HYD Blog
thoughts on dwelling
It won’t be long before our team is busy helping folks prepare their homes for the holiday season! While we love to make our clients homes festive, we also encourage them to slow down and take a seasonal approach rather than just focusing on specific holidays. Prepare your home to enjoy it all season long instead of just one day or week.
We’re excited to share a local moving company we love to work with, in fact we even share an office space with them. A handful of our own team members have hired them for their personal moves here in town: US Moving.
Moving is one of the most stressful life events and it often entails lots of coordination and planning with various vendors & service providers. You want to be sure you can trust the folks you are hiring to help you with your move. Both muscle and thoughtfulness are required.
SCHEDULE A FREE ESTIMATE
They come to your home and do a personal thorough walk through discussing specific items relevant to your move and deliver a quote shortly after. I personally found the experience simple and straightforward, they are the experts.
GATHER SUPPLIES FOR PACKING
An added bonus of working with US Moving is that they also offer tote rental from another small business: Tote Bros. Rental cost is simply based on time and amount of totes needed. If you are moving locally and opt to go this route for packing your belongings, you simply pay for the amount of totes & time you are using them. This is a great alternative for folks in the Knoxville area who’d prefer not to buy lots & lots of cardboard boxes that will be tossed after the move. They will hand deliver cleaned and ready to go blue totes for packing ease. Once you move and unpack, they will come back and pick these up from your new home.
SCHEDULE PACKING
Our team can work alongside you or on our own at your direction. We have packed countless kitchens, playrooms, garages, and entire homes. I promise, we are not overwhelmed by your home. You won’t regret allowing our organizers to handle your belongings, from dishes to clothing and everything else in between. We do recommend giving yourself a bit of headway timing wise so you don’t come down to the wire in a stressful last minute situation. Let us help you get ahead and feel prepared for your upcoming move. We can even haul off donations if you decide to let go of items during your packing.
MOVE DAY
Get ready to watch the pros do all the heavy lifting on your move day. From start to finish, they have it handled for you. From assembling beds, to delivering boxes to the correct room, and placing furniture at your request. At the end of the day, you along with all of your furniture and belongings will be safely unloaded in your new home. And remember, those blue bins full of your treasures will be hauled away as soon as they are emptied for your convenience!
US Moving.& Tote Bros.
If you’re looking for help settling in and creating new systems of order and efficency in your new space, you know who to call. We love nothing more than getting you organized and off to a strong start from the get go.
Our team recently had the privilege of helping one of our own team members, Jessica, during a local move. Her family hired our team to pack and unpack her family’s belongings last month!
Whether you are heading down the road an hour or across the country, these tips can save your sanity while preparing ahead of time and throughout the trip.
It may seem unimportant, but a little proactive care can save a lot of trouble down the road! Check your tire pressure and fill any in need of more air. Be sure you have washer fluid and effective wipers in case of weather. If you’re almost due for an oil change, go ahead and get that done pre-trip. Fill up on gas the day prior to your departure.
Make a list! Use pen & paper or a note on your phone to keep track as you pack. You may want to reference this list from Naptime Kitchen or come up with your own. Before pulling out of your driveway, check your list of key items (wallets, IDs or passports (if needed), insurance cards, chargers, daily medication, diaper bag, stroller, keys to vacation home) and ensure they are en tow.
Choose which system works best for your situation: one bag per person, or one bag for each category of items (all clothing in one suitcase, shoes and accessories in a bag, activities and snacks in another).
Lands End Zip Top Tote Bag
Pop Up Mesh Hamper
If you’re stopping overnight on your road trip, we recommend packing one “overnight bag” with toiletries, night time essentials, and one outfit for each person and allowing you to leave the rest of the luggage in the car until your final destination.
Packing with unpacking in mind, at the end of your trip- pack in a way that your future self with thank you for. Utilize trash bags or pop up hampers to corral dirty clothes.
Choose one accessible spot for the essentials. Including items like: phone chargers, wallets, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, tissues. To avoid loose items floating around the car throughout the trip, make a habit of putting things back after using. It may feel like an additional step in the moment, but it will save you from repacking the entire car when you reach your destination. This means when you (or your children) are done with an activity (Kindle, coloring board or activity books) you put it back in it’s bag/container. This habit takes training! Prep everyone a few minutes before arriving at a stop to tidy up their area and put things in the appropriate spot.
Always re-check the weather and traffic conditions before beginning your journey. Bring: towels, trash bags, first aid kit, auto emergency supplies (jumper cables). Snacks that don’t need to be refrigerated and won’t easily melt are great to have on hand. A couple of filled water bottles is a good idea as well in case of a breakdown.
Utilize Googlemaps ahead of time to find spots along your route that fit your family’s needs: Chick-fil-a with a play place, coffee shop near an outdoor park/playground, fast food close to a grocery store to stock up on your last stop before reaching your destination. Schedule your stops as conveniently as you can around anticipated bathroom breaks, meal times, and strategic breaks based on the duration of the trip.
