The day has finally come. You’ve found the right place for the right price, gone through the arduous process of packing your whole life into boxes and bins, and you’re piling out of the car to begin moving into your new home. Then, of course, you’re struck by the monumental nature of the task at hand: unpacking. Somehow you have to get everything from your old place out of all of those boxes and into their proper place in the new space. It can be a really overwhelming task, and hard to know where to start. To help you get a leg up on moving in, here are a few tips to make your unpacking as smooth as possible.

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Organize Your Packing

The first step towards making your unpacking simple and easy is to start with how you go about packing in the first place. Label your boxes so you can easily tell what’s in them and don’t have to search around for individual items, as things inevitably get lost in the shuffle of moving from one home to another. Additionally, try to pack things up by room rather than random, and label boxes accordingly. When you’re ready to begin unpacking you can easily figure out which boxes to unpack in each room by checking the labels you made.

Pack Essentials Separately

One of the true pains of moving is really needing to find something, knowing exactly where you put it… and then not being able to find it. You can help mitigate this problem by packing a separate box or bag with your main essentials. These are all the items that you really need in the short term and you should always have access to; these include toiletries, soap and towels, some changes of clothes, chargers for various devices, and basic bedding. Make a list of things you use throughout your day without even giving it a second thought — that’s the kind of stuff you need to keep in your essentials box. With how much of a hassle moving is already you don’t want to make things any more difficult for yourself, so make sure you’re able to find your toothbrush while you’re still not done unpacking the collective contents of your life.

Start With Your Kitchen

What’s worse than unpacking? Unpacking on an empty stomach. Kitchens are the heart and soul of any household, and your kitchen should absolutely be one of your first priorities when moving into your new home. Unpack the bare essentials: some pots and pans, utensils, and dishware for use as you work on unpacking the rest of the house. Being able to cook and eat in your new home while you’re still sorting everything into its proper place will be a huge benefit to your well-being, so make sure to get your kitchen up and running early on.

Set Up Your Storage

One easy trap you can fall into while unpacking is pulling everything out of your boxes, excited to start getting things squared away… and then not having anywhere to put things. Instead of diving right in, start with setting up your storage spaces. Scout out closets, crawlspaces, side rooms, and other storage spaces that came with the home, then start setting up the ones that you brought with you. Unpack any shelves, dressers, or other functional pieces of furniture so you’ve got somewhere to put your stuff. If you’ve made a trip to any stores like IKEA, building your new purchases is a great place to start before you wade fully into the boxes. Once you’ve got your storage setup you can start unpacking properly and putting things into their new homes.

Plan Your Space

When it comes to unpacking it can be tempting to just go about it willy-nilly, pulling things out at a whim and figuring it out as you go. This can certainly work, but a lot of the time it’s counterproductive. Instead, try planning out your new space. Designate what each room is going to be so you can move all of your boxes there accordingly. Then, try and visualize the space fully realized with everything unpacked. Plan out how you want to organize everything, where you want furniture and decorations to go, as well as personal belongings. With that plan in mind, you can begin unpacking with purpose and order, which will make it a simple and easy task to get your new home to look exactly how you want it to look with the minimum difficulty.

Moving is a difficult prospect at the best of times, and at the worst, it can be a real pain. Hopefully, these tips have given you a better idea of how to go about the process with the most ease and convenience so you can enjoy getting settled into your new home