Effective packing: Moving without madness
Let’s face it: moving house is more often madness than method. The excitement of a new home might be enough to get you through the basics, but in the end the drudgery of packing up your life can make moving an endless stop at Procrastination Station.
So, why not go into your next move with a clear idea of not just how to move, but how to move with your sanity intact?
These effective packing tips are what you’re looking for.
Plan Your Boxes
Before you even start to pack anything up, indeed, before you’ve even got boxes ready to go, plan out what is getting packed, and where you’re packing it. This means assessing how many boxes you’ll need per room, where you’ll be putting your fragile items, and the weight limit of each box.
Tip: Remember that boxes that have been packed flat before being put together should always be double reinforced at the bottoms with tape to stop them from giving way.
Keep An Inventory
There’s nothing worse than unpacking your house and realising something important is missing. So, plan to beat the moving gremlins by keeping a simple list inventory of your belongings, and the boxes they are packed in.
Tip: Numbering each box, and corresponding that to your inventory, is an easy way to see when something is missing and track it down.
Bring On The Colour
Labelling boxes is a necessary, but time-consuming task associated with moving. But, translating your frantic 2am handwriting for your moving company can be even more exhausting. Consider getting some coloured packing tape, and closing up each box in a colour that corresponds to a room in your new place, leaving no room for confusion.
Tip: If you don’t want to colour your boxes by room, you could also add colours to easily label boxes that are fragile or heavy.
Be Furniture Smart
We recommend that you empty furniture such as drawers prior to moving house. Furniture isn’t designed to be transported when full, and damage can occur. It’s also heavier and more difficult to carry when filled, sometimes items stack better on the truck upside down and if there are items in drawers they’d fall out when turned upside-down etc)
We’ve got some better ideas:
- Pack one drawer to a box and label each box (eg top drawer contents, second drawer contents etc) Doing this makes it easier and quicker to put things back in the right place
- Number drawers on the back so you know what order they go back into the frame (drawers sometimes need to be removed for transport and no two drawers are identical and dont always fit/slide properly in any position)
- Use portarobe cartons for transport of hanging garments-you can hang them directly from the wardrobe with no need to remove them from their coathangers
Have a First Day Box
There’s nothing worse than arriving at your new place, spending the day trying to make a dent in your unpacking, and then having to dig through boxes for a change of clothes, a plate or a tea towel. Make your life easier by having one ‘First Day’ box that has all your essentials for that first day.
Tip: It can take time to unpack all those boxes, so you could expand the first day box to a first week box, with basic hygiene items, food and cooking utensils.
Moving is a massive undertaking, but it doesn’t have to be a stressful one. Having a plan, and using your head (as well as these simple tips) might be just what you need to make your next move madness-free.
