Every once in a while, you may consider renovating your home but then the thought of dust, packing, and moving furniture creeps in and you decide it is a hard PASS! Let us help you manage some of the stressful thinking and potential chaos with the following easy TriA Tips. You can live through a reno but planning and organization is key.

Labels

Label everything! Call upon your inner Marie Kondo! Labeling can help you survive the chaos. You can label the box “glassware” instead of just labeling it as “fragile”. Labels do not have to be fancy, you can label your boxes with a sharpie, but TRIA TIP: make sure the label is on top of the box and one side (or better yet, two sides) of the box. When you are stacking boxes, you need to be able to clearly see the labeled contents across the side or on top of the box. Label, label, label!!

TRIA TIP: If using a labeling machine, place transparent tape on top of the label to prevent the label from falling. It quickly becomes overwhelming if you cannot tell what is inside of your storage boxes.

One area at a time

Let’s think “baby steps” for this one. We tend to have the mindset of wanting to finish something as quickly as we started it, however, with renovations things do not happen overnight.  During demolition, we often find “surprises” that were not planned for.  Maybe the electrical wires were not installed properly, or water damage from years ago is discovered.  The keyword for this one is patience because renovations tend to take a while.   Especially with our current situation with many items having long lead times or even worse, on backorder.  You do not have to store everything at once, start with the least priority items and store them in a room that is not often used.  TRIA TIP: If you do not have viable in-home storage options, consider having a storage POD placed outside of your home or temporarily rent a storage space. 

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TRIA TIP: If utilizing in-home storage, place a towel underneath the door of the storage room to avoid dust entering that space.

Priorities

Depending on the room being remodeled you should always store the least used items first. This way, once your remodel is done, you can start with essential items from the space, allowing you to leave some boxes behind for a few days while you adjust to your new space. Since you are storing the least used items as well, we recommend numbering the boxes or naming your boxes such as “not priority” “priority” or “urgent”. In storage keep the least important boxes in the back, and bring the priority boxes upfront.

So, take that leap into the renovation world! As a bonus, once you start clearing out some items to storage, you will start noticing what is essential to your space and what is not, and this might be the perfect time to tidy up and declutter your entire home. The process may seem daunting but you can control the stress and chaos by being organized by following these TriA Tips.  In the end, it will be well worth it when you are able to enjoy your newly updated space.