Well, all those stressful brown box problems can be solved with an eco-friendly option: Green Box To Go.

Green Box To Go is a new, local company serving the Kansas City metro area that offers rentable “green” plastic boxes delivered right to your doorstep before moving day! Then, after a successful moving day and all boxes are unpacked, they will come back out and pick them up. No more extra clutter taking up space in your basement or garage or overflowing recycle bins with cardboard.

So why choose Green Box To Go? They deliver the eco-friendly plastic boxes, packing paper and dollies right to your doorstep, and pick up the equipment once you’re finished, making it extremely convenient for you and your family to move into a new home. Ordering “green” boxes is more cost effective than driving around Kansas City trying to find decent cardboard boxes for moving day. They are reusable, which makes them good for the environment as well as sturdy and lockable, making them an ideal solution for corporate office moves.  Each box is preassembled, includes a lid, and is moisture-resistant and stackable. Also, each box is inspected and sanitized before rented out to customers.

Green Box To Go not only offers boxes, but other rentable moving equipment such as, wardrobe boxes, 2-wheel dollies and 4-wheel box dollies. All are delivered right to your home, and then picked up when you’re finished. Green Box To Go also sells bubble wrap, packing paper and zip ties, making it a one-stop shop for all your packing needs in Kansas City. We are glad to be partnered with Green Box To Go and highly recommend their eco-friendly option to cardboard boxes!

So what are you waiting for? Check out their website to place an order for your eco-friendly green boxes and packing materials, then to get your instant moving quote, visit our estimate page here!

Are you looking for local, professional movers in the Leawood, KS area? Did you know that Great Day Moving is a contributing member of the community via the Leawood Chamber of Commerce? We have been an active member of the Chamber of Commerce since early 2010 and have benefited greatly from the business connections and relationships we’ve built over the past few years.

You can always find upcoming community and business events on the Leawood Chamber’s website as well.

Great Day Moving had the honor of relocating the Leawood Chamber of Commerce into their current office space inside Country Club Bank at 13451 Briar Drive in Leawood in late 2010. We came in under estimate and the move went very well.

Not only do our professional movers provide residential moving services to the Leawood area, but we also serve local businesses with their office relocations – large or small.

Our movers are ready to serve you in Leawood, KS! Get your instant moving quote by clicking here or the “Get Your Free Estimate” button to the left! We look forward to serving you on your upcoming Leawood or Kansas City metro area relocation!

When staging your home, there should be no unnecessary or personal items lying around. That stack of magazines on the coffee table should be thrown away and those family photos on the wall should be packed up.

Clear Counters

Kitchen counters should not have toasters, coffee pots or cutting boards left out when your house is being looked at. The more counter space you have, the bigger your kitchen looks!

Organized Cupboards

Believe it or not, when people walk through your house, they will go through your cupboards! Be sure when staging your home that your kitchen and bathroom cupboards are tidy and organized with uniform dishes in them.

Key Pieces

Having only a few key pieces of furniture in each room when staging your home to sell makes the room seem more open. It also allows potential buyers to imagine their own furniture in the house.

Natural Light

Natural light is a big selling point in homes today. So when staging your home be sure to do a thorough cleaning of all of your windows – both inside and out. And open all blinds and drapes when there is a showing.

Fixtures are Permanent

If there are any fixtures that you would like to keep and install into your next home, you should take down before your home has showings. All light fixtures and curtains roads come with the house, so if you can’t bear to part with something, replace it before potential buyers come in.

Maintain the yard

First impressions are most important, and when staging your home, curb appeal can be a major selling point. Keeping your lawn neatly manicured and the bushes trimmed can be very helpful. If your home is on the market in the spring or summer months, planting colorful flowers can also help attract buyers.

When looking for a professional moving company to help you into your next apartment, house or office building, the initial reaction is to choose the company with the lowest rates. But think about it; these people will be handling your most prized possessions. What you need are trusted moving professionals who will respect you and handle your belongings with care.

Here are some ways to identify a legitimate and professional moving company:

Do they have a landline phone number? Take the company’s phone number and type it into a Google search. This is a quick way to tell if a company is working from a landline or a cell phone number. Today, most reputable companies still have landline phone numbers. Also look to see if the company has a permanent address. If they don’t, chances are it’s a business that you don’t want to be dealing with.

How involved are they in the local community? A good thing to check into when looking for a professional moving company is to see if they put value on community involvement. Calling your local Chamber of Commerce, or finding local news articles and testimonials on the business is an easy way to tell if the business is legitimate.

