Smart Moves

For decades, Smart Moves has provided sorting, packing, moving, unpacking and organizing services for seniors transitioning homes – and for anyone who could use expert guidance during a move.  

There’s always an emotional aspect to moving, especially for those who have spent decades in their homes. Smart Moves’ approach is twofold: combine logistical expertise with empathetic service.

Karen Carlson reached out to Smart Moves with a difficult and particular task. Her mom had passed a few years earlier, and her dad was developing mobility challenges. It was getting harder and harder for him to live independently. Neither her dad’s home nor her own could house Carlson’s father as well as herself, her husband and her child.

So they decided to all pack up and make a new home together.  That meant two big, simultaneous operations: her dad leaving his home, and her family leaving theirs. And timing was tight. Her father’s house sold quickly, and they needed to make the move so the new owners could take occupancy.

Carlson and her husband are both physicians and didn’t have a lot of flexibility or time to make this move. In the matter of one week (her son’s spring break), they had to make this whole transition happen. The logistics of it all were overwhelming.

“I got in touch with Smart Moves last-minute, and they were just amazing,” says Carlson. “Leigh Anne [Spears, a certified move manager] walked through everything with me and my dad. I realized they could make the whole move possible.”

Spears went through the homes, getting everything set up for estate purchasers. She helped Carlson’s dad through the often emotional decluttering process: finding what furniture will fit, what needs to go, and how to say goodbye to items that hold memories. She then did the same thing for Carlson and her family.

“She helped us figure out the things that we loved but really wouldn’t work in the new space,” says Carlson. “She helped us find a balance in things that came from my mom and dad’s home and things that came from our home. Now our new place really feels like a combined space, not just one person moving in with the other.” 

The move was seamless. Smart Moves – members of the National Association of Senior & Specialty Move Managers – organized and packed both homes. They coordinated the move to ensure everyone was out and the homes were cleaned in time for the new owners to move in. The Smart Moves team then unpacked everything, hung art, organized items and set up rooms in the new house. By the end of the week, Carlson and her family were settling into their new space.

“Somehow, magically, they made this all happen,” says Carlson. “We were set and living without boxes by the end of that week. Truly moved in, living in the new home with no debris and no boxes. It was amazing, and my dad was so happy to walk into his room and see his study was all set up and ready to go.”