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So you’ve found a new place and you’re starting the moving out process. You look around your entire house. The overwhelming process is about to start. Where do I even begin? You ask yourself.
Moving is stressful and packing can become overwhelming. But if you take time at the start of the move to plan and organize yourself, you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches throughout the moving process.
Start with a moving checklist of all the tasks that need to be completed and in what order. Then it’s time to take inventory of all your belongings to help gauge how long it will take to pack and how much packing supplies are needed. This inventory list will also be useful should you opt for insurance on your belongings during your move.
It’s hard to provide an exact estimate as each household is vastly different. However, a good rule of thumb would be the following:
However long you’ve estimated it will take for you to finish packing, we suggest adding an additional week as a contingency should you run into any unforeseen issues. Not to mention by starting a little earlier you will substantially reduce stress.
Methodically start packing the rooms that are the least in use to the highest in the house. For those who have a loft space or 2 story home, by packing your rooms one at a time you’ll be saving yourself a huge amount of stress when you get to your new home. This will also help keep you and your movers organized when figuring out which box goes where. Here we’ll go through each section of a typical home to discuss how to pack each room.
Start by going through all your loose items around the room. For example, if you’re packing your bedroom, take a look at all your miscellaneous items. The trinkets from that last vacation you took, your treasured books or the photo frames of your friends and family. These are great examples of knick-knacks that you can pack first. When packing, be sure not to have any boxes that weigh more than 13 kgs. You want to make sure you or your movers can safely pick up the box without spraining anything or dropping and damaging items.
We suggest going through each room and starting this process first. Many times knick-knacks get left to the last minute and can cause an overwhelming sensation for you to just throw them all out.
Once you have all your loose items packed, scan the room for other items you won’t miss if you packed them early. Perhaps it’s your seasonal clothing and decoration items that you aren’t currently using, or the extra seasonal blankets you don’t need now.
Go through each room of the house and or storage closet to start this process. Ideally each room would be 60% packed with non essentials in boxes and the remainder essential items for the last round of packing. Keeping the essentials unpacked for the last 2 weeks.
While you’re packing your stored away items, make a separate pile for items to donate, sell or throw out. Moving houses is the perfect opportunity to do a nice purge of your belongings that you no longer need. Plus, it’ll make the move cheaper by not moving unwanted items to your new home.
Before you start packing the garage, take note that any flammable or combustible items are prohibited to be transported by a moving company. Either dispose of such items or plan to transport them yourself. For a more detailed list of items that are prohibited, refer to our Learning Center article on ‘How To Pack Electronics’ or refer to our FAQ section on ‘Are There Any Items the Movers Will Not Take?’.
Pack outdoor furniture items first. Cushions on furniture items packed into garbage bags and labelled. Remaining items that cannot be packed into a box moved to a corner of the garage for easy access when the movers come.
Any tools to be packed away in the tool box or regular packing boxes, so long as any sharp edges are wrapped appropriately. For your appliances that require gas, like a lawn mower or grill, drain the gas before transporting and dispose of any gas tanks should you have one.
If you have items like bicycles, scooters or other sports gear, we suggest transporting them yourselves to avoid damage. So long as your car permits, you can buy a bike rack to attach to your car.
What’s the best advice on packing your kitchen items? Look at your fridge! Start by going through your freezer and determine what items you’re going to eat and what items should be thrown out. Once you tackle your fridge, you’ll effortlessly be able to defrost your fridge 48 hours before your move.
Next, pack all your dishes and glassware except for one or two items in order to use them right up until your move. Make sure you properly protect your breakable items with the appropriate packing supplies like packing paper, bubble wrap and sectioned boxes for glassware.
Now it’s time to tackle your appliances. Start by packing heavier items first. Detach any blades or loose components to minimize potential damages during transportation. Always place heavier appliances at the bottom of moving boxes.
