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“Don’t put me in a box!” That’s a famous quote from a family dinner of ours. It was said by my husband to my mother. Both had consumed a few glasses of wine. They were arguing over politics and my mom was giving my husband a hard time which he felt was undeserved. Family dinners, political debates, and making fun of each other is standard at my house. Since then, whenever things get heated at a family dinner table debate, “Don’t put me in a box!” gets tossed around in fun.
Unfortunately when it comes to moving, putting things in boxes is the opposite of fun.
Have you hired your movers? If not, be sure to go back a post to our discussion re: Preparing for Moving Day. We shared a few resources for the moving company selection process and discussed all of the tools you need to pack. And now, it’s time to pack. Let’s do this. Or actually, let me give you the tips to do this. I already did and totally sucked at it. This is seriously a moment of: Better You Than Me. Let’s Learn From My Mistakes.
Tip 1: Don’t start with the fun and easy project. You have to start somewhere painful – like an attic or a garage. Go where you accumulate lots and lots of stuff, but that once cleaned out will give you a better idea of the project ahead, and once cleared out provides an added bonus of additional storage area for packed boxes.
Tip 2: Allow as much time as possible to get packed. You won’t regret starting too soon. You will regret looking around your house one day before the movers come and feeling like someone just came and turned your house upside down then set it back upright again. Not a good feeling.
Tip 3: Get rid of stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. Do you have anything in the attic that you never unpacked from your last move? Chuck it! Those suits that you boxed up when you had baby thinking that you might need them when you go back to work? Yeah, how old are those now? Pull one out. Smell it. See how outdated they are? Donate them! Baby toys your kids outgrew? Consign them. Get rid of stuff. You don’t want to pack and then unpack junk you don’t want!
Tip 4: Pick your packing method. This is where I epicly failed I never really picked my method and it just got kinda awkward. Like walking down the middle of South Park Mall with your panties in a bunch. Unbunch those panties, and pick a method. Moving demands it.
Your two choices: Pack by room (works well if the current home is organized and decorated, and you plan to execute a similar design in the new home). If you’re moving into a completely different space, planning to use current furniture in different ways, or plan to purchase new items once relocated, you’re going to want to go the pack by item route.
Packing by room, you’ll literally throw everything from that room into appropriate boxes. For example in a bedroom, all of the books will stay together in the small box. Your clothes will be hung in wardrobe boxes ( or just gently layered on hangers in large boxes – worked fine for me). Lamps, linens, drapes, curtains, and towels will all be wrapped up, labeled, and boxed and bagged. Complete the room from top to bottom before proceeding to the next room.
Packing by item gets a little more interesting, but makes sense if you are using your rooms differently in your new abode. Pull all picture frames and pack them together. All linens get packed together. All toys get packed up together. When packing up bathrooms go and collect all of the cups, toothbrush holders and towels and pack them together. You get the picture.
My downfall was not to pick a method. I packed what was in front of me at any given moment. If I put a lamp base in a big box and then needed to fill it up, I’d throw in a toy truck, a few pillows from my bed, and a colander. Yeah… worked in the packing stage, but not so awesome when it came to unpacking.
Tip 5: Put aside essential items for your new home. It’s likely that the same tools that you need at the last minute in the old house will be priority items when you move into your new house. Things like a set of bed linens, towels, shower curtains, and basic cooking utensils will want to be packed last and marked for opening first in your new home. You’ll also want to make sure that you set aside a few box cutters scissors and trash bags for move-in day.
After you complete several rooms and are well under way with being packed, you can go in and edit your inventory on Unpakt.com. This is one of their coolest features. If you over or under estimated your needs on moving day, you can adjust what is listed in your inventory and get an exact price for with your updated stuff. No surprises on moving day for you!
Now I realize that for some of you veterans, this is pretty basic stuff. Stay tuned for our next post on packing, where I’ve consulted fellow moms who have recently moved and professional movers alike to share with us their best tips for getting ready for moving day.
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If you are new to #ThisNewHouse, go back to the beginning here:
Breaking down a move into manageable steps: https://forksandfolly.com/2013/07/this-new-house-four-steps/
Getting Organizing for a Move and Selecting a Mover: https://forksandfolly.com/2013/07/this-new-house-getting-organized-for-moving/
You can follow our journey with by using the #thisnewhouse hashtag on Twitter and Facebook!
*I did not receive compensation for any of the elements of the This New House Series. I was provided with product and/or services to review and will only be sharing those with the audience that I fully support. All opinions are always my own! *
I have already put a few of these tips to use. Tomorrow is our official moving day & I couldn’t be prouder of myself for having everything packed neatly, labeled & ready to be loaded on the moving truck. I prefer to pack like items together & write the boxes which rooms they were in.
Awesome job, momma! Are you moving locally?
Mint Hill to Uptown.
i toooootally pack by item. i think?
a great moving tip, hmmmm…make sure you have a few drinks after it’s all done! bc moving is so stressful!
another great tip, if you don’t have much, and hate packing in boxes (like myself), pack in reusable bags! target, harris teeter, ikea bags even. i can’t stand cardboard!
Pack a few boxes every night.
I 1) Pack by room, 2) by item and 3) toss out anything that hasn’t been seen or used in ages prior to the move because if we didn’t see it or missed it we probably don’t need it! 😉
If you plan on painting or flooring change at your new place , do it BEFORE you move in all your furniture from your previous place (if you can). It cuts out double work of moving all of your furniture again after you move in.
If you have toddlers or kids let them help. No reason why they can’t be free labor and pack up their own rooms and toys. As long as you keep the most important stuff out or at least where you know you can access.
I usually try to pack a box or two a night, and I pack by the future room to make it easier to unpack.
We packed by room! It helped us feel like we were making progress when you saw that there was nothing left but furniture!
I pack in a jumble, but usually by room. With our last move, we reused wedding present boxes, and couldn’t find some of our electronics for a year, because they were in a baking tin box!
I pack room by room.
For our upcoming move I will be using the pack by item method since we will be moving into something bigger and I have a feeling things are going to get moved around quite a bit until we get enough stuff to fill the place.
My moving tip would be to declutter as much as possible so you can have a fresh clean slate in your new house.
decluter as much as you can before hand and donate as much as you can before you move
I love packing hang up clothes in trash bags, and tying the bottom, using the hangers as a handle to carry. Super easy, keeps them organized, on the hang3r, and clean!
I like packing by room!
use lots of bubble wrap!
Packing by room is my favorite method
My tip is get friends to help!
rent a truck if you are doing it alone
have family help you
5 steps on packing your things for moving out? is it as easy as that? well, that was great. I make a copy of this one for me to use upon preparing to move out by the end of the year.