moving boxes.

Blame it on Yankee thrift, but despite the fact that we’ve moved house together four times, before this move James and I had never hired movers. We’ve coerced unsuspecting friends and family into helping us haul vintage furniture and heavy kitchen boxes up multiple flights of stairs, paying them only in cold beers and cold pizza.

But there’s something about nearing 30 and bumbling around with an ever-expanding belly that made this move different.

We hired movers* to transport the bulk of our loot and in the most genius move of all, instead of endeavoring to beg boxes off the local package store or scooping them up from dubious recycling piles on the side of the street, we ordered reusable bins from the local company, Bin It. Some of you might have spotted the bright blue wonders over on Instagram.
When I contacted Bin It about our move, they generously offered us the opportunity to try their studio package free of charge. 20 boxes, a dolly, zip ties, labels, drop-off, pick-up, and a two-week rental period normally runs customers $99. Believe me when I say that it would have been $99 very well spent.

The boxes were delivered to our old address and they arrived cleaned and sanitized from the last move. There was no taping, no break-down, no worrying about bed bugs, and no discovering that the box I packed my underwear into left them smelling of a mix between freezer burn and aged rum.

If I could do it over, I’d up the order to 30 bins: turns out even studios of self-proclaimed minimalists can fit an awful lot of stuff into a tiny space.
This morning I can happily report that these boxes are unpacked, stacked, and awaiting their retrieval. The unpacking really is the best part.

Bin It has kindly offered Reading My Tea Leaves readers a special discount. If you’re planning a move in the New York City area, use the code TINYAPT to receive a 10% discount off your order.


Now, instead of running around the neighborhood in the wee hours of the morning hunting for raggedy cardboard, you can sit in your skivvies in front of the computer and order yourself a set. The website is super easy to use with an FAQ that covers just about everything you’d need to know.

*We found Suburban Solutions to be the most cost-effective moving option in our area, not to mention the fact that the guys who moved us were speedy, efficient, and cheerful in spite of a 5th floor walk-up.