Before the truck arrives
Move Prep
Ease your moving process with our comprehensive preparation services. From packing to organizing, we handle it all.
Chapter 01
The boxes you pack and never unpack
Most moves go sideways in the same quiet way. There's a closet nobody has opened in ages and a garage shelf of things that were going to get sorted someday. With the truck on the calendar, all of it goes into boxes because nobody has time to decide, and every decision you skipped gets carried to the new address.
That's how a new home fills up with boxes marked "misc" that nobody wants to open. You move things you'll donate a month later, then unpack into rooms that have no place ready for any of it. A taped-up box with no room written on it is just a pile waiting at the other end.
This is the gap move prep fills. From packing to organizing, Stacie Jackson and the Orderly Abode team handle it all for households in Lake in the Hills and across McHenry, Kane and DuPage counties. The work starts well before the truck arrives, and it finishes after the last box is through the door.
Packed moving boxes stacked squarely beside wrapped living room furniture
Sort first, then pack room by room
The work begins with the step most people skip, which is deciding what's actually making the trip. Before anything is packed, we go through each room with you and sort it into three boxes: keep, donate and let go. It's collaborative, and your preferences lead. A smaller load is cheaper to move and far quicker to pack.
Then the packing runs one room at a time. Everything is sorted, securely packed and ready for transport, and every box is labeled with the room it belongs to. Whoever carries it in at the other end knows where it goes without asking, and you aren't hunting through a stack for the one box with the coffee maker.
The job doesn't stop when the truck pulls away. We also set up organizing systems in your new home, so the kitchen, pantry and closets get a working layout while the boxes are still being opened. Things go straight to a place they'll stay, instead of onto the nearest flat surface.
Chapter 03
Settling in instead of unpacking forever
A move goes well when the new home works from the start and the boxes are emptied soon after.
Because the sorting happened before the move, there's less to put away, and what's left already has a home. Labels, shelf zones and one simple habit, a new thing comes in when an old thing goes out, keep the new rooms from filling back up the way the old ones did. Part of the job is leaving you with systems you can maintain on your own.
If a move is coming, call Stacie at (224) 609-7393 or book the free consultation. We'll look at what you have, from a single closet to an entire home, and walk you through what the prep involves. When a room starts collecting boxes again, or you can't say where something lives, that's your cue for a quick reset.
“They were great! They worked quietly and quickly. I have a two floor townhome with loft. Every room is packed. They did a very detailed job letting me know what was moved, what was left, and where they placed things. There is no way I would've been able to do this move without them!” Taya E., Thumbtack