Any tips to make the unloading/unpacking process smoother? I know it is going to be crazy trying to direct the movers as to where everything goes. I'm also feeling overwhelmed because they will be unpacking our stuff as well. Any ideas are welcome!
Edited: I should have said that we have already been packed up by the movers. We are now ready to move into our house and have them unload and unpack us.
coconut / 8472 posts
Put as much stuff as you can in boxes. And label the boxes with which room you want them to end up in. When you get to the new house, give the movers a quick tour so they know which rooms are which.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
Omg it is awesome!!! Movers packed us up and moved us and they went room by room so it went really smoothly
I would label everything in HUGE letters.
honeydew / 7444 posts
Have them come in and give you a quote first. We didn't and got screwed over big time. Labeling is also a must!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
use different color duct tape on the boxes. like red for open right away, green for kitchen, blue for bathroom, etc.
way faster than reading what's on the box because you can see at a glance which room each box goes into!
honeydew / 7687 posts
Our movers labeled everything with what was inside and which room. They didn't unpack; but it made unpacking super smooth.
nectarine / 2180 posts
We have been packed and moved by professional movers 4 times in the last 6 years. For packing, I would recommend "pre-packing" what you can...for example, putting your flatware in ziplock baggies so that everything is together--less chance of something small getting lost that way. Organize everything as well as you can before they start packing.
For unpacking, our system is always to get as much out of boxes as you can while the movers are still unloading the truck. The easiest ones are the wardrobe boxes. Don't worry about organizing as you go--just get everything out of the boxes, so that the movers themselves can take as much of the packing paper and as many of the boxes as possible themselves. Occasionally they will arrange to come back and pick up the rest, but more often than not you will be left to deal with the rest of it, and the more you have the more of a pain it is. Plus, once things are out of boxes, you're more motivated to get things put away...so you'll be unpacked in no time 
We haven't really had a major problem with the unpacking stage that didn't result from the packing stage (aka packers putting bathroom stuff in a box with office stuff) so if someone else is packing you, make sure you do a good job supervising them.
We also always make sure to feed them lunch and tip them if they do a good job...that always helps!
clementine / 927 posts
If they are packing for you, make sure your home is well organized and everything is where it should be. They'll pack and unpack by room, so if everything is in the right place it SHOULD go smoothly. Keep an eye on them though, we noticed our movers getting pretty sloppy as the day progressed!
pear / 1698 posts
I've used professional movers a number of time but I've never had them unpack for us-I didn't even know that was a thing! They should label each box with the room and then when they unload they will bring it to the corresponding room at the new place. For big stuff like furniture they will usually ask where you want it. I liked @Pancakes idea about unpacking as they go to get rid of the paper and boxes!
pomelo / 5298 posts
I've never used the unpacking services as it felt like it would be too much pressure/hassle to direct them where I wanted every last thing in my home. Good luck 
nectarine / 2272 posts
I also did not know they could unpack you! I've moved 4 times in the past 9 years and we've moved ourselves everytime. We just got movers this past time, and i didnt know what to do with myself lol!
cantaloupe / 6086 posts
we just had a relo move paid for by DH's job. we only asked for a partial unpack because it's a small house and I just couldn't deal with everything being out at once. they will put stuff on the floor when they run out of surface (tables, counters). it's not possible to keep up if they have multiple guys on the team.
we had them unpack the kitchen and the nursery and that was plenty, I was still kind of overwhelmed between that and furniture. if you can go ahead of time and plan some things (maybe take post-its to help remember) like which cabinet is plates, which is glasses, etc - that's helpful. also have a plan for all furniture and if you have multiple people directing, make sure everyone knows the plan. since we moved cross-country we had different teams at each end so they also didn't understand how certain things went back together and we had to direct them (for example, our kitchen table hides a leaf and they didn't put that part back together until I asked). it's nice though when you are not paying by the hour (hope that is the case for you) you can take time to make sure everything is right at the end and ask them to fix/move stuff for you.
also one other nice aspect of the partial unpack was that they were willing to come back and pick up boxes 10 days later. we were able to store all boxes in our shed (no basement) until they came, and it motivated us to finish every box by then. if we had a big house I might have done a full unpack, but it would also depend on what your kid situation is (do you have them, how many, are they going to be there while the movers come, how soon will they be there if not). I was also 8w pregnant and it was just less stressful to keep some stuff in boxes until I was ready to deal with it.
blogger / pineapple / 12381 posts
Movers are amazing. Ours boxed things in such an organized way. I think organizing as much as you can beforehand helps. That way all I had to know is that it was kitchen drawer X to know exactly what was in it. I also made sure all boxes were labeled on all sides for ease of identifying what was in them.
pomelo / 5258 posts
@Mrs. Bee: we did the duct tape thing based on your suggestion. It worked so well. The movers hadn't seen it before but they were impressed. We put two "keys" in house & the color above each room.
pomegranate / 3383 posts
After using professional movers once, i don't think I can ever do it any other way!
Our movers had packed and labeled everything. When they arrived at our new home my husband was there directing them where to bring boxes based on their labels. It was pretty seamless and took way less than normal to unpack!
pineapple / 12566 posts
We've had movers unpack us a few times. What I do is just ask them to remove things from boxes and then I put it all away (I'm obsessive, I could never let anyone put away the stuff for me). I mostly wanted them to unpack so that they would remove the boxes and wrappings from the apartment. The movers have always labeled the boxes in the past, so they know where to put the boxes in the new place.
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