2011 has ended and now that it is over, we have some pretty good statistics on all of the things that happened during the year. 2011 was a great year for the moving industry. People were like busy little ants as they moved all over the country. Some places saw a lot more moving action than others.

Where was everyone moving to?

In the moving industry the states that people are moving into are called inbound states. It makes sense because all of these people are moving into the states. In 2011 there were five states that saw more inbound moving traffic than any others. Here they are in no particular order.

Florida – About seven percent of the moves in the United States in the year 2011 were to Florida. People love the sunshine, and beaches that Florida has to offer. Good prices on real estate and the theme parks make it an easier choice for moving as well.

California – California has always been a very busy state for moving. About ten percent of all the moves in the United States during the year 2011 were moving into California. It is apparently the place that people want to be, and why not. California has so much to offer. It has world famous beaches, snow capped mountain ranges, valleys that grow some of the best wine grapes in the world, and the lure and appeal of Hollywood.

Texas – Texas is huge. It is so large that many people have come to think of it as its very own country. Nine percent of all moves in the United States during 2011 were moving into the big old state of Texas. I guess it is true what they say about Texas. Everything is bigger, including the inbound moving rates.

Here is a bit of moving Irony for you. These same three states that had the highest rates of inbound moving for the year 2011, also had the highest rates for outbound moving in the same year.

Ten percent of all moves in the United States during the year 2011 were moving out of California. It had the very same amount of inbound moving. I guess just as many people like the idea of moving to California as the amount of people who no longer want to live in the state. Texas had some serious outbound moving traffic as well. It saw five percent of all moves leaving the state. That is a four percent difference from moving in to moving out. At least more people moved in to Texas, unlike California.

Florida also had its fair share of outbound moving during the year 2011. Around seven percent of all outbound moves were from Florida. That is the same exact amount of people moving in as moving out. That just proves that there are still plenty of great places to live in the state of Florida.

What will the year 2012 bring the moving industry? Only time will tell!

Moving is not always the funnest experience in the world. It is time consuming. It can be very stressful, and it can be physically exhausting. There are a few ways that you can make the best out of moving. The first thing that you need to do is realize that moving is inevitable. You have to get it done, and complaining about it is not going to help you in the slightest bit. Once you get the right mindset, then moving becomes super simple, and it can actually be fun.

Throw a moving party!

Throwing a moving party is a great way to get excited about the move, and it is also a great way to get some extra help. The more hands that you have helping you move, the faster and easier the move will be. A party can also put everyone in a great mood.

Turn up some music!

They say that music soothes the savage beast, and music can quickly turn a dull time into a fun filled experience. Music can give you that second wind when you are tired, and it can encourage you to pack that final box of books. You don’t have to worry about turning it up too loud and bothering your neighbors because you are moving.

Make it a challenge.

Sometimes all that it takes to make moving fun is a challenge. If there is more than one person involved in the move, make different challenges and reward whoever wins the challenges. Some of the challenges could be: The Best Box Packer, The Quickest Truck Loader. These are just a couple of thoughts that should give you plenty of ideas on how to make some of your own moving challenges. Just make sure that you are very careful with them all. Nobody needs to hurt themselves during the move because you will still have quite a bit of unpacking to do.

Make it fun for the kids.

Moving with kids can present a whole knew set of challenges. How are you going to keep them entertained, and how are you going to keep them out of the way. Children will always want to help Mommy and Daddy pack and move, but in reality, they will just get in the way.

Give them some of their own little boxes to pack. Let them pack some of their toys. Plush animals and teddy bears are pretty much unbreakable. Let them pack some of those. If there is nothing for them to pack, then make something for them. They want to feel like they are helping too. Tell them what a good job they are doing and things will go just right on moving day.

You can also give moving day a theme. Put on a pirate costume and dress up your kids too. Giving moving day a theme other than moving can make the job at hand so much easier.

Moving does not have to be tough. These tips should help you get through it all. All it takes is the right frame of mind to make moving fun!

