On the Move

In the What’s New and Cool category, check out Wall Candy Arts patented peel-and-stick Chalkboard Decals and Dry Erase Decals that turn any wall into a writeable surface. They are removable, reusable and repositionable. Use a regular eraser or a paper towel to start fresh. Peel, stick and remove without a trace. Great in home offices and children’s playrooms!

The Chalkboard Decals come in fun shapes such as stars, hearts, circles, cupcakes, elephants and rococo. The Dry Erase panel decals are like a regular whiteboard; easy to use and clean.

The wall decal kits contain enough removable, reusable peel and sticks to transform a plain space into a sophisticated haven without making a mess. They are as simple to install as a sticky note and can be easily rearranged numerous times.

Find them at WallCandy Arts (affiliate link).

What would you use yours for?

You’ve heard this tip before: When in the clutter-banishing mode, pack things you want to let go of into boxes. Label the box with the date and put the box in the basement or garage. One year later, if haven’t unpacked it, let it go immediately-WITHOUT OPENING IT! If you open it you will have to start all over. If you haven’t missed whatever is in the box for a year, you don’t need it.

Unfortunately, many people refuse to believe that they won’t need their “put aside” things later. We blame the evil Clutter Fairy*. What can you do if you get a case of the “might need it laters”? Here are a few tips:

1.  “I’m saving it for a special occasion” (candles, “good” china, perfume, etc.). We can’t tell you how many senior move clients we’ve worked with who have had to give away these lovely items because they are not ABLE to use them any more. LIFE IS NOW! Enjoy your things while you can.

2. “It just needs a small repair.” Call an upholster, handyman or glass repair shop and see if the fix you had in mind will cost more than you are willing to pay. If so, let the item go. If you intend to repair it yourself, put an appointment on your calendar for this weekend to do the project.

3. “It might be worth something someday.” Call an appraiser or estate sale professional today and find out! We regularly check on items our downsizing clients have been saving for many years, only to find the amount the items are worth may not have been worth the space (and sometimes cost) to store them.

4. “My dear departed aunt gave it to me.” That’s so sweet. If you love it, keep it and use it! If it is hidden away in a box or closet, how well is it reminding you of her? We recommend taking a photo of the item as a keepsake, then offering it to a family member who can use and enjoy it.

Let’s defeat the evil Clutter Fairy at her own game!

* Cartoon used with permission of www.clangnuts.com.

Beginning Feb. 1, 2012, free Recyclables Service is closing at most King County Transfer Stations. These materials will no longer be accepted for recycling at King County‘s Cedar Falls, Enumclaw, Houghton, Renton, and Shoreline facilities: aluminum cans; cardboard; glass bottles and jars; mixed paper; newspaper; plastic bottles, tubs and jugs; and tin cans. Their FAQ Sheet may be viewed here:

Most cities include recyclables pick-up at no cost with your curbside garbage pick-up, except Skykomish, Snoqualime Pass and Vashon communities, whose residents may still take their recyclables to their local transfer stations.

We were curious what happens if you have more recyclables than will fit in the curbside pick-up recycling cart, such as after a move when you have lots of boxes and packing paper you don’t wish to keep. We confirmed with both Waste Management by telephone and with the City of Renton curbside recycling page on their website that there is no limit to the amount of clean recycling you can set out for collection. Put recycling that doesn’t fit in your cart in recycling bins, cardboard boxes (limit 2′x2′x2′), or a 32-gallon can with handles marked “recycling.” Check with your city of residence and garbage pick-up service for their policies.

Of course, it will take you some time to cut up your used moving boxes into 2′x2′x2′ pieces, but that is the requirement for having them picked up curbside at no cost.

Seamless Moves offers removal of moving boxes and packing materials to our unpacking clients, but what are alternatives for the moving do-it-yourselfer?

You may take clean, used cardboard and paper to a recycling center such as SeaDruNar Recycling in Seattle who pay you a small amount for them or 1 Green Planet in Renton who accept these and many other items (appliances, electronics, scrap metal, etc.) at no cost to you.

If you would rather have someone pick them up for you, we recommend Rubbish Works. Owner John Davies says, “Rubbish Works can help with any type of recycling services. Our two-man crews will show up on site and take co-mingled recycling – metal, cardboard, plastic, etc.  We then distribute it to the proper recycling center.” Rates depend upon the amount you have them pick up.

OR: Skip the cardboard altogether and use Frogboxes!

It really has no limit to what you can use it for.

1. Bathroom supplies

2. Cleaning supplies

3. Mittens, gloves, socks, belts (and of course) shoes.

4. Craft supplies

5. Children’s toys

6. Office supplies. Use a plastic over  the door shoe organizer to sort and store home office supplies. The pockets are great for pens, glue, stapler and staples, CD’s and paper clips.

What do you use yours for?

Have you ever received a gift and wondered, “Do I need to keep the box this came in?” With the Holiday Gift Season upon us, here are our Top 5 Tips to help you decide.

