How To Prepare Your Tiny Home for Your Next Move
While chatting with the person next to me on my last flight back to California, I learned she had lived in a tiny home. My curiosity got the best of me, and I asked her all sorts of questions about tiny home living. The woman next to me has lived in a tiny home for over a decade and moved around the country, taking her tiny house with her. I was so intrigued and asked her questions to see how she got this done. I wanted to share that here.
California, especially the Los Angeles area, is a great place to live in a tiny home. You can find excellent tiny home communities in this area and across the state, perfect for single adults and families with children. However, jobs and other factors like the cost of living and changes in family needs can sometimes require you to move to a different location. While the new area will probably welcome your tiny home, the hassle of moving can quickly overwhelm the feeling of excitement for a new place.
If you are in a tiny home and need to move soon, you should start preparing your house, especially if you have children’s items to pack up as well. Keep reading to learn how to prepare your tiny home for your next move.
Choose Your Moving Method
Some people own or rent trucks that can haul their tiny homes, while others turn to professionals. Call a logistics company if you need professional help moving your tiny home. While moving companies specialize in moving belongings, you need someone who can safely move your entire home. A logistics company will have the experience, necessary licenses, and permits to make your move happen.
Pack Loose Items in Storage Boxes
While the tiny home lifestyle often helps people cut back on clutter, you still need some loose items—and if you have young children, you probably have many loose items. Tableware in your kitchen, personal supplies in the bathroom, and toys in kids’ bedrooms can all go flying and wreak havoc while your tiny home is in transit.
Secure larger items to walls or floors using safety straps or bubble wrap, and pack smaller loose items into storage boxes that you can secure within your home or bring in another vehicle. Remember to label these items so you and your kids can easily unpack once you reach your exciting new destination.
Disconnect Utilities and Secure Appliances
With your items packed and transportation on the way, your last order of business is to disconnect your utilities and secure large appliances. This is one of the most important steps in preparing your tiny home for a stress-free pickup.
Moving your home while it’s still connected to utility lines like water or gas is unsafe. And the large appliances that use these utilities, such as refrigerators or stoves, can also cause safety problems if they’re not secure. Doors can fly open, banging into walls or windows, and appliances can shift and damage parts of your home. Be sure to secure them—or hire moving professionals to secure them—so you know everything will arrive in good shape at your new home location.
Knowing how to prepare your tiny home for your next move can make the overall moving process easier. If you still feel overwhelmed by the thought of moving, write down a list of all the things you need to accomplish. Start with contacting a logistics company, then write down each step you need to follow until you start living at your new location. You could even make age-appropriate copies of these lists for your kids so they can also follow along with the move. This gives you and your children a sense of control over this big process and can help keep things calm while moving.
If you’re looking for help staying organized during your move, check out the Move Mama Move Relocation Planners with all the checklists, tips, trackers, and logs to keep you on top of it all during this major transition.
