Remember that the refrigerator in your new home will be empty. If possible, en route to your new home, pick up some snacks, imperishable foods, cold drinks, a cooler and some ice to keep the drinks cold. Every hard worker can appreciate a break and a good snack.

Before unpacking anything it makes more sense to clean up the space before you put things into their respective places. It will be much harder to go back to do the cleaning after all the unpacking is done. If you used an inventory system, it should be easy to locate your “last minute items.” These will be the essential items you need to get through until you’ve unpacked.

Create an unpacking agenda. Keep in mind that it will take you more than a day to get organized. Prioritize the items that need to be unpacked first. Any furniture that requires assembly should be a priority. Furniture such as: beds, dressers, night-stands, entertainment centers, computer desks, etc. Once these items are standing sturdily it will give you room to move on to unpack other things.

Your fragile items such as lamps, fine art, picture frames, should be given their own designated area to avoid breakage. Bedrooms closets are usually a good place to tuck these items away until you need them.

It helps to make a list of the rooms in the house and decide which rooms will be organized first. You will want to put the kitchen and bathrooms at the top of that list as they usually do not require any major furnishings to be assembled. Keep in mind that as you unpack the boxes, either stack them neatly in a corner or throw them away. The empty boxes will only confuse you and maybe even give the impression that there is more to unpack than there really is.

Once your furniture is assembled, you will want to begin to hook up your large appliances such as refrigerator, washing machine, dryer, televisions, computers, microwave and stereos where they belong. Then you will want to start unpacking items that belong on shelves that are already in place. These include: books, videos/dvd’s, cd’s and video games.

Unpacking and organizing the bedrooms will take some time and therefore should not be on the top of the priority list. Organizing your closet alone can take a significant amount of time. If you have children, depending on their ages, delegate different tasks for them to help arrange their bedrooms. If they are younger, maybe ask them to put their shoes away. If they are older, you can ask them to unpack the boxes and put items away that go to their rooms.

Your inventory system will come in handy now. Make sure everyone who is helping with the unpacking has a copy. As each person unpacks, be sure to have him check off the items on the list. This is a good way to keep track of things and make sure nothing was lost or left behind.

Since there’s a good chance all the rooms will not be unpacked by the end of the night, locate the boxes containing your blankets, sheets and pillows and make it a fun night of indoor camping! Within the next few days it should be progressively easier to unpack.