1. Flatscreen Televisions: We recommend ALWAYS keeping the original box and any included styrofoam and screen protection. If you don’t have the original box next time you move, the moving company will charge you between $75 to $135 for a new one.

2. Other electronics: Stereo speakers, turntables, computer printers and monitors – keep. DVD players, desktop towers and other “square” items – keep if you’ll be moving across country; maybe not if just across town. Your decision may be determined by the amount of dry, clean space you have to store boxes.

3. Collectibles: We don’t profess to know which collectibles are more valuable if you have the original box, but we do recommend keeping boxes and associated packing materials for extremely breakable or fragile items. WE know how to wrap a figurine for shipping so that it arrives with all 5 fingers intact, but do YOU want to pack that item yourself?

4. Toys: We recommend keeping boxes for toys that have many small parts and for toys that may be handed down to future generations (such as a train set or special doll).

5. Kitchen items: Unless the item is extremely fragile, a professional packer can pack your item to move as well as or better than in the original box. Therefore, keeping the box is not necessary.

Additionally, any items that you only use occasionally, such as holiday decorations and entertaining dishes, should be kept in their original boxes as your space allows when not being used.

Now that you have boxes figured out, here are some great wrapping tips: GiftWrap1, GiftWrap2 and GiftWrap3. Have a wonderful Holiday!

Guest post by Nicholas Sooy, Farmers Insurance Agency Owner, Bellevue, WA. Nick may be reached at 206-719-8122; his website: http://farmersagent.com/nsooy

Having homeowners insurance and having “accurate” homeowners insurance are two completely different things, especially when there is a home insurance claim. Typically, there are three types of home insurance policies available: owner-occupied; tenant-occupied; and vacant. Who occupies the home, if anyone, distinguishes the correct policy to have in force.

An increasing number of homes on the market are taking a long time to sell, therefore, many of those homes are vacant. A standard home policy allows 30-60 days of incidental coverage for a vacant home. Beyond this timeframe, it is imperative that the policy switches from a standard policy to a vacant policy to ensure any claims would be covered.

Many insurance companies do not offer vacant home policies, and those that do may have higher premiums than owner-occupied policies. Check YOUR insurance; it is important to protect your investment!

T-Shirts Before

Do or your children you have a disorganized T-shirt drawer? Maybe your t-shirts are well-folded but stacked on top of each other in the drawer, making it difficult to see which one is which.  Here is Seamless Moves’ super-secret “Out of the Box” professional organizing tip so that you will quickly be able to find just the right t-shirt to fit the occasion.

As you may know, there are many ways to fold a t-shirt. For this tip, you will need to fold your t-shirts “store display” style, in other words you lay it on its front, fold both sides in to about the 1/3 mark, then fold the t-shirt in half. Depending upon the depth of your dresser drawer, you will either need to fold it in half again, or fold it in thirds instead of half. Make sure you can see some of the writing and/or picture on the top third and fold of the shirt.

Note: For a really fun, easy way to fold t-shirts, see videos on YouTube such as How to fold a Shirt in 2 Seconds or you can buy a plastic shirt-folder thingie from just about any garage sale in town.

Now here’s the big secret—ready? Don’t lay the t-shirts on top of each other in your drawer, stand them up on end with the neck opening facing down like this:

T-shirts After

What? Aunt Millie is on her way over? Where is that cutsie cat t-shirt she gave me? (Open drawer, look, grab = 3 seconds), “Hi, Aunt Millie. What? Oh yes, I wear this all the time; such a thoughtful gift!” And just think how quickly your kids will get dressed for school.

Enjoy!

Well, it’s official. You’ve 1) bought a new home; 2) been hired for a new job; 3) gotten married/merged households; 4) kids have left home and you’d like to downsize, or 5) many, many other reasons (some happy; some, unfortunately–not so much). And now you have to M-O-V-E. Uggghhh! All of your precious, favorite, special belongings now have to be shoved into boxes and trucked across town or across the country. Could anything be worse?! Remember what a horror it was LAST TIME? Why can’t you just snap your fingers and it would all be done? (Actually, you can if you have a Project Manager such as Seamless Moves, but that’s not the point of this post.)

I was surprised to find that the often-cited Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale lists ‘change of residence’ at only 20 points out of 100. Of course changing your residence, as noted above, is usually the result of another life-event. For instance, a marriage is assessed at 50 stress points, a major mortgage is 32 points and retirement is 45 points. And those are considered ‘good stress.’ ‘Bad stress’ such as death of a spouse (100 points) or divorce (73 points) are assigned significantly more stress points. Added together, you can see why moving can be a major headache for most people.

Pour yourself a cup of peppermint tea, sit down and take a breath; you’ve come to the right place. In the next few weeks, we’ll share some tips that we’ve acquired/developed over the last dozen or so years that you’ll be able to use when you move (or when your friends or family co-opt you into helping with their moves!). We hope you’ll add your tips to ours so we can all help each other to have a more Seamless Move!