Moving, stage six

Well, the move happened. The movers came, were awesome (here they are on Yelp, if you need a recommendation in the LA area), and in eight short hours all of our stuff was moved from one place to another. We turned in the keys to our old apartment yesterday. I feel a sense of achievement that all the preparation paid off, as the move itself was pretty stress free. Unfortunately, I didn't really anticipate how much work there would be to do once we were in the new space.

My husband and I are calling this apartment our "house with training wheels" because it's on the older side and our landlord isn't that hands on. He doesn't mind if we make improvements or changes, but if we want something done, we have to do it ourselves.

A sampling of the things we have done or would like to do to get our living space the way we want it:

• We had all the locks changed, and a single key fits them all. My key ring is very minimalist now, yay!
• We bought a lightly used washer and dryer. We hired someone to install them, but with a couple of Internet searches we could have probably done it ourselves. Next time, we'll know.
• We've blown a fuse a few times already by using too many appliances at once. Not sure how to address that issue, but for now, we're trying to use things one at a time.
• Right now we have vertical blinds, and we'd like to make (or convince my sister-in-law to "help" us make) curtains for our many lovely windows.
• We have hardwood floors for the first time, and we're going to apply felt pads to the bottoms of our furniture to avoid scrapes.
• We have lots of wonderful storage spaces, but deciding where to store what things is harder than I thought. I'm reminding myself that we have to live in the space for a while before we'll know what makes the most sense.

I could go on, but that would just be a to do list for me and you probably aren't very interested in that. Suffice to say, even though the moving part is over, the work of setting up house is definitely not. And for better or worse, there's no deadline (yet! I'm considering scheduling a housewarming party to create one.) and we can take our time setting things up the way we want them.

Thanks for listening throughout this process. If you're contemplating a move, getting a professional organizer in to help you shed things before you pack stuff you don't need, use or like is a great first step!

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com