Moving was a success, and you survived one of the most stressful events in your lifetime. Don’t sit down and relax on the couch because it is still in the moving truck. You are only half way done with the move. Now you have to unload, unpack, arrange the furniture and start trying to settle in to your new home. You are over the hill. It is all downhill from here. Take a deep breath and use these tips to make things a little bit easier after you have moved.

Set out for exploration.

Going for a drive can be a great way to clear your mind, and you can see what your new neighborhood is all about. It can be fun seeing what types of places are all around your new home. You have a whole new world out there just waiting for you to explore it. Have some fun exploring before you start to unpack. Just don’t get lost.

Throw a house warming party.

There are two types of house warming parties. There is the one type that you have after you have unpacked and you just want to show off your new house to everyone, and there is the other type of house warming party where you invite all you friends and family over to check out your new house and help you unpack. Now you are working smart.

Make sure that you have some of the basic essentials for this type of party. Your guests are going to want some food and maybe a drink or two. Don’t make the party all about unpacking. Make it fun.

Turn up some music.

Find the box that has all of your music stuff in it. If you have a sound system, unpack it first. Hook up your music player and turn up the music. Music can be a great way to give you a little extra pick-me-up. It can also inspire you to decorate your new place.

Treat your family to a night out on the town.

Go out to eat at a nice family restaurant. All of your dishes and appliances are still packed. You have no choice but to go out to eat. Treat yourself and your family. Think of it as a reward for all of the hard work that you have done. Make a toast to your new house, your new neighborhood, your new life.

Get a good nights sleep.

After the movers are done and so are you, Chances are you will be tired once you get to your new house. You don’t have to get everything unpacked and put away right now. Setup a good place to sleep and take it easy. You will wake up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle unpacking. It is amazing what getting a good nights sleep can do for you.

Moving is not as hard as everyone makes it out to be. Sure, it can be stressful and exhausting, but when it is all said and done, you will have a new house, a new place to explore, and a new life to live.

There are some items that don’t get moved every single day, but when the moving day is done these items will have to be moved. One of those items just so happens to be a pool table. Not every house has a pool table, but there are quite a few that do. Most people that own pool tables never even think about what they are going to do with them once they move. It is not like you can just pick a pool table up with one hand, and stuff it in a moving truck. You could always hire a mover to move it for you, but you may want to do this yourself. There is a right way and a wrong way to move a pool table. We are not going to bother with telling you the wrong way to move it, this article will focus on teaching you the right way to move it.

Step 1. Removing the bumpers

In order to get to the other sections of the pool table you must remove the bumpers. Once the bumpers are removed, you will be able to get down to all of the other parts that have to be moved too.

Step 2. Removing the felt

The felt is extremely fragile and it is either glued or stapled to the slate. In some rare cases it may even be glued and stapled. You have to be very careful not to rip the felt. Try starting in one direction and continue moving in the same direction until it is done.

Step 3. The Slate

Now that you have the bumpers and the felt removed, you should be able to get to the slate. The slate is usually screwed onto the table, and sometimes the screws can be covered in a thin coat of wax. The slate will be in sections. Be very careful because it is very heavy and very fragile.

Step 4. Removing the legs

Now that you have gotten all of the hard parts done, it is time to work on removing the legs. This will take more than one person. The best way to remove the legs is to turn the pool table upside down. Once you have the pool table upside down, the legs will come off really easy. Once you get the legs off, you can move to the pockets.

Let the loading begin

Now that you have the entire pool table disassembled, it is time to load it into the moving truck. This may seem like the easiest part, but this is when most people make mistakes. Taking the pool table apart was easy. Now you have to make sure that you pack everything perfectly. Everything must be wrapped and padded to avoid any type of problems.

If all of this sounds like too much work, then you can always hire a professional to get the job done. You will be able to sit back on the couch, put your feet up and watch them do all of the work for you.