Do they have a website or professional logo? In today’s world, a professional looking website can be created in just a couple hours, but legitimate businesses will most likely have their domain name registered. You can check when the domain name of a site was registered by checking sites like Domain Tools. Another helpful sign to identify a professional moving company is if they have a professionally designed logo. A good logo says a lot about a company.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Any legitimate, professional moving company will understand your concern for your belongings and will readily answer all your questions.

When did you hire Great Day Moving?

My family hired Great Day Moving when we moved out of our old house in Lenexa, Kansas, then into our temporary apartment, and finally when we moved out of the apartment into our new home also in Lenexa, Kansas. The movers also helped us with moving furniture from a storage unit into our new home.

Why did you decide to hire Great Day Moving?  

We chose Great Day Moving because the owners are in the same business networking group, Marty Connection, as my parents. My family has always used the business resources in the Marty whenever we needed a project or task done, so when we were ready to move into our new home, hiring Great Day Moving was a no-brainer.

How was your experience with the moving team?          

Hiring movers is always a little nerve-racking because you are letting strangers come into your home and touch all your stuff, but when the team from Great Day Moving arrived on time and ready to work, I felt very comfortable. We had three movers help us, all in uniform, and they were all extremely helpful and polite. Each one had a very positive and upbeat attitude throughout the entire moving process, which was very helpful, since moving is very stressful.

How did hiring movers compare to doing it all yourself?        

Hiring movers was definitely a great idea! My family used to own a lake house at Lake of the Ozarks, and we moved out of that house with no movers at all; it was absolutely terrible as well as very stressful. Having movers made me feel much more comfortable and I felt the furniture was much safer being lifted by strong men, who were trained to move, rather than little ol’ me.

Were there any unforeseen problems that occurred during your move that the movers provided assistance with?   

Our stuff was well packed and organized each time Great Day movers arrived. I think this helped alleviate a great deal of stress and make for a smoother transition. We did not have any problems with time management at all. The only difficulty I saw was moving into the apartment on the third floor, but the movers knew what they were doing. They had a great system to get our furniture up all those stairs without damaging anything. Even when they moved us out of the apartment, I was amazed at how efficient they were at it!

***A huge thanks to Megan U. for her business and for sharing her experience with us!!

Here are 3 tips to consider as you research short or long-term storage in Kansas City:

1. Do your research and understand how security works at the storage locations you are comparing. Most self-storage facilities have a gated entrance as well as cameras and other security systems in place. You can also find out if the facility has an onsite manager to ensure the security of the premises.
2. Understand the pros and cons to storing your stuff in a portable storage container like PODS or 1800PackRat. Realize that these portable containers will be transported sometimes multiple times before you see them again in your driveway when you’re ready to unload. This is why it is so important to properly strap, secure, and protect everything inside even more than in a moving truck. We share some great tips about packing and loading a portable storage here.
3. Do a cost comparison of climate-controlled storage and basic storage. Anything that would be affected by heat, cold, or moisture should be placed in climate-controlled storage. So decide whether you really need it for your stored belongings. Will it only be stored for a short amount of time? Do you have items that would be affected by drastic temperatures?  If you have wood furniture, electronics, or valuable artwork or paintings, climate-controlled storage may be a great option in case temperatures soar, especially in a Kansas City summer.

Rest assured that transferring your most prized possessions into storage in Kansas City is a task that Great Day Movers can tackle without any hesitation. We provide professional loading and unloading services into and out of your storage unit to help ease the stress of the transition.

When you decide on a location for storage in Kansas City, simply give us a call or request an instant estimate here!

1.  Get the kids involved. Gather up the family and discuss the plans for the summer. Let the kids have a say in what he family does. Yes, they may list marathon video game playing.

2.  Same house rules apply in the summer as the rest of the year. Vacations, camps, long days at the pool and late nights can throw off good routines. Be sure to keep the kids accountable for chores and other rules of the house.

3.  Keep learning. Schedule reading and review into your weekly schedule. Most students lose about two months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months.

4.  Plan when traveling. If you are driving, plan plenty of fun stops along the way.  Book hotels in route before you leave to avoid searching for a room at 2am. Include plenty of healthy snacks and fun car games. Check airline carry regulations so you don’t pack the wrong items in your carry-on. Pack travel board and electronic handheld games for the flight or long layovers.

5.  Whether taking a day trip or going away for the whole summer, pack accordingly. Use the Abundance Organizing packing checklist to keep track of everything that goes in your suitcase.

