Moving Into Your First Apartment

Congratulations, you're moving into your first apartment! Whether you are moving to a new city, out of your parents' home, or some other scenario, moving for the first time can be stressful, exciting, and confusing all at once. With that in mind, the St. Louis movers have decided to gather some tips that will make your move an easy transition. Get ready and get packing!

Make a moving calendar. Draw up a schedule planning out various elements of the move, such as moving estimates and packing timelines. Make sure you allot yourself enough time to get everything take care of, packed up, and ready to roll. Keep apartment contracts and other important documents handy so they will be readily available if needed during the move.

Measure out your new space. One important task of moving is to plan out enough space for furniture and what will and will not fit. Furniture can often be more bulky than you realize, so by measuring out pieces you can plan your layout throughout the apartment and avoid being stuck with furniture that simply will not fit in the given dimensions of your new space.

Clean up before moving in. Even though complexes have cleaning crews and move out staff and also require that apartments are left looking clean, you never really know how well the area has been cleaned unless you do it yourself.Wipe down counters, appliances, change toilet seats and vacuum or steam clean the carpets. Also, if you are unsure about pest control, its best to call and schedule for someone to come spray the apartment.

Remember to place a utilities order and a water meter transfer. While there are other important services like cable and internet, you gotta have lights and water on. Once you get in and get settled you can schedule the other services.

Change the locks. Even if the management service requires a key to get into your home, you still should look into changing out the locks to your home. Between contractors, previous tenants, and emergency family or friends, you never know who might have a key to the front door of your apartment. Do yourself a favor and switch out the lock and make an extra copy of the new key for the front office of the apartment complex.

Keep your décor simple. Because you likely will move again, resist the urge to buy a lot of home décor, paint, and do other things that will be time consuming and downright annoying when the lease ends in a year. If you are planning on staying a while, such as 4 years of college, then you might want to go ahead and personalize the space.