We’d all love to have the picture-perfect, impeccable homes seen on HGTV or in home decorating blogs and magazines, but real life has a way of interrupting the best-laid plans. Amid all your other work and family responsibilities, household chores like cleaning and tidying can quickly fall by the wayside. So how do you deal with your messy house when you need to start preparing for a move?

1. Don’t Procrastinate

The top tip you’ll see when searching for moving advice is to organize everything you own before you start packing. Of course, not everyone has time to put the rest of their life on hold to spend days or weeks sorting and decluttering. Your best chance of tackling the mess is to start working on it immediately. As soon as you know you’ll have to move, make it your mission to accomplish at least one moving-related task every day.

2. Make a Household Inventory

When packing a cluttered, messy house, it can be challenging to understand the scope of the work ahead of you. The best way to get your arms around it is to create a detailed inventory of everything you own. Usually, you’ll discover things you’ve forgotten about because you’ve kept them tucked out of sight in a closet, garage or attic for so long.

As you move through your home, note every item that isn’t worth bringing with you to your new house. Let that list guide your decisions about what to donate, recycle or throw out. Then, you can start filling cardboard boxes with only the most useful, necessary belongings you own.

3. Pack One Room at a Time

If you get easily distracted, you might fall into an unproductive pattern of bouncing from one task to the next. To avoid this time-wasting habit, focus on packing one room at a time, starting with the ones that are the most challenging to sort through and working from there.

4. Gather All Your Supplies in Advance

Before you start packing, stock up on moving essentials like sturdy boxes, packing tape, labels, packing paper and permanent markers. When you’re moving a messy house, you don’t want to waste time or energy on an emergency shopping trip.

5. Get Organized

If you’ve been living amid household clutter, use this move as your chance to finally get control of the chaos and make a fresh start. Begin by labeling every box you pack with a list of its contents and its intended room in your new house. The labels will let you identify at a glance what’s in each box, which will save you time when unpacking.

Trust Our Team to Pack Your Messy House

If you don’t have time to pack or aren’t sure where to start, let the pros at Fox Moving and Storage help with our reliable packing and moving services. Our experienced team uses proven techniques to ensure your precious belongings arrive at their destination pristine and undamaged. Whether you want us to pack your entire home or only a couple of fragile or tricky items, we’ll be there for you. Contact us today to request your complimentary estimate.