Moving from one home to the next comes with many different challenges. Packing is one of the most daunting parts of any move; a successful move all seems to revolve around successful packing. To make your next move more effective and efficient, have a plan in place that will allow you to easily pack. Following are a few tips to help make packing a breeze.
- Declutter Your Home
Before you can start packing, you’ll need to be able to see and assess everything you own. If you have too much clutter and have been collecting items that need to be tossed out, you won’t know how many boxes, bags, and other packing supplies you’ll need. Decluttering your home is easy if you’re organized; create three piles for garbage, donations, and items you’re planning to keep and take with you on your move.
Before you begin the process, do a quick pass of all of your rooms in your home to see if there’s anything you can get out of the way beforehand. If you don’t know where you start, the natural choice and easiest place to start is your bedroom closet. The odds are you’ll be donating more clothes than any other items in your home, so you can start packing away seasonal clothes while gathering items for donations.
Once you’ve finished going through all of your clothes, move onto the room you use the least, such as a guest room. The least used room can also be a great storage for your donation items as you go room-by-room and continue and declutter one space at a time.
As you move from room to room, make sure to keep your piles organized. If one pile becomes too messy, consider getting rid of things. For example, if your donation pile becomes too large, schedule a donation pick-up as soon as possible. Getting rid of piles that become uncontrollable will allow you to keep everything separate and organized. Take it all step by step!
- Pack Room-By-Room
Whether or not you’ve decided to declutter before packing, you can make packing a breeze by going room-to-room instead of tackling packing all of your belongings at once. The room-by-room method will allow you to chunk an incredibly large task into several manageable smaller tasks. This method can be especially helpful if you don’t have time to pack everything at one time. For example, if you only have enough time to pack at night after work, going room by room allows you to slowly pack over time instead of relying on a day off to get it all done.
- Ask Family and Friends
Enlisting family and friends is the easiest way to make packing more efficient. However, before you can enlist the help of others, make sure you clearly outline your personal packing guidelines to help others determine which items should be packed and where to put them. Do not solicit help from others until after you have already decluttered your home. If you don’t declutter your home, your friends and family won’t know what to pack versus what should be donated or thrown away.
Instead of asking people to come over and giving them little to no guidance, be clear about what your plans are. For example, label boxes for them and allow them to focus on one task at a time so they can be efficient. Your helpers will thank you! And once the packing is done, make sure to thank them with a great meal or another gift to show your appreciation!
- Keep a Journal
Someone who hates to pack might throw random items in unlabeled boxes with no rhyme or reason. While this is undoubtedly a quick way to pack, it will make unpacking very difficult. When you begin packing, you always have unpacking in mind. After you get to your new home, you’ll feel tired from the move itself and will not want to unpack everything at once. By labeling every box, you can ensure that you can find the things you need most after a big move.
You can keep track of all of your essential items and which boxes they are in by keeping a detailed journal. You don’t have to take inventory of every one of your belongings, but keep track of specific categories of items – for example, kitchen items, bathroom accessories, bedding, etc. If you label your boxes in a certain way, such as with numbers, also make sure to track that in your journal.
- Keep Important Documents Together
Moving will require you to hold onto and keep track of important documents, including your lease or mortgage refinance paperwork, contacts with the movers, and any other necessary paperwork, such as tax documents. By keeping all of these documents together and keeping them in one box, you’ll know exactly how and where to access them and won’t have to worry about finding them again. Always make sure to label everything so you know where to search for them when unpacking. It is a good idea to unpack and find a proper place first for all of your important documents so they have a new permanent and easily accessible home.
- Pack Ahead of Time
If packing is your least favorite part of moving, then consider packing in advance so that you only have to do a little packing each day. For example, if you start packing a few weeks before the big move, you’ll only have a few items left to pack the night before, which can make your move easier. By preparing ahead of time, you won’t have to worry about packing at the last minute, making moving your stuff much easier.
- Hire Professionals
You may have already hired a moving company to help you move your belongings. However, you may not know there are full-service moving companies that will pack up your home for you so you don’t have to do any of the heavy lifting. These companies bring their own packing supplies and will pack up your entire home, then move your belongings. All you have to do is wait for them at your new home and unpack!
Moving is never easy, but learning how to pack correctly can make the entire experience easier and more efficient. As soon as you know you’re moving, start a plan for packing and create a list of tasks in advance so you’re not scrambling at the last minute.
