What to do the first week after moving to Gatineau

Are you moving soon, but you’re not quite sure how your life will look in the first week after moving to Gatineau? Don’t worry – Professional Movers Ottawa is here to help! There are numerous tasks that wait for you even after the relocation. We say that the relocation isn’t over until the last item is out of the box, so keep that in mind before you relocate. Don’t relax and let yourself procrastinate unpacking for a year. It has been known to happen, and it only prolongs the inevitable. To learn how to organize the first week after moving to Gatineau and start your new life chapter on the right foot, keep on reading!

Plan how you’re going to unpack

Many moving companies Gatineau offers can help you with various processes after the move. In your first week after moving to Gatineau, you’ll need to unload the truck, unpack, do more heavy lifting and moving, as well as furniture assembling. To stay safe and finish everything in a timely manner, it’s important that you take the time and organize the process.

That way, you’ll see which parts of the process you need help with and you’ll know where to get it. If your friends live nearby, they’ll be able to help – and some parts of the process are, just like with relocation, probably safer if you hand them over to professionals.

Start your unpacking process

• Clean the rooms gradually, starting with the bathroom and kitchen. Those are the rooms that you’ll need right away. The bathroom is a necessity, so take care of it on the first day. Unpack the necessary items such as toiletries and towels, wash the cabin and toilet, and make sure that all the surfaces are well cleaned. When it comes to the kitchen, it’s the process that can go a little bit slower than expected sometimes, so make sure that you have another option regarding the food that’s not “preparing it myself”.
• Unpack room by room. To localize the chaos, don’t unpack all the boxes at once. If you’ve had a good labeling system, you’ll know what boxes you need to unpack first. Place all the boxes in the rooms where you’d like to unpack them. In the beginning, this creates a sense of order. If you can, leave the big furniture pieces all in one room until you’ve cleaned the others – if the cleaning is necessary and the movers haven’t already placed your furniture where you told them. After that, you can clean room by room and unpack. It’s best if you clean the room from the top to the bottom – and from the furthest corner of the room towards the door.
• Set up the important items first. Some of the appliances and items that you’ll definitely need at first are mattresses, linen, pillows, toiletries, fridge, and similar. If you’re living with kids, unpack their room first. Set it up and let them get comfortable in it. The sooner they start feeling like they have their space, they’ll start feeling better.

When you’ve unpacked, move items from -or to – the storage

A lot of people don’t pay attention to what space is telling them. They try to fit the items in the room at every cost. The truth is that sometimes more isn’t better – and that the items simply don’t fit. In that case, you have several options. You can sell the items, donate or gift them, or you can simply place them in storage until you figure out what to do with them. As you’ve only moved recently, placing the items in storage for at least a short amount of time is a good option. It will provide more space in your apartment and give you the time to think.

Get rid of the packing materials

As you already know, in your first week after moving to Gatineau, it’s very important that you unpack. If you’ve planned to rent the materials from the moving company, then you know that you have to unpack until a certain date comes. Moreover, the moving company will take care of your packing materials. If you don’t make that kind of arrangement, you’ll be left with numerous packing boxes and materials that you won’t know how to get rid of. You can sell it online or as a gift to a friend that’s relocating, but selling it in a package is a good, viable option, given how much money has to be invested in the packing materials.

Greet the neighbors!

It’s important that you leave a good first impression on your neighbors. What better way for that, than to show them that you’re looking forward to getting to know them? Make a little dinner get-together, or leave a gift in front of their home. Help them with the chore, or simply stop by with the cookies and say hello. Chatting with people will let them know that you’re there and that you’re interested in becoming a part of the community. If you want to meet more people from your community, visit the Canadian Museum of History, Casino Du Lac-Leamy, Jacques Cartier Park, or many other interesting places that Gatineau offers.

Have you moved to Gatineau yet?

Are you still in the process of planning your relocation to Gatineau? Congratulations on taking all parts of the process into consideration! After you’ve set up the rooms and met the neighbors, all that’s left for you to do is to set up the utilities. The first week after moving to Gatineau is the most stressful. If you still haven’t found the right movers for the job, contact us, and keep in mind that we can help you start this new chapter on the right foot. Have a seamless transition into your new home with Professional Movers Ottawa!