There is no doubt that moving can be a stressful experience. When it is all said and done, it can be difficult to relax. The move can wind you up  pretty tight. Here are some great ways to relax after you have spent so much time packing, moving, unloading and unpacking. You would think that it would be really easy to relax after doing all of that hard work, but sometimes it just does not work out that way.

Take a nice hot shower!

There is one great way to wash all of your troubles away. Take a nice long hot shower at your new house. Just turn the water on, and let it steam up the bathroom. The warm water will loosen any tired stiff muscles, and will help wash away all of the stress from moving.

Take a nice warm bath!

If your new home has a fancy roman tub, then fill it up with some bubbles, some warm water, and get ready to relax. You can take it one step further by lighting a few candles, and letting the soft candle light relax your mind.

Go for a swim.

If your new place has a pool, then take a swim. This can also be an excellent way to unwind and forget about everything that was involved with the move. The weightlessness that only swimming can provide is an excellent way to relieve tired sore muscles.

Sit down with a movie.

This is one tip that could easily include the entire family, and it is an excellent way to start life at the new house. Gather everyone around the television, and put on a good family movie. This can be a great way to relax after moving.

Start up a fire.

If your new house is equipped with a fireplace, then get a nice warm fire going. The soft flicker of the flames and the hypnotic crackle of the fire has been scientifically proven to help relax people. Just don’t get to relaxed and fall asleep with a fire going.

Have a glass of wine.

A glass of wine is a great way to unwind, and start your new life in your new home. Think of it as a quiet celebration in your new house. The hard part is over. You managed to get through the move in one piece and so did all of your belongings. Now it is time to relax with a nice glass of your favorite wine.

Go out to a local restaurant.

This can be a great way to relax and check out the new neighborhood at the very same time. You have worked hard to move, treat yourself to a nice meal at a great local restaurant. Let someone else handle all of the work for a little while.

These are just a few great ways that you can relax and unwind after the move. You have done a lot of work to get to this point. Congratulations are in order. You did it. You have finished moving and all the packing.

If you went to a local high school and asked all of the teenagers if they would like to move, you would get an overwhelming response. Nine out of ten teenagers do not want to move. Who could blame them? Ten out ten adults do not want to move either. It is stressful. It is a lot of work, and it can be tough adjusting to a new place. For teenagers it is a lot more than that. Moving can put a lot of unnecessary stress on a teenager’s plate. Try to remember for just a few minutes what it was like to be a teenager. For a lot of people it was the toughest part of their lives. If you put yourself in their shoes, you will quickly understand why moving is not on the top of their list of things to do.

Leaving behind old friends

It can be tough making friends, but by the time you are a teenager, you will have your own set of friends that you have known for a long time. Moving will separate your teenager from these long time friends. That can be a really tough thought to swallow. How would it make you feel? Thankfully with modern technology, they will still be able to communicate with all of their friends, but they won’t be able to hang out with them, and that is where the problem lies. Teenagers have spent most of their lives trying to fit in with a group of friends, and now they are being forced to move which brings us to the next problem.

Making new friends

Were you ever the new kid in school? It is never really a fun experience. Being the new kid in school presents its own unique set of challenges, and it can be really difficult for teenagers to adjust to the school’s new stomping grounds. They will be seen as an outsider, and the other students may not want to have anything to do with them. For a teenager, this is really tough. They are already confused by hormones and the changes that their bodies are going through, this just makes things worse.

What can you do to make it easier on them?

You have already taken the first step by reading this article. It shows that you want to make your move for you and your teenager, a good experience. Here are some things to consider.

Not all teenagers will be unhappy to move. Some of them will be more than happy to step up to the challenge of moving.

Your teenager knows you better than you know yourself. They have had years of practice manipulating you. Don’t let them make you feel guilty.

Make time for your teenager to come back and visit old friends. If they are in their last year at high school, you might try to make arrangements for them to stay until they graduate. It is a very important time for them.

Involve your teenager in the home shopping process. Let them have a part in deciding.

These are just a few tips that will make moving with your teenager much easier.

