I did the exact same thing years ago. I sorted out all of the I know I don't wants and got rid of them. Anything of value I kept with me in my bedroom. This was good for me, because my storage unit was broken into and luckily they got bored pretty quick. I agree with labeling boxes. The last time Andy and I moved we also put the intended room on the box, so that when friends and family helped us move, they brought the boxes to the right room and it saved a lot of time afterwards.

Andy also uses little freezer bags to tape any screws and allen wrenches and tapes them to the piece of furniture they coordinate with, that way we aren't trying to find pieces when we eventually put things back together.

I invested in a laundry sorter too with removable mesh bags, and that helped keep my room organized. I kept all of my bills and important papers in a hanging file.

Good luck!

honeychile, I am sorry about the loss of your mother. So, so hard.

Don't pack blankets. You'll want them to cushion your furniture in the moving van.

Regarding labeling boxes, try to pack according to the rooms the stuff will be in, not where it is now. If you are downsizing, you may end up combining rooms (like office and living room are now together).

You'd be surprised at how many people collect boxes and bubble wrap. Ask around, and you may be able to get a lot of that stuff for free.

I'm really sorry for your loss. Definitely don't get rid of anything. I was just having a conversation with my mom about cleaning out her grandmother's house. Her father rushed them through it, and over 30 years later, she's still mad about it. Best to get rid of things on your own terms.

Forgot about this! Yes!!!

When you take your bed apart (for example), grab all the bolts, throw them in a sandwich bag, and tape that bag to the head board or something.

There's nothing more frustrating than assembling something and then finding out you're missing one really important screw in the end.

hehe, Did this already with the dining table. We're ditching most of the furniture and borrowing a pickup for the bed and a few other pieces that I'm actually keeping.

Thank you. My brother thinks I'm lollygagging (all those who know the Bull Durham reference, raise your hands), but he nor his wife have ever been to an estate sale. When I told them that the estate agent simply opens drawers, evaluates the price, and puts things out to sell, they didn't believe me. *sigh* There are a LOT of things I'd like to take, but for the sake of the sale, probably won't. I've moved a lot of the awkward & small things out to my house (I lived with her for the last six years, when she became legally blind - thank heavens I kept my house!), but I have tons of boxes of books which are simply too heavy. I still need to get into both of the attics, too! Oh, I used my blankets with some of the middle-range china. I wrapped a few tea pots in bubble wrap, then put them between the blankets.

One cool thing I found a week ago & am looking for again: my parents moved into this house 50 years ago, and it was the model house for this subdivision (read: all the upgrades). One of them found the advertisement for it in the paper, and kept it! I think that would be a very interesting thing for anyone who buys the house! I also have a list of neighbors, babysitters, dog walkers and lawn mowers ready.

As much as moving sucks, I can't help but be envious. My theoretical move-out date seems to get further and further away all the time.

[/self-pity and unnecessary whining]

Taking notes here. We are moving at the end of the month. I am in packing hell right now

Sing it! I keep dreaming of my mother saying, "Look in the attics - BOTH of them!", so I'm not taking one step without checking out the attics. But, with the heat index hovering at 100 this week, I doubt that I'll be in the attics in a hurry. Besides, they're both VERY awkward to get into - I will have to take a cell phone in case I hurt myself. The one is in the linen closet - after you take out all of the linens. The other is over my mother's closet, so there's only one shelf to clear off, but I'll need a ladder. I plan to have pillows on the floor, in case I need to throw something down!

Oh, Drole...I am the Queen of getting rid of everything for a move! When I moved to Baltimore, we took nothing but our clothes because we got all new furniture! Start putting up flyers around school to see if any of the students would want some of you old furniture. Since you aren't using movers, you can't pawn off your furniture on them. I've had movers take coaches with stuffing pouring out the sides! Anyway, Good Will will take the other stuff, but you have to call and make an appointment for them to pick it up, so plan ahead.
I don't know where you live, but if you are in a suburban area, putting stuff on the curb is also a surefire way to make things disappear. :)
Moving boxes can be expensive. Try going to grocery stores and pulling behind the stores to the dumpster areas. When the stores get shipments, they will dump the boxes out back. I was lucky working in a hospital that I got to do this with the Pharmacy instead. You may be able to go inside and ask them for boxes and see what is the best time to come by to get them before they get nasty.

Everytime I move (which is frequent), I wish I had thrown away more. I disagree with 33girl's advice. Really consider if you have worn something and will ever use it again before packing it in a box. With this last move, I wanted to cry when the movers left, and I surveyed the mound of boxes in my kitchen. I survived, but next time will be different!

Ask at Target if you can have boxes. Wal-Mart, too. They go through like 8,000 a day and if it's not the reusable kind that stores use, they'll probably send you out of the store with a cart full of them.

My suggestion is to pack by room and don't waste your time labeling too much (i.e. "books, paper, picture frames" could just be "office") I used to waste so much time gathering up similar items and labeling everything, but then I realized you just move it to the right room and open it up anyways, and you can find what you need pretty quickly.

To my GC friends who are moving - my heart is with you. Moving is the hardest experience for me. Every time I have to do it, at some point, I break down. I posted here somewhere with some tips, let me see if I can find them.

Ditto on this.

Also, paper tape is crap. Get the annoying plastic tape that needs the dispenser. I am a sucker and get the paper tape every time, but it always tears. Professional movers ALWAYS use the plastic tape.

Don't over pack your boxes. You'll end up busting through the bottoms and hurting yourself trying to lift them. If you get big boxes, fill them with large, light objects, not heavy objects like books.

We're moving at the end of August. I'm so glad we decided to buy a new couch that will work for all of our living room furniture - we're just moving our chair and couch to the curb, and our new couch will be delivered the next day.

We also decided to get rid of the idea that it's good to have a sleeper sofa around - we have a second bedroom and we haven't used the bed part of the sofa since we moved in 2 years ago. I don't know why I thought our place would wind up being a hotel!