PACKING HACKS
Other helpful apps include: Moving Day (free, iPhone), which also utilizes bar codes; MoveAdvisor (free, iPhone and Android; MoveAdvisor.
com), which can get you price quotes for movers, calculate your shipment weight and more; and MoveMatch (free, Android; MovingMatching.
com), which also determines box weight and coordinates with your mover what goes where in the new place. Or if you’re looking to purge possessions — and make some extra cash — digital consignment company TheRealReal ( TheRealReal.com) has just launched a division that will pick up, store and sell your designer furniture.
As for the move itself, extra perks — like having your stuff packed for you — can actually be yours for a very reasonable price. Take national chain
Flatrate ( Flatrate.com). The difference between merely moving a basic 900-square-foot Manhattan pad and also packing up its entire contents is less than 20 percent. Companies like Flatrate, Brooklyn-based
U.Santini Inc. ( USantini. com) and Manhattan-based
Scanio ( ScanioMoving.com) also offer “luxury” services to give clients valuable added TLC.
“Even with a basic move, we’re going to unpack things into your new closets, unpack the TVs and large artwork. We’ll do a full-service move,” says Dan Menchini, president of U.Santini, which will charge anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000 for a basic move. To both pack and move someone can cost $3,000 and up. Those extra perks include computer and home entertainment setups, and assisting licensed contractors, electricians and interior designers.
If money is no object, then a) lucky you and b) high-end services that can function as full-fledged project managers, or “concierges,” are a phone call away.
NouvelleView ( NouvelleView.com), for instance, based in New York and the Hamptons, manages all details, coordinates with contractors, and can meticulously set up every inch of your place — think shoes lined up by heel height in the dressing room.
“Pamela [Muller, cofounder and principal] did an extraordinary job of being me without me being around,” says client Louise McAndrews, whose move to Florida was recently handled by Nouvelle at a cost of some $25,000. “If something can go wrong, it did, but Pamela was there to fix it. When the company bringing our car said [last minute that] it couldn’t do it, Pamela called them, and I don’t know how, but it was delivered.”
This week, in fact, NouvelleView moved Robert Galanti into his new home off Madison Avenue. Curator Rigel Angelina took care of unpacking his funky furnishings while he relaxed.
Meanwhile, one-percent- ers with valuable collectibles and fine art tend to go with movers who specialize in transporting such priceless works. But those services don’t come cheap: Prices can vary, but it’s not uncommon to start the ball rolling at around $12,000.
“Every job is different,” says Thad Meyerriecks, co-owner of New York’s Bourlet ArtLogistics ( Bourlet.com). “It can be a minimum four-hour job, or a two-month project like one we just finished.” But, he notes, “there’s no cheap road to security.” The first step, he says, is to have your art appraised by an insurance company. “Some things are surprisingly valuable, though something that might be of lesser value to an insurance company can be of supreme value to a client, a beloved artifact of their lives,” he says. “That’s the kind of thing we can’t put a value on. I always tell our art handlers, ‘It doesn’t matter if something costs $5 million or five dollars — treat it with care.’ ” Then there are luxury relocation experts like Greystone ($10,000 and up; GreystoneRelocation.
com) who drill deep and do the move itself. Greystone can deal with IT work, the hanging of expensive art and more. The company even helped an executive moving to Manhattan from the West Coast find an au pair and then created a neighborhood guide for the family, explains David Hauslaib, Greystone’s chief concierge officer. “We want people to feel like locals as soon as they walk into the apartment,” he says.
There are less expensive ways to feel right at home. SwatchPop! offers users
designers, who can either decorate a whole house or just help fix specific problems. (Pricing is $49.95 for what SwatchPop! called the first “dilemma” and then $25.99 for each additional one.) “I went from having four giant built-ins that held all these great knickknacks and pictures that I wanted to keep in the new house, but it only had one built-in,” says SwatchPop! client Gorli of her move. “So I took a photograph of all our stuff and sent it . . . and they showed me how to [arrange] it.” Interior design app Homestyler (free, iPhone; Homestyler. com) lets you design your home in 3-D so you’re ready to place furniture when the movers get there. The Magic Plan app (free, iPhone; FloorPlanner.com/ MagicPlan) also creates 3-D floor plans.
And don’t underestimate the power of having the smallest household jobs done for you — sometimes post-move, feet finally up, the last thing you want to do is get out the tool box. Keep in mind resources like Task
Rabbit ( TaskRabbit.com) and Handy.com.
Surviving a move may seem like a miracle in itself, no matter who or what is helping. But there’s still the new neighborhood to navigate, and Next Door (free, iPhone and Android;
NextDoor.com), an online social community for specific areas, can go a long way in connecting you with new neighbors and important information. You can find a babysitter, find the best painter for your new kitchen and more.
There now — that wasn’t so bad, was it?