Pickup Shticks

Isn’t moving your worst nightmare? Be honest now. Doesn’t the mere thought of picking up and relocating make you shake like an old brick chimney in a 6.5 quake?

So just what makes moving such an ordeal? For most of us, it’s packing up the entire contents of the old house and then unpacking in the new one. And living with the attendant chaos.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Meet Johanna Luther of Family Packers, an Oakland-based mother-daughter team that specializes in moving services.

Luther calls packing and unpacking “the forgotten aspect” of moving.

“Very often people put all their energies into closure at the old place,” Luther said. “But they forget they’ve got at least an equal amount of work waiting for them at the other end.”

If you don’t plan properly, agreed Ann Thurley of Move-In Made Easy in Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego County, you can find yourself “totally overwhelmed” when you arrive at the new home.

“You see all those boxes and you start trying to figure out where to put them,” she says. “Often there isn’t a place for them and you start to panic. You get very stressed out and the move quickly turns into a nightmare.”

One way to avoid that scenario is to hire someone like Luther, Thurley or Jennefer Keilt of Your Concierge Moving Service in Laguna Hills.

For a fee, they’ll do it all. Well, not all. “We don’t do the actual move,” Keilt said, but “we will make you mover-ready at one end and unpack for you at the other. We’ll put everything where it belongs, get the bedrooms ready, make sure the kitchen is functioning, even hang the pictures.”

The typical packing service charges $30 a person per hour. But there’s no rule of thumb on what the total cost might be, because there’s no typical household. “I’ve seen five-bedroom homes that looked like Zen monasteries and studios stacked to the ceilings,” Luther said.

But if you’re leaving a one-bedroom apartment, figure eight hours for two people. If you’re moving from a three- or four-bedroom house, though, it’s likely to take 30 to 40 hours total.

The minimum job for Keilt’s Your Concierge Moving is one woman for three hours. And yes, she uses mainly women. “They have more practice with organizing and sorting. We only use men for the very heavy stuff,” she said.

For those with a move in their future, here are tips from the packing pros:

* Preparation is the key. “There’s lots of things you can do at one end that will make life easier at the other end,” Thurley said.

* Zippered plastic storage bags are an absolute essential. “It’s quicker and less messy to unpack items that have been ‘containerized,’ ” Thurley said. Bags can be used for pens, pencils and loose “junk drawer items”; small packets and open pantry items; soaps, makeup and bathroom drawer items; small toys, crayons, puzzles; costume jewelry; even parts to beds, computers and electronic equipment.

* Keep an inventory of box contents. Most people label their boxes for one room or another; the pros’ advice is to go beyond that by cataloging what’s in each box. That way, when you get to your destination, you’ll know the toaster oven is in box 27 and that the guest room linens are in box 54.

* Have the utilities, including the telephone, turned on, preferably before you arrive but certainly on the day you arrive. Otherwise, you could be without power or unable to communicate with the outside world.

* Don’t have the utilities cut off at the old place too quickly. “It’s better to spend a few extra dollars,” Thurley said. “You’re not going to save enough to cover the hassle.”

* Have someone on hand to connect the washing machine and dryer.

* Pack what Thurley calls “sanity” boxes containing everything you’ll need to function immediately in your new home--address book, pen and paper, extension cords, basic tools, coffee pot, pet supplies, paper towels, toilet tissue, bed linen and pillows, sleep wear and whatever else you want. These boxes should be marked “Last On--First Off.”

* The last thing to be removed from the old place and the first thing to be unloaded at the new one should be your phone.

* It takes up to two weeks for the post office to begin forwarding mail, so send in your change-of-address form early.

* You have from 30 to 45 days in most states to register your vehicles and obtain a new driver’s license. But you might want to change your address early with insurance companies.

* Open a checking account early. Some merchants won’t take out-of-town checks. Some don’t take credit cards, so carry a few hundred dollars in traveler’s checks.

* Attach a floor plan at the front door so movers will be able to see at a glance where they are going. Then, at the entrance to each room, hang a floor plan of that particular room so they’ll know precisely where each piece of furniture belongs.

* Don’t worry if you’re not sure where you want something. You can always move it later. The idea is to get things put away as quickly as possible.

* Believe it or not, where the furniture goes is the easy part. It’s all the other stuff that will drive you crazy if you let it. To avoid that, have laundry baskets on hand for toys and other items for which you don’t have storage space.

* Have large trash bags for the paper as you unpack. Keilt says you’re better off investing in heavy white recycled newspaper because newsprint can be messy and can leave permanent stains. Use packing tape to seal boxes; masking tape isn’t strong enough.

* Break down boxes as you go. “The less clutter, the less stress,” Thurley said. And use professional packing boxes. They make the safest load. Scavenged boxes are more difficult to stack because they’re not uniform.

* Thurley also suggests that once the beds are set up, take the time to make them and set out towels. “It’s amazing how relieved you’ll feel when you can see that you can shower and have a place to sleep.”

* Work first on area most important to you. That’s usually the kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms and, if you work at home, maybe the office.

* Be sure you have lamps in each room where there is no overhead light. Mark each lamp base, bulb and shade with matching stickers so putting them back together will be easier.

One last stress alert: Do not let the moving company unpack nonessential boxes. “Movers basically disgorge the contents of the truck onto any flat surface,” Keilt said.

“Keep a sense of organization,” Thurley said. “Otherwise, you’ll find all your underwear in a heap by the dresser, all your shoes on the floor by the closet, and your home will resemble an earthquake.”

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Where to Get Help With Move

There’s probably someone like Johanna Luther, Ann Thurley or Jennefer Keilt in every major city. To find them, look in the Yellow Pages under moving or move-in services. That category usually comes right after the movers section.

No luck there? These specialists suggest you look for a professional organizer, someone who reorganizes clutter. Moving is not their main focus, Thurley said, but they are often willing to take on the task.

If you can’t find these headings in your local phone directory, look for a local chapter of the National Assn. of Professional Organizers. Absent that, contact NAPO headquarters in Austin, Tex., (512) 206-0151.