You’re in love. After years of balancing your dating and professional lives, you and your significant other are finally moving in together–and you’re delighted.
Despite your excitement, you are about to merge all of the items in your apartment with all of the items from your spouse’s apartment into a combined space. If you don’t plan this transition efficiently, it could be a logistical nightmare.
Before you put strain on your relationship and add tension to your living situation, review our top three tips for moving in together. Read on to learn more.
1.) Choose a Home That Meets Both Your Needs
So many factors come into play when you choose to live in a new place. With couples, the two most important factors are space and price. You’ll want to know you have enough space for both of your items, and that you’ll both be able to afford the rent or mortgage.
Money puts pressure on every relationship. If you make more money than your spouse, try to choose a home that’s within his or her price range.
One person often moves into the home the other person already lives in. While this type of move may be temporarily convenient and cost effective, it may make organization within a combined living space very challenging. For example, if your boyfriend lives in a one-bedroom apartment, then you’ll be combining both his and your stuff into a space that’s ideally suited for one person.
It may be better to wait until you both sell your homes, or until your respective leases are up. As you wait, you can both weigh in on your new living space. You’ll be able to rent or purchase a new home with sufficient space and the amenities you both require.
2.) Create an Inventory of Both of Your Items, and Eliminate Redundancies
Let’s say you and your significant other love to cook. Your passion for all things culinary is what brought you two together.
Because of this shared activity, you both own food processors, pizza stones, bottle openers, wine racks, and other cooking utensils. Therefore, when you move in together, you’ll be combining two kitchens’ worth of items and trying to pack those items into one kitchen. This is a recipe for disaster.
Mitigate item overflow by creating an inventory of you and your spouse’s items. Note what you have that your spouse also has. If you have the same items, decide which item you are going to keep and what you’re going to do with redundant items. You may want to get a storage space. Or, you may want to have a garage sale and get some extra cash for that food processor.
Repeat this process for your furniture, linens, window treatments, books, and bedding sets. The more meticulous you are, the fewer redundancies you’ll have in your new home.
In addition to reducing redundancies, a written inventory lets you see what your new home will need. Figure out what your new home won’t have, and shop for those items together.
3.) Hire a Professional Moving Company
Nobody likes moving. It’s physically strenuous. It’s stressful. It’s mentally draining. You want your new life with your spouse to be fun, caring, and serene. You don’t want to be fighting over who packed the mirrors and where they are. You don’t want to hassle over the cost of the moving truck. You don’t want to pack, load, and unload two homes-full of belongings, and then unpack them in a new place.
Instead of doing it all together, hire a professional moving company to pack, load, unload, and unpack you and your spouse’s things. An experienced international moving company will know how to quickly and efficiently relocate you, your significant other, and both of your possessions.