Fewer things are as stressful as packing. Moving most of us can handle. Packing, on the other hand, is likely to make you regret every purchase you’ve ever made during your stay on this planet.
Seriously, though, why can’t your belongings just magically appear in your new home?
Alas, this is the real world, and those items aren’t going to pack themselves. Just because you have to pack, however, doesn’t mean that you have to be miserable. There are secrets that will allow you to excel at packing and organizing your moving boxes.
And, wouldn’t you know it, we’re sharing those secrets with you as a courtesy. Enjoy.
Place Heavy Items on the Bottom
You’ve probably heard this one before. As a matter of fact, you’ve probably even just figured that this is the right way to go about things. You don’t, after all, want to squish any of your lighter, more fragile items.
Packing your items this way also makes the process of unpacking everything run more smoothly. You can zip through all of the light objects and tackle the big ones later.
Or next year. You know how unpacking usually goes.
Numbering the Boxes
People spend way too much time buying moving boxes and stuffing them with objects to lose their items. Unfortunately, however, boxes will get misplaced sometimes.
That said, we encourage you to take some precautions, one of which is numbering your boxes. Doing this won’t prevent your boxes from getting lost, but it will help you immediately determine whether or not you’ve lost anything.
Found boxes eleven and thirteen while twelve is nowhere in sight? Sounds fishy to us.
But look on the bright side. The chances of losing that car you had shipped are relatively low. Box number twelve had nothing on your vehicle.
Don’t Stuff Your Boxes
Moving boxes aren’t particularly expensive, but there is a bargainer in all of us. We want to get our money’s worth, and there’s no shame in that.
Still, sometimes we take things overboard. This is especially true when we stuff our boxes to max capacity.
And don’t think for a second that “max capacity” isn’t a euphemism for “There’s way too much stuff in this box, but, hey, I got it closed.”
Don’t do this. You want all of your boxes to be properly closed to keep your belongs tucked away on their journey to your new home.
Don’t Waste Space Inside of Your Boxes
Just because you can’t pack your boxes until they overflow doesn’t mean that you can’t use the space inside of them efficiently. Your boxes shouldn’t be half full. That’s just a waste of your money.
It’s also a waste of your time. When your boxes aren’t efficiently packed, you create more work for yourself and anyone who’s helping you. You lug more boxes onto the truck and unpack more boxes in the end.
If you can’t fill up your boxes, though, you can use or next tip to help you eliminate that empty space.
Add Padding To Boxes When Necessary
Sometimes you don’t have enough items to fill up all of the space in your moving boxes. That’s perfectly normal, but you shouldn’t just leave so much empty space in your boxes. When contents are loose, they can shift unexpectedly and this can be a risk to the person carrying the box. You don’t want items moving about inside the boxes.
Especially if you have fragile items inside of them.
Adding some sort of padding to the boxes should help remedy the problem. You can buy bubble wrap to add bulk or add soft items such as socks and pillows to your boxes.
“Prioritize” Each Box
People who are honest with themselves know that they won’t unpack all of their boxes. Some of those boxes will still be sitting around five years later.
Because they know this, they need a way to find out which boxes they absolutely must unpack sooner rather than later. Labeling each box with a symbol which signifies priority or urgency will help you keep track of which boxes they pretty much never plan on unpacking.
Don’t Disassemble Items If You Can Help It
Disassembling items is completely necessary sometimes. If you don’t have to go that route, however, just don’t. When you disassemble an item, you have to keep track of all sorts of nuts, bolts, and screws while packing and unpacking, which no one wants to do.
And let’s not even talk about the fact that you eventually have to put the items back together if you take them apart.
Color Coding Boxes
Nothing can defeat you more than staring at a room full of boxes which don’t have any info about where their contents belong on the outside. Color-coding the boxes by room can help you avoid all of this confusion.
If at all possible, you should also try to keep boxes with related objects together. This will make the process easier on the people who have to unload the moving trucks.
Don’t Throw Away Your Boxes
Throwing away your boxes is easy. That doesn’t, however, necessarily make it the best option. There are a couple of other routes you can go.
You can, for example, donate your boxes. You don’t even have to do so in an official capacity. If you happen to notice that a neighbor is moving, just volunteer your boxes.
If you don’t want to play the role of the good Samaritan, you could make a bit of money selling your moving boxes at a discounted price. There are plenty of sites that allow people to sell items they no longer need.
Recycling is also an option for people who can’t be bothered to donate or sell their boxes.
Keep A Master List of Your Boxes
On paper, your phone, or your computer, keep a list of your boxes. The list should include the box number, the priority, general description of items, and the room for which it is destined in the new home. This list can keep you organized, let you know where items are, and prevent you from having to walk around reading box labels to try to find that “one thing” you need now.
Master the Art of Packing And Labeling Moving Boxes
You’re well on your way to slaying the art of packing your moving boxes. You just have to be a little more mindful while throwing all of your items into those boxes.
Now all you have to worry about is adjusting to your new neighborhood, which is a completely different challenge.
If you’re still looking for a moving company to help you get your belongings from point A point B, consider moving with Liberty Moving & Storage. We provide everything from residential moving to white glove moving.
Contact us today for a free quote. You can call us at 1-800-640-4487 or fill out a contact form. We’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.
