Moving (With Frogbox!)

A month or so before Christmas, I made the decision to move. I loved our little suite so close to my sister but it was a 1-bedroom and after being there for almost two years I felt like we’d outgrown it and needed our own space (okay, I  needed my own space. Olive says she wants to live with me forever.)

I took my time when looking for a new house – I wanted to find something perfect. Something I could live in for a long time. My list of requirements were modest, but I wasn’t willing to compromise on any of them. Our new home had to have:

• Two bedrooms
• A dishwasher
• A bathtub
• No carpet
• And be walking distance to an elementary school (eeeeeep)

Long story short, we found it!

I brought Olive to look at the listing with me and she instantly fell in love with the house as much as I did (I loved the aesthetics, she liked the ample “galloping room”).

It met every must-have on our list with a bunch of beautiful extras, too; arched doorways, warm grey walls (you know I’m a sucker for grey walls!).

It had all the old-house details I love, like original hardwood floors (recently refinished), a built-in ironing board in the kitchen and big, bright rooms. But it also had new-house perks like a renovated kitchen, new windows, tons of closet space and, of course, a dishwasher (cue angel chorus).

Obvs we said yes!

And here’s where we get to the sponsored part of this post.

First, let me explain that I rarely do sponsored posts. In fact, I think I’ve only ever teamed up with two companies to date: Baby Wisp, a Canadian baby hair clip company, and Calgary Arts Commons. The reason I rarely do sponsored posts is because I don’t really use anything from companies with that sort of advertising budget. I mean, I make my own shampoo and toothpaste and cleaning products – who the hell’s going to sponsor me, Arm & Hammer? The Association of Apple Cider Vinegar Producers?

Nonetheless, when I started preparing for this move I immediately reached out to Frogbox to see if we could team up. A friend had used them and loved them, and I was curious if they were worth it.

I’ve always been a DIY mover who’s run around for weeks collecting a mish-mash of liquor store and produce boxes and calling it a day, but for many different reasons March was crazy in my house. No sleeping, tons of working, Olive sick, me sick, nuts.

I didn’t have weeks to drive around collecting boxes and the size of my car meant I’d only be able to take four at a time, which meant that all of this bullshit was adding up to tons of driving around scrounging for cardboard boxes which were often dirty and totally random sizes. Buying cardboard boxes seemed silly, especially when I’d have to build them all and use so much packing tape.

So I contacted Frogbox, but whenI didn’t hear back from them I figured I was too small-time to partner with. I mean, I get it!

So, humbled but still curious, I went online and booked the boxes anyway. I chose 30 boxes for two weeks and placed my order. Then about a week later they called me back and said they’d love to sponsor my move! A beautiful partnership was born.

The boxes were dropped off on my specificed date and time by a charming young man and let me brag for a second by telling you that I estimated the perfect amount to order. They give you an estimator tool based on your home size and amount of stuff you have and damn, they/I were right on.

Olive loved that they were called Frogboxes and helped pack hers by pretending we were feeding giant frogs, stuffing her animals and books and games and toys into its “mouth” and then carefully labeling each one with “Olive’s Room”

(Frogbox does supply moving labels but I gave them back and used masking tape because it’s compostable. Overall I was really impressed with their commitment to sustainability, though, their plastic covers for mattresses and furniture are all made out of biodegradable plastic.)

And, here’s a pro tip from someone who has now moved five times in four years – pack your things using your other things. For example, instead of filling one box with blankets and towels and another box with pictures or other breakables, use one to pack the other.

I used layers of throw blankets and hand towels to pack my pictures and wrapped fragile kitchen items in cloth napkins, aprons, and tea towels. This makes for great padding when moving (I haven’t had a broken dish yet using this method!) and it also means you don’t have to use a ton of bubble wrap, newspaper or other packing material.

And after using Frogbox for the first time, my honest opinion (again, as someone who has moved five times in four years) is that this was, hands down, the easiest move yet.

Look at these neat stacks! The sight of all of these boxes, uniform in size and shape, all lined up like that – I mean my god, does anything make you happier?

Each box has a little lip around the top so they don’t slide off when stacked and during the move my little sister Lizzie reminded me twice to mention in this post that the little hand-holds on the side are awesome because they don’t dig into your hands like the edges of most Rubbermaid-style bins.

Pretty much everything I owned aside from furniture fit into those 30 Frogboxes – everything except our plants and Miss Charlotte, of course. Olive took care of them on the ride over to the new house.

And speaking of which, this girl was SO HELPFUL during the move! I thought it was really important that she be there to say goodbye to the old house and see all of our things move from one place to the other, but I did worry whether she’d get in the way.

I shouldn’t have – she was one of our best movers!

My sister and her husband helped, his mom came out, and my mom flew out from Victoria, too (and she did everything. Seriously, this woman cleaned my fridge. She moved and cleaned and Olive-sat and was just generally incredible. I couldn’t have done it without any of these helpers, but especially Mom!)

I will admit that I was a bit worried that I hadn’t left myself enough time to unpack the boxes before they were picked up (we moved in on April 1 and I’d scheduled them to be picked up April 5) especially since we made a last minute trip to Edmonton overnight on April 2 to meet my brothers new baby (!!!).

Frogbox lets you extend your rental if you need to so I kept that in mind and didn’t rush to get it done but here it is, the evening of April 4 and they’re all unpacked! No giant pile of boxes to recycle, no muss, no fuss, just a neat stack waiting by my front door to be picked up tomorrow.

Overall, my experience was so positive. I would absolutely use them again – no question,  although I’m hoping I won’t be moving again for a long time!

And you know, I’m really glad that they didn’t get back to me right away. I’m glad that I booked and paid for it myself initially – because reviewing something you got for free is very different from reviewing something that seems cool but you’d never actually pay for yourself. It’s important to me that I’m only sharing things I actually use and love, and this definitely fit the bill.

So, there you have it! Frogbox has locations around the world and here’s another secret tip – when you leave their site for the first time they’ll prompt you to sign up for $15 off your order!

As for us, I’m reveling in nightly baths and the modern miracle of a machine that washes dishes for me, while Olive gets back from her dad’s house tomorrow and gets to drink in the excitement of having her own room. I can’t wait to show off our new home as soon as I get some pictures up on the walls.