Whew! The move is over. Moving is a lot of hard work isn’t it. Now it is time to sit down on the couch, put your feet up, and relax, but your couch and coffee table are in the other room underneath a bunch of boxes. It looks like the move is over, but now you have a lot more work to do. You could sit on the floor, put your head down and cry about it, or you could take the bull by the horns and start getting things together. This is the final stretch. Time to make your new home, yours.

Where should you begin?

It can be difficult to determine what the first step should be. The mountain of boxes and furniture can be a little overwhelming. This might not be what you had in mind, but there is no better time to do some serious cleaning. If you are moving into an already lived in house, then you will want to clean before you settle in. This is the perfect time to do it. You can easily get to places that would otherwise be occupied with all of your furniture.

Round up some cleaning supplies

This is also a good time to head out to the local store and pick up some cleaning supplies, unless you want to dig through that mountain of boxes looking for the cleaning supplies that you already packed. Take this opportunity to take a look around town. Cleaning is never really that much fun, but it is a great way to start your life at your new house.

Get dressed for the occasion!

If your clothes are easily accessible, then you are going to want to put on some older clothes that you don’t really care about. They may get messy, and most household cleaners even the green ones will stain your clothing.

Where should you send the cleanup crew?

A good place to start is the bathroom. If your house has multiple bathrooms, then just focus on getting one spotless. The next place to clean would have to be the kitchen. The kitchen is the heart of many homes, and making sure that it is one of the first rooms to get cleaned is an excellent idea. You wouldn’t want to eat food off of a dirty counter top would you?

The living room, bedrooms, and garage should be the last things that you clean. If your home has an attic, you may even find some treasures that were left behind by the previous owner, but it should be that last place that you look.

Cleaning the house that you just moved into can be a great way to make it feel more like home. It will also give you a great idea of where to put furniture, pictures, or anything else that you own. You probably already have a good idea of where everything is going to go, but spending a little bit of time cleaning before hand may make you change your mind.

How many times in your life have you heard someone say, “Hand me that piano?” You have most likely never heard anyone say that, but 1 out of five households in America owns a piano. Moving and pianos don’t really go together all that well.

What makes a piano difficult to move?

It can be a challenge to get a piano from one location to another. Pianos weigh a lot, they are completely awkward, and they usually don’t fit anywhere inside a moving truck. These are just a few of the challenges that moving a piano will bring you, but there are some more.

Some pianos are fragile

Your piano is literally a finely tuned instrument. Bumping it, jarring it, or even dropping it can do a lot of damage very quickly. It must be protected during the moving process, or it could end up needing repairs, and piano repairs are not very cheap.

Get help from a professional

This is one moving task that is better left to a professional. If you have never had any experience moving a piano, then get the help of a pro. Moving a piano is not an impossible task, and an experienced mover should have no problems getting the job done. Some moving companies actually specialize in moving pianos, but you will never know if you don’t ask.

Ask the moving company

Hiring a moving company is a lot like interviewing someone for a job. In fact, that is what you are doing. You will be hiring someone to complete a job for you. You have to ask the right questions to make sure that the moving company has the experience and the requirements that you need.

The first thing you should ask is whether or not they can move your piano. Not all moving companies are the same. Some of them will say that they move pianos, but they may not offer a door to door piano moving service. Make sure that your moving company does offer this.

The next thing you should ask about is insurance. Will your piano be covered by the moving companies insurance, or do you need to take out an additional policy to cover the piano?

Pack your piano well

There is nothing wrong with wanting to pack your piano yourself. The more that you have prepared for the movers when they show up, the quicker the move will be.

The first step is securing the lid or lids. Make sure that they are shut and that they will stay shut during the move. Some people will wrap the outside of the piano in a protective plastic wrap. This will help prevent any possible moisture damage from occurring. Once the protective plastic wrap has been applied, you should wrap the exterior of the piano with some moving blankets. They should provide enough padding to prevent the exterior of the piano from having any damage. Cover every single inch of the exterior.

With these tips you should be able to get your piano from your old house to your new house with no problems at all.

