Moving into a new place with your partner can be challenging enough on an emotional level. It can take time to get used to living with someone – even someone you love. You can make the transition smoother by making sure that the physical aspects of moving your items in together are as simple as possible. That can be accomplished by deciding what each of you will and will not keep before moving day arrives.
By addressing questions such as "whose couch should be kept?" before moving day, you get the opportunity to deal with the stress related to these decisions before you have to also adapt to living together. You also avoid stalemates in which you can't decide which item to keep, so you end up keeping them all and having a very cluttered apartment.
Follow these steps to reduce your collections before moving day:
Make an inventory of both of your possessions.
How do you ensure you don't arrive at your new place with too many couches, two microwaves, thousands of hangers, and enough silverware for an army? By making lists, of course. Visit each one of your current apartments together and make complete lists of your major possessions. You don't have to include things like your shoes and clothes – just items the two of you could share once you move in. Go room by room, as this makes you less likely to skip things.
Focus on eliminating the doubles.
Once you have lists of both of your items, look down the lists and highlight any doubles. Then decide whose you will keep. Who has the nicer coffee pot? Keep that one, and get rid of the other one. Whose sofa will fit in the new living room better? Keep that one, and sell the other online. Continue until you have no more duplicates between the two of you. Try to keep some of one person's items, and some of the other person's items, so neither of you feel like you're giving up everything you own.
Decide whether you'll keep the doubles.
Some people are nervous to get rid of things when moving in with their partner, because they fear they'll then have nothing of their own if the relationship fails and they have to then find their own place. Other people have no qualms about combining and eliminating – they're happy to donate or sell the extras and then never look back. If you're even the slightest bit unsure of the relationship, you're probably better off putting your extra things in storage. You can always sell them at a later date if circumstances change. Knowing they are there will give you confidence and prevent you from staying with your partner for the wrong reasons.
Moving in together is all about compromise. Unless you want to live in a very cluttered apartment with two of everything, you'll both need to give a few things up on moving day. As an added bonus, this will reduce the number of things you have to move, and may mean you can get away with a smaller moving truck. For more information on moving, contact a business such as Absolute Moving & Storage Inc.
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