advance. Moving on the last day of the month? This is an especially busy residential moving time; so be sure you book well in advance.
• For same-city moves, hiring a sitter for children and pets can help alleviate some of the stress. 
• If you have some items that you want to get rid of, schedule for a charity organization to come pick up your items at least one week before your residential moving company arrives. Or, if you prefer to sell, start selling online at least six weeks before moving.
• Make your last and final grocery trip two weeks prior to moving in order to cut down on what you need to throw away when it comes to moving time. And, don’t forget to defrost your refrigerator at least one day before moving and wipe up any liquid.

We hope that some of these tips and tricks will help you on your upcoming move. And, we hope you will choose 1^st Choice Movers for all of your residential moving needs. If you need more information about residential moving in St Paul, give us a call at 763-559-5934 or contact us to get a Free Estimate.

10 Moving Tips from St Paul Movers

It seems you can never get enough moving tips. Here are some simple things to remember the next time you move to make the transition easier. If you need movers in St Paul, you can give us a call to make transporting your items from your old place to your new a swift and easy process.

1. Pack an overnight bag containing all the essentials
   Most likely you’ll be too tired to unpack your things, so you’ll want your essentials within easy access, including toiletries and a change of clothes.
2. Pack the items you will need first in a clear plastic bin
   This can include items like a box cutter, paper towels, trash bags, toilet paper, tools, eating utensils, select cookware, power strips, phone chargers, etc. The clear bin allows you to see inside and also separates it from the myriad of cardboard boxes.
3. Wrap breakables (glasses, dishes, etc.) in clothing or towels to save on bubble wrap
   You’re packing two things at once – clothing and kitchenware. Clean socks are great to add extra padding around glasses and stemware.
4. Pack plates vertically, like records
   They are less likely to break when packed this way.
5. Label boxes and mark by room
   You want to unpack by room once you get to your new place. This will make the unpacking process much more manageable. So label each box by the room it needs to go to. Also, remember to label the sides of the boxes, rather than the tops. That way, you can identify them even when they are stacked.
6. Buy a roll of stretch wrap
   This will allow you to group items together and protect furniture from getting scuffed and scratched.
7. Keep sandwich bags handy
   These are great for holding small parts of things you have to take apart, like curtain rods or mounted flat-screen TVs.
8. Try to show up at the new home before the move to pre-clean
   The main areas you will want to clean will be the kitchen and bathroom. You can put up a shower curtain and stock some bath towels and toilet paper to be ready for moving day.
9. Take a photo of electronics
   If you take a photo of how your electronics are connected, you’ll be able to remember how and where all the wires go when you hook them back up.
10. Cut down on boxes by making all your baskets, hampers, laundry bins and suitcases work for you
    They need to be moved too, so pack them with stuff! Use wheeled suitcases for heavy items like books.

We hope these tips will make your next move easier. Keep checking our blog for additional moving tips. If you need movers in St Paul, give us a call at 763-559-5934 or contact us to get a Free Estimate.

Have Some Professional Movers do the Moving For You

Your moving day is right around the corner! Don’t spend your time moving and placing your furniture and accessory items in your new home yourself! Call on some professional movers for your St Paul area move! 1^st Choice Movers has been the first choice to so many residents of the greater Twin Cities area for quite a few years—they help eradicate the stress that comes with moving day! Why deal with the difficulties presented by moving on your own?

We at 1^st Choice Movers have prepared some advice for those who may have never hired a professional mover before. See below:

It may be within your best interests to put together a very detailed list of any and all items that you will be taking with you as you move into your new home. The more detailed your list is, the better track you will be able to keep of any and all items on it. Create an inventory of the number of boxes, individual pieces of furniture, each appliance and the rooms in which they will reside in your new home. If you are bringing any very large items (piano, huge couch, etc.), you may wish to notify your professional movers of these items in advance. Providing your professional movers this information all but guarantees that they will arrive prepared with the properly-sized moving truck, that they provide enough movers and equipment. Make sure you know where this list is, have it readily available for moving day.

Your professional movers should be informed of anything that falls outside of the lines of ordinary regarding your move. Maybe you have large dogs milling about the property or frequently encounter parking issues on your street. Things like security gates, elevators, stairs can be unintentional obstacles that can hinder the efficiency of your move—things that your professional movers should be made aware of.

Saturdays, summertime and/or the last weekend of any month are the busiest times for professional movers. Keep this in mind as you plot the when for your move. It is also a good idea to start as early as possible on any given day, allowing timely arrival and a fresh start to the day for your professional movers.

Would you like to learn more about professional movers in St Paul? Call us at 1^stChoice Movers at 763-559-5934 or you can contact us for a Free Estimate.

Preparing for the Arrival of Professional Movers

There is plenty to think about and do when you are moving. You have to make a lot of different decisions, and there is usually a strict time frame that everything has to be done by. One thing you should think about and prepare for is the day your professional movers arrive. You may think all you have to do is make sure everything is packed and ready to go, but there are a few other items you should make sure you get done too. Here are a few tips from some professional movers in the Twin Cities.

First of all, make sure you know what our movers are and are not allowed to move. For example, we cannot move gas cans, paint cans or firewood. You might also want to move fragile items yourself, including computers and electronics. These items should be moved either before or after our movers arrive at your house. If you will be moving them after, be sure to let us know what items not to load.