Very few people actually enjoy moving. It is a tough job, and for a period of time everyone in the family loses their special place at home. It can be stressful, confusing, overwhelming, and frustrating all rolled into one. Throw in a long distance move that requires you to move from the East Coast to the West Coast or vice versa, and you add even more problems to the mix. Long distance moves can present their own unique set of challenges, but moving coast to coast is simple as long as you know what to expect. No one likes surprises, especially when everything that they own is packed into a giant moving truck and headed across the country.

How can you make a coast to coast move easier?

The first thing you need to do is find a moving company that specializes in coast to coast moves. These companies can save you a ton of frustration. They know the best routes, they have access to traffic and road advisories from coast to coast, and they have experience. This is one situation where experience plays a significant role in getting things done properly. You don’t want to arrive at your new home all the way across the country to find out that the moving company is lost somewhere in the Arizona desert. Not all coast to coast moving companies are created equally either. Do some shopping around. You will find that prices can be considerably different from company to company.

Prepare the family for the trip

If you are driving across the country, you have to prepare your family for the long road ahead. If you have young ones, it is important to tell them all about it, but there is a right way and a wrong way to go about doing this.

Make it a fun adventure for the whole family. If you want, you could also give it a theme. If your children like pirates, then tell them you are going on a vast voyage across the country in search of gold and adventures, and you need them by your side as your little maties. If they are into space adventures, then give it a space theme. These little steps can make the long drive ahead actually a ton of fun. If the kids are having a good time, then everything will go nice and smooth.

There are also other ways to keep your kids entertained for the whole trip. Setup some movies for them to watch, or let them play with some hand held video games. The secret to a successful coast to coast move with your is keeping everyone entertained and happy.

If you are flying, you can easily apply all of the same tips. Smile and let your kids know that the move is going to be fun. If you are upset about the move, then the kids will sense this, and they may get upset too.

Your coast to coast move is the beginning of a new life in a new place. Make it an adventure that the whole family will enjoy, and everything will work out just fine.

It does not matter how clean of a person you are, everyone at one point in their life has to deal with the clutter monster. The clutter monster is quiet. It is super sneaky, and for the most part you never even know that it has silently been building a home in your house. It could start in your bedroom, the kid’s rooms, or even the living room. It is slowly creeping into every house in America, and it has a huge affect on moving!

Clutter is the number one reason that most people hate moving!
You might have a lot of stuff in your house, maybe even tons of stuff. The thought of packing all this stuff may be a little overwhelming, it might even make you sick to your stomach. It is going to take forever to pack up all your stuff.

How long have you lived in your current house? It could have been a year, two years, ten years, or maybe even twenty years. The longer you live in a home, the more cluttered it becomes. It is a gradual process so you don’t always notice it right away, but over time, it can really get out of hand. Here are a few tips that can help you reduce the amount of clutter that you have in your house, and make it so much easier to move.

Do a room by room check.
The best way to manage your clutter is to do a room by room check. Start with the smallest room in your house like the bathroom. At this point you are only doing a quick look over. Look at everything in the room. Look in closets, cabinets, look everywhere.

Move on to the next biggest room in your house and repeat this whole process. Do this in every room of your house. When you are done you will have a good idea of how much clutter you need to get rid of.

Make a clutter list.
The next step in removing all of your clutter is to make an anti-clutter list. Get a notepad or maybe even a notebook, and start your list in the smallest room of the house. What can you get rid of? What can you live without? Designate one piece of paper or more for each room and list everything that you can get rid of. Involve the entire family, but be very careful. This can quickly lead to arguments. You may be more attached to an item than someone else in your house. Try to leave the emotions out of this task. It will save a lot of headaches and frustration later.

Now that you have made your list of clutter, it is time to get rid of the clutter and make moving easier. You can donate all of your clutter to a local charity, or you can have a huge cluttered yard sale and make some extra cash for the move. If you choose the yard sale route, remember one thing, you are trying to get rid of this stuff not get rich. Let it go for cheap and you will be thankful come moving day.