Similarly to stops on your trip, it’s important to have a plan for your activities and to carefully pace these out. Aim to avoid screens until all other options are exhausted for kids.
Audio entertainment options:
Family friendly listens: But Why? podcast, Bluey Stories playlist, Bedtime Stories with Netflix Jr. podcast
Knox County Libraries have Wonderbooks available for kiddos who aren’t able to read on their own yet, it’s a read-along version of countless beloved stories. You can search by Format: Wonderbook to find the book & library branch you’re looking for!
Everyone can help! No one goes inside empty handed. Dump and sort all dirty laundry near your washer & dryer (bonus points for starting a load right away). Then take suitcases to each persons room for easy unloading of clean clothing. Resist the urge to “live out of your suitcase” for the next few days! Return to your daily rhythms right away to avoid unnecessary delayed overwhelm.
Whether you consider yourself a sentimental person or not, you may be surprised at the attachment and connection to a special possession in your home. Over time your appreciation may change as time goes on. We’re sharing a few real examples of sentimental items we’ve encountered as well as some ideas for how to approach them.
Outdoor games, sports equipment, bikes, chalk, bubbles, and water toys are all about providing fun. Storage of and access to these items should be simple and straightforward, how it looks is far less important than how it works for your family and your space. Here are 5 simple solutions for outdoor toy organization.
Before you know it, these chilly days will give way to Spring. Are you ready to open your home to guests, loved ones, or friends this season? Welcoming others into your home doesn’t have to be complicated or intimidating. Here are a few tips to help you prepare before hosting & ways to enjoy a gathering in your home.
Whether the idea of hiring a “professional organizer” intimidates you or excites you, we wanted to share a little glimpse of what it’s really like to work with our team.
What it’s not:
We will not force you to get rid of things that are meaningful or special to you or that still serve a purpose in your home.
We will not insist you purchase organizing supplies or tools.
We are not working towards a dramatic “Before and After” just for the sake of the space looking good, but we do appreciate design and beauty as we organize.
We are not shocked by the “stuff” you have accumulated.
We don’t always label and color-code every item in your home. If this is your jam, we’re happy to!
What it is:
We will disarm your fears by assuring you there has never been a space so disorganized that we couldn’t start somewhere and make progress in.
We will empower you to reclaim your home and your belongings, to correct the relationship of you to your belongings (you own them, not the other way around).
We will go at your pace, aiming to be efficient and patient.
We create space to honor memories that come up when sorting through sensitive or special items in your home.
We will encourage you to “shop” your homes for furniture, storage, and decor appropriate for the space we are working on before recommending purchasing new items.
We are aware that each space in your home affects other parts of your home and we keep that in mind as we organize.
We offer innovative ideas that we have seen work well in spaces similar to yours.
We are focused on making sure you are satisfied and feeling “lighter” before our work is complete.
Still curious, browse our Youtube channel for more FAQs.
Book your in-home custom consultation now.
For us, it’s not about perfectly color coordinated closets or fancy bins and labels… it’s about tending to what you have. As professional organizers of course we love order and simplicity, but what we hope sets us apart is the way we listen to our clients unique needs/desires/preferences so that we can empower them to actually live well in their home.
If you’re staring at clutter and wondering how to start decluttering, you’re not alone. Feeling overwhelmed is one of the biggest reasons people delay organizing their homes — not because they don’t care, but because they don’t know where to begin.
That’s where the 4 Box Method comes in. This simple decluttering system helps you make decisions quickly, stay focused, and actually finish the space you start.
The 4 Box Method is a professional organizer–approved decluttering technique that uses four clearly labeled categories:
Keep – items you use, need, or truly love
Donate – items in good condition that no longer serve you
Discard – broken, expired, or unusable items
Relocate – items you are keeping but belong somewhere else in your home
By giving every item an immediate “home,” you eliminate decision fatigue — one of the biggest obstacles when decluttering for beginners.
Many people try to declutter by organizing first — buying bins, moving piles, or rearranging shelves. Often you have what you need, and are simply moving clutter around to new spaces in your home.
The 4 Box Method works because it:
Creates momentum through small wins
Prevents overthinking
Helps you declutter one space at a time
Follow these steps to begin decluttering your home without stress:
Start with a drawer, shelf, or single category — not an entire room. This builds confidence and prevents burnout.
Label each one clearly: Keep, Donate, Discard, Relocate.
Ask yourself:
Do I still need/use this?
Do I need this in my current season of life?
Can this serve someone else?
Place it in the appropriate box and move on.
Place your “Keep” items back in the space you organized. Remove trash immediately. Place donate items in your car or by the door. Take your “Relocate” items to their proper homes.
If you need help decluttering your home, preparing for a move, or creating systems,
Help You Dwell is here to support you every step of the way.
