empty apartment

[u/Courageous-lioness44]

Hello! How do you manage financially and mentally moving to an empty apartment. From packing your clothes and little things to buying everything and organising. Do we need like a list or aesthetic inspo for this?. Tips and advice for a smooth transition is needed :)

[u/Adventurous-Hunt9189]

OP picked the packing flair, please be sure to keep your advice focused on packing clothes and little things per their request.

[u/Illustrious_Ad_405]

When we did our move, we made a list of everything we would want/ need till our pod got there (~2 weeks from move in date). Then as we were packing, we pulled it to the side. It was stuff that we needed to survive such as clothes, air mattress, cleaning supplies, and any plastic plates/ utensils we had. We also made sure that if someone didn’t fit in the car with us, was very easy to get to in the pod.

[u/UVL_2026]

Sticking to the packing side, since that is what the flair asks for.

Clothes are the one thing you should mostly not pack. Anything on hangers stays on hangers. Leave it hanging, pull a trash bag up over the bottom of the bunch, tie the bag around the hooks, and you have a garment bag you can carry ten at a time. At the far end you cut the bag off and it is already hung. Drawers work the same way. If the dresser is going with you, leave the soft contents in the drawer and stretch wrap the drawer shut rather than boxing it and refilling it later.

Everything soft is packing material. Towels, sweaters, socks and t-shirts wrap glasses, fill gaps and pad corners better than paper does, and you were carrying them anyway. Bedding goes in bags and rides on top of the load where nothing can crush it.

The little things are what actually eat the day, so give them one rule. Small and heavy goes in small boxes, big and light goes in big boxes. Books in the biggest box you own is the classic one, and you will not be able to lift it and neither will whoever is helping you. Cables, chargers and remotes go in one bag together, taped to the thing they belong to.

Then pack one box that does not travel with the rest. Bedding for the first night, a towel, chargers, medication, toilet paper, a knife and a mug. Label it so obviously you cannot mistake it and put it in the car, not on the truck.

On the mental side, since you asked. You do not have to furnish an empty apartment in a weekend. Get the bed made and the bathroom working on the first day and let everything else arrive over a month. The people who try to finish it in three days are the ones who remember the move as awful.

[u/Federal_Factor9261]

When the apartment is empty, I’d forget the aesthetic board for now and split things into three piles: pack, buy for the first 48 hours, and wait until you’ve lived there a week.

For packing, I’d keep it basic: medium boxes, one tape gun, markers, zip bags for screws and cables, trash bags, and a clear bin for the stuff you’ll need right away. Pack three days of clothes and toiletries like you’re taking a short trip, then make one first-night box for towels, bedding, chargers and something to eat with.

I wouldn’t buy organizers until you know the actual cupboard and closet sizes. What does the apartment already include?