6.  Schedule the free stuff. There plenty of free activities in the Kansas City area for families and kids of all ages. There’s also bike rides, catching fireflies, making s’mores by the fire or camping in a tent in the back yard.

Check out this list of 100 fun summer ideas. It’s so easy to say you’re going to do all these things and then [Poof!] the first day of school is here. So schedule these daily events on your calendar just as you would a doctor appointment or lunch with a friend. Blocking off the time will help ensure you don’t schedule something else.

Here’s to planning a fun summer with your kids!

Patty Hoyt shared these fun summer planning tips with us and is a Principle Organizing Consultant with Abundance Organizing located in Olathe, Kansas. She is a self-proclaimed “reformed clutter junkie.” Patty has been organizing professionally for 5 years and specializes in working with adults and children with ADHD and other special needs. Contact Patty to help organize your home and life! She can reached at 913-912-0504 or patty@abundanceorganizing.com or visit her website.

We have GREAT NEWS to share!

We are now officially certified as a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business also known as a SDVOSB. It was a long and grueling process, but after submitting and re-submitting, all the proper documentation required by the Center for Veterans Enterprises we were approved on April 15, 2013.

Here is the link to view our business on the VA’s Vendor Information Pages. We are listed under our official company name, Marathon Moving & Delivery LLC.

Why do we qualify for this amazing certification?

Most people don’t know that the CEO and founder of Great Day Moving, Roger Lee Ward III, is a decorated combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient. As a result of his injuries sustained during Operation Iraqi Freedom, he was awarded the Purple Heart among many other honorable medals. Not only did he serve during this specific tour of duty in the spring of 2003, but two other deployments to the Middle East as well – one in 2002 and his last tour from 2004-2005.

What does the SDVOSB status mean for our business?

The SDVOSB status means that our company is eligible to participate in the Veteran First Contracting Program with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA is one of the largest procurement organizations in the federal government and annually spends over $3 billion with eligible veteran-owned small businesses. So we’re hoping it will open up new opportunities for the growth of our business!

How does the SDVOSB status impact our clients?

Our SDVOSB certification may not be the deciding factor when you’re looking for a local moving company in the Kansas City metropolitan area, however when you hire Great Day Moving you can be assured that you’re supporting a local, service-disabled veteran-owned business. You can also have the confidence that the very same honor and integrity that compelled Roger during wartime is the same foundation upon which he’s built his business operations.

Support local, veteran-owned businesses!

We found these handy websites to create your own moving announcements or start with a premade template. 

• Probably the most affordable moving announcements we’ve found online are from Vistaprint.com. At this link, you’ll find an entire gallery of the options they offer and see their current pricing specials.
• Purpletrail.com has some very simple designs but also colorful. Most of their options are fully customizable too. They also offer the ability to design and send online announcements, so instead of mailing your moving announcement, you can email them as well.
• Not only does Snapfish have moving announcements or “new home cards” but they also provide quite a selection and the option to insert a new home photo or a shot of your family in front of your new home.
• If you’re looking to send moving announcements with a more elegant feel to them, InvitationBox.com is where you want to look. Their designs are more stylish and eye-catching.
• If you have recently moved your business, you want your moving announcement to have a more professional, corporate, or industrial feel, then check out TinyPrints.com. 

Use any of these websites the next time you need to send a quick moving announcement and don’t want to design it yourself or start from scratch! Also refer to our other blog to get ideas on what information to include on your moving announcement if you’re feeling less than inspired.

What pieces of information should you including on your moving announcements?

We recommend including your new address, phone number, email, and any social media links such as LinkedIn or Facebook (if you’re into that kind of thing) to better stay in touch with people. You may also want to include your name change if you recently got married and other family members’ names (if your spouse has children from a previous marriage, their names as well).

When should you send your moving announcements out?

Some people agree it’s better to send your moving announcements before you move so that you don’t have to worry about it on the backend. And you won’t be stressed to find and unpack the box with your address book in it (yikes!).  On the other hand, there’s no reason they can’t be sent out within the first month at your new place. Although, waiting a month to submit your change-of-address with the post office is not a good idea. This should definitely be done within a week before you move or at least several days after.

Other creative ideas for moving announcements

You can take this time to learn fun facts or trivia about your new town, county, or area in general and share it in your announcement. Maybe you can share about a recent movie that was filmed in your new town, famous people who grew up there, or any other ‘claims to fame.’  Other ideas like including your time zone or GPS location would be fun and even the actual distance that you moved – if you moved cross-country this could be a significant number of miles!