Moving Apartment Checklist: From Signing to the First Week

What to do, when to do it, and the things people usually forget

Published 2026-10-12

Bright apartment living room on moving day with labeled cardboard boxes, a gray sofa and a balcony door.

Moving is a long list of small jobs, and most of the stress comes from doing them in the wrong order. This checklist puts them in order, from the day you sign to your first week in the new place.

The timings are a guide. If your move is three weeks away instead of eight, start at the top and work down faster. Rules on notice and deposits differ by country and by lease, so check your own.

When you sign for the new place

Give notice in writing. Check your lease for the notice period and cleaning rules.
Fix the move date. Aim for a day or two of overlap between apartments.
Set a budget. Movers or truck, boxes, deposit, rent overlap, new furniture.
Get the floor plan of the new apartment, or measure it.
Ask about move-in rules. Elevator booking, moving hours, where a truck can stop.
Start a folder for the lease, receipts and photos.

If you have a viewing coming up, here is what to measure while you are there. It is the start of knowing whether your furniture fits.

Four to six weeks before

Book movers or a truck. Weekends and month ends go first. Ask what costs extra.
Book internet now. It usually has the longest wait.
Measure your large furniture. Sofa, bed, wardrobe, table, desk.
Plan where each piece goes in the new rooms. It also tells you the truck size.
Decide what is not coming. Start selling or giving it away now.
Order large new pieces once you know they fit. Delivery can take weeks.
Get boxes, tape and markers. One color of tape per room.
Pack what you rarely use. Books, out-of-season clothes.

Not sure about a piece? See keep, sell or replace. Cannot buy everything at once? Here is what to buy first.

Two weeks before

Set up electricity, gas and water at the new place from move-in day.
End them at the old place the day after you move out. You need light and hot water to clean.
Set up mail forwarding. It catches the addresses you forget.
Change your address. Bank, employer, insurance, phone, doctor, subscriptions, online shops.
Move your renters insurance to start on move-in day.
Reserve the elevator and a truck spot at both buildings.
Confirm the movers. Date, time, both addresses, anything awkward.
Eat down the freezer and pantry.
Pack room by room. Label each box with the room it is going to.

More on boxes in the packing and labeling tips.

The week of the move

Confirm when and where you get the keys.
Take furniture apart. Photo first. Tape the bag of screws to the piece.
Photograph the cables behind the TV, router and computer.
Defrost the freezer a day or two before.
Pack a first-night box. Bedding, towels, toiletries, chargers, kettle, tools.
Keep documents, keys, medication and valuables with you.
Print or save your furniture plan for the movers.

Moving day

At the old apartment:

Walk through with the movers. Point out anything fragile.
Check every closet, cupboard and drawer. Top shelves and the dishwasher too.
Read the meters. Photograph each reading.
Photograph every room, empty and clean, for the deposit.

At the new apartment:

Photograph every room before anything comes in. Send existing damage to the landlord the same day.
Read the meters here too.
Label each door in the color of its boxes.
Large furniture in first, straight to its final spot.
Make the bed first.

The first week

Unpack the kitchen and bathroom first.
Test heating, hot water, taps and sockets. Report problems right away.
Return the old keys. Get it confirmed in writing.
Check that mail is arriving.
Wait a week before buying small things. You will know where they are needed.
Flatten the boxes and pass them on.

Windows are the exception to waiting: if you need curtains for privacy, measure for curtains on day one.

The one job that saves the most carrying

Most of this list is admin. The job that changes how the day itself goes is the furniture plan: knowing, before the truck is loaded, which pieces are coming and where each one stands in the new rooms.

It takes an evening. You need the floor plan or measurements of the new apartment and the width and depth of each large piece you own. Leave about 3 ft (90 cm) for the main route through each room and at least 2 ft (60 cm) anywhere people need to pass, as a guideline.

The full method is in Will my furniture fit in my new apartment?. You can do it on paper, or draw the rooms in Nooked and place your furniture at real scale, next to anything you are thinking of buying.

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