We will lay down protective coverings on your floors, but if you have any area rugs that are particularly valuable to you, you might want to move those aside as well. It is better to err on the side of caution, even though our movers do everything they can to ensure your belongings do not get damaged.

Make sure there is a clear, safe path between where we will park our moving van and the front door of your home. This includes shoveling snow or de-icing the sidewalks if it has recently snowed. You also want to be sure there is a clear path inside the home for use to get your items out. In other words, don’t leave last-minute items in hallways or places where they could be tripped over while moving other larger items. 

Finally, be sure every last item is packed, boxed and ready to go. Make sure all boxes are closed and sealed with packing tape. You may want to have an empty box or two set aside for last-minute things you need to pack. That can also help you stay organized while our movers are there doing their work.

If you would like to learn more about professional movers in the Twin Cities and throughout the surrounding areas, call 1^st Choice Movers at 763-559-5934 or you can contact us for a Free Estimate.

Make Sure You Have These Items on Moving Day!

Moving day can be quite stressful, but there are a few things you can do to help ease some of this tension. One thing you can do is to make sure you have basic moving supplies handy. As a professional moving company in Minnesota, over the years we have learned the best items to have on hand, so here are a few tips.

You want to make sure you have permanent markers. While your boxes might be all packed and ready to go, you might have forgotten to label one. Or maybe you missed a few items and need to pack them at the last minute. It’d be nice to be able to label those boxes to ensure that nothing gets mixed up and everything gets to where it needs to go!

You should be sure to have extra packing tape lying around too – consider having one to two rolls just in case. Again, you might have forgotten to pack a box or two. Or you might have to reopen one to get an item you need. Being able to re-tape it after you’re done could wind up saving you just a bit of stress after your professional moving company arrives.

Extra boxes of varying sizes are also good to have around before, during and after your professional moving team arrives. You can pack up any loose items that you haven’t packed yet. We recommend leaving one box open for the entire duration of your move so you can pack up those last few items before your moving truck pulls away to go to your new house.

Finally, you should have some spare cleaning supplies on hand as well: cleaning products, paper towels and maybe a sponge or two. You might need to clean your home right after your professional moving team leaves if you are a renter and worried about getting your security deposit back, depending on the terms of your lease agreement. Or someone might inadvertently spill something as you are moving, so having paper towels and supplies to clean up could help alleviate some of that stress too. Along with cleaning supplies, you should also have some spare trash bags too. That helps with keeping your home clean even during the hustle and bustle of moving day.

Do you want more information on our professional moving team in Minnesota? Call 1^st Choice Movers at 763-559-5934 or you can contact us and get a Free Estimate.

Packing for Commercial Moving

When you need to move your business to a new location, it can be tough to balance the need to keep your business running and serving its customers vs. finding the time to pack, hiring a commercial moving company, keeping your employees organized and everything else that goes into a move. 1^st Choice Movers is a commercial moving service near Anoka County, and we help business owners like you move throughout the entire state of Minnesota. In order to help ease your moving process, we thought we would share some of our favorite packing tips.

When it is time to start packing to prepare for your commercial moving company’s arrival, get your employees involved. They should be responsible for packing their own belongings, and you can assign a team to pack items that are in common areas too. If your employees pack any files or other items that are confidential, they can put them into locked boxes or containers for added security.

As your employees are packing, have them fill out an inventory sheet so everyone knows what was packed and where things should go in your new location. You can also use this inventory sheet to tell our commercial moving team where to put your boxes and other items. This could help eliminate confusion about what goes where on your moving day.

All boxes should be labeled. Each employee should label the boxes they pack and indicate what box number it is. For example: “box 2 of 6.” The same rule applies to furniture. Make sure you label each piece of furniture and indicate where it should go in your new business location.

When you call to schedule an appointment with our commercial moving service, you should give us as much information you have about your new location. If you can give us a floor plan of where you want your furniture to go, our team can make sure each item ends up exactly where you want it.

These are only a handful of packing and moving tips from our commercial moving team. When you call us, we can give you even more tips and advice to help make your move easier and less stressful.

Would you like more information on our commercial moving service in Anoka County and the surrounding areas? Call us at 1^st Choice Movers at 763-559-5934, or you can contact us and get a Free Estimate.

Tips on How to Relocate Your Business

When it's time to relocate your business, it can be a stressful time. There are many important decisions you need to make, and you want the moving process to be as smooth and stress-free as possible. After all, the longer your business is closed for moving, the more potential income you are missing. We are commercial movers in Scott County, and as business owners ourselves, we understand how stressful this time can be. So here are a few suggestions on how to make this process as smooth as possible.

Keep Everyone in the Loop

As soon as you know you are moving, you need to let your customers and vendors know. You should also start looking for commercial movers, like 1^st Choice Movers, to get on our schedule as soon as possible. The sooner you call us, the more likely you are to book the exact moving date and time you want.

Start Planning

If possible, you should take the time to visit your new business location. Start planning out the new layout, and make sure your employees get a floor plan so they know where they will be working in the new office. You should also start making a list of any new items or supplies you will need.

Start Packing and Get Ready

A few weeks before you move, start packing. Ask your employees to pack their own items, and be sure to provide supplies like boxes and packing tape. Everyone should label their boxes with their names too. You should also have a clear path for your commercial movers on the day they arrive. Make sure there is ample space outside for your commercial movers and their moving van.

Do you want to learn more about our commercial movers in Scott County? Call 1^st Choice Movers at 763-559-5934 or contact us for a Free Estimate.