How to Pack and Prepare For a Short-Term Housing Stay

Avoid hauling bulky, large, and heavy items to your new temporary space. There may not be room for the items, and you'll have to ship the items back home. Keep big items back at your permanent residence, or place bulky, heavy items in a storage unit when you're between homes.

Savor the joys of temporary housing. The tasteful, uncluttered decor and furnishings of short-term housing units offer you a respite from caring for your massive items.

Get out of your own zone and enjoy a clean view of the world from a fresh living space. When it's time to move on or return home to your permanent abode, you aren't worried about shipping big furnishings from your short-term housing to your permanent home or your next short-term living space.

Ask your employer or short-term rental company for a list of items included in your furnished short-term unit. Some companies include more furnishings than others, so a definitive list helps you determine which extra items of your own to pack and bring along.

If you want the ability to cook your favorite foods in your new housing unit, check the list of short-term furnishings for a stove, oven, microwave, and other cooking tools you use on a routine basis. If you aren't sure which kitchen appliances and tools you use on a regular basis, spend a week monitoring the cooking essentials you use most often.

Start assessing what to pack for kitchen duty by placing a piece of tape on any appliance you use during the week. After you clean and disinfect them, place the following items used during your test week in inexpensive, covered tubs separate from your main kitchen supplies:

Some short-term housing units often feature personal care items like hairdryers, toothbrush holders, and shower curtains. The housing rental company may furnish bed linens, towels, washcloths, and bed coverings in their short-term rental units. If you have special needs when it comes to fabrics, toothbrush sanitation, or hair styling, pack along specialty items not furnished in your short-term housing unit. For example, if you're allergic to certain fabrics or detergents, pack your own bed, bath, and kitchen linens to use in the unit.

Pack your favorite personal hygiene items, since most short-term housing won't be furnished with your preferred grooming and personal care items. Minimize how much shampoo and body lotion you bring along by removing all personal care items from your bathroom for one week. Place the items in a box on top of a dresser or in a closet. Any item you retrieve from the box during the test week gets to remain in the bathroom (as long as you actually use the item during the test week.)

At the end of your bathroom-test week, pack all items that remain in your bathroom. If you used the item during the week, you'll miss it when you don't have it at get-ready-for-work time in your temporary residence.