Packing for Moving DayUpdated November 24, 2007Start packing as soon as you know that you will be moving, even if you don't know where you will be moving to. Labels Create peel-off, stick-on labels for your boxes. I admit that for years I thought this was a waste of printer ink and sticky paper, planned up by corporate America trying to convince the rest of us that we needed to buy yet another product to accomplish a task that could easily be done with a big black marker. Then I tried it, and it really does make things easier. They're easy to make on your computer, easy to put on boxes, easy to read when you're moving in, and easy to see since they usually stand out against the cardboard box background. If you are making multiple trips to move (rather than moving everything all at once) you can reuse the boxes and just stick a new label over the old one instead of crossing out your scribbles with a marker and creating more scribbles, making it difficult to read the label at all. You should have labels for all important information about each box. This includes how each box should be handled
Where the box should be placed when it is unloaded
And the contents of the box
If you have children, you may even want to create labels with each child's name, so they can quickly figure out which box belongs to them. Organizing Your Boxes Unless you know exactly how you want to arrange everything in your new home or have your own special method that works for you, try to group the contents of your boxes by type and location. Pack similar items together. For example, don't mix books with decorations even if they are going to end up in the same room. Trust me, you'll thank yourself when you need to look through the boxes to find a particular item before the move as well as when you are unpacking after the move. Pack items together that will be going into the same room. If you plan on having books in both your family room and your bedroom, make sure that you have a separate box for family room books and a separate box for bedroom books. This will save you from having to haul boxes from room to room during both packing and unpacking. What Size Boxes to Use I once made the mistake of thinking bigger was better. The bigger the box, the more I could pack into it, and the fewer number of boxes I would actually have to move. Unfortunately, these big, well packed boxes were so heavy that even a couple of U.S. Marines (male) who were helping us move were groaning. Anything heavy needs to go into a small box. Some items don't weigh much by themselves, but when piled together with similar items they become heavy enough to do some serious weight lifting with: books, canned foods, records, files, etc. Use larger boxes only for very light weight, bulky items. Pillows, stuffed animals, and comforters are light enough that you can shove a bunch of them in a big box and you won't have to worry about hurting your back while trying to lift them. Storing Boxes Before the Move Some people like to pack up the box and move it to a waiting area, like the garage. I prefer to pack the box and leave it in the room where it will probably end up in the new house. If I plan on using a box I packed in my bedroom in my new bedroom as well, I'll leave it in my bedroom. This way, all of the boxes that will end up in the same location can be loaded together onto the moving truck and unloaded together as well. By doing this, you avoid having to run around from room to room depositing boxes everywhere and tripping over boxes you've already unloaded. If you had moved the box to a waiting area, it would most likely get mixed up with all the other boxes from various parts of the house. Special Notes Unless you are absolutely positive about how you will decorate each room and exactly where decorations will go, put all of your decorations into one or so boxes together, no matter what room they came from. Wait until you've finished unpacking all essential and functional items before you unpack your decorations. Otherwise they may just get in your way. By not committing your decorations to the rooms you've always displayed them in, you allow yourself to transform the look of your home. You may discover that the decorative lamp that looked so good in your family room at the last house actually does wonders to your office in the new house, and the painting you've had in your bedroom for the last five years really brightens up your living room. Of course, don't do this with decorations that belong to other family members. It's not fair to use your child's decorations from his/her bedroom to dress up your bathroom no matter how good it looks. Kids and teens need their own personal possessions that they can identify with and have pride in. These things should not become family property. |
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