Finally, take a look at your sauces, dried goods, spices etc. For any spillable items, secure the lid with tape or wrap in bubble wrap. Ideally it’s best to eat what you can to minimize the amount you transport on your moving day. Try to keep refrigerated items to a minimum during transportation. However, if you do have leftover items in the fridge, you can transport them in a cooler with ice to keep from spoiling.
For more detailed information on the proper ways to protect your kitchen items, please refer to our Learning Center article on ‘How To Pack Your Kitchen Appliances’.
An easy packing job to tackle at the start are the decorations around your home. Decorations are non essential items that you won’t be searching for if you’ve packed them too early. Equally, if you leave them to the last minute, you may run the risk of forgetting a hanging piece tucked back in a corner of the house. Pack your hanging items in telescopic boxes with the appropriate protection around them.
For more detailed information on how to appropriately pack pictures and artwork refer to our Learning Centre article ‘How To Pack Artwork’.
Start by disassembling all the dining room chairs and tables. Pack the chair legs in a clearly marked box with the screws and nails separated in a clearly marked ziplock bag. The parts that you can’t fit into a box, protect with a large plastic bag over them.
If you have a rug, roll up the rug and secure it with plastic. The remainder of items in your dining room, like decorations, pack with the appropriate protection into boxes clearly marked dining room, or dining room fragile.
If you have any furniture that you can’t detach the legs, put furniture sliders under the legs in preparation for the movers. Grab a sheet and cover the item to prevent any scratches from occurring during the move.
Generally, your living room will have the most electronics to pack. Start by unscrewing bases of TV’s, sound systems, computers etc. Find some towels or sheets to wrap around the screens to protect them during transportation. Once you have started disassembling your electronics, place them in a moving box marked electronics / fragile. Sticky tape cords to their respective electronic devices to minimize confusion when you are reassembling everything.
For lights and lampshades, start by unscrewing the light bulbs and carefully mark which bulbs are for which lamp shade. Lampshades are a very delicate item to pack. For more information on how best to properly pack them, refer to our Learning Center article on ‘How To Pack Lamps’.
We cannot stress enough how important it is to pack an essentials bag. Having all your essentials in one place will help mitigate the potential stress of running around looking for something in a packed box. Think about all the items you’ll need days leading up to your move and the following days after you’ve moved into your new place. To give you an idea, here are some essential items we think are important to have in your essentials bag.
Now that you have a handle on how to methodically pack your home, you’ll need to understand what packing supplies are needed to help you in this task.
Every home is different, but as a general rule of thumb, the following types of moving boxes are needed for a move:
For more detailed information on how many boxes you’ll need for your move, refer to our Learning Center article on ‘How Many Boxes Do I Need For My Move?’.
Tape
The next big item is tape. The last thing you want is to run out of tape as you’re packing up your belongings. While it may be tempting to leave the top of boxes untapped, this is a recipe for disaster in the moving van. One roll of tape is around 49 - 100 meters in length and will be able to tape 30-60 boxes. By the way, if you’re thinking the tape dispenser is an unnecessary item, trust us, it’s a packing supply you’ll regret not buying.
Packing Paper and Bubble Wrap
You’ll need packing paper and bubble wrap predominately for your kitchen supplies. The amount of kitchen supplies you own typically is a good indicator on how much protection material you’ll need. Other items that also will require packing protection include lampshades, electronics, artwork, essentially any breakable items.
Labels and Markers
Often overlooked, labels are key to organizing your moving boxes. If you’re somebody who thrives on being organized, we suggest getting colored labels as an extra organizational tool. Color coordinate the colored labels by: fragile, electronics, heavy and any other categories that are important. Have about 4 black markers in your arsenal and stick the labels on the side of boxes. This way when you’re stacking them, they can be viewed by you or the movers.
By following our steps on how to systematically pack your belongings, you’ll save your future self a lot of stress during the move. Start with the easy items first and work up to the larger things. Give yourself ample time to slowly and methodically pack your items. You’ll never be annoyed that you finished early. But you’ll definitely be annoyed and stressed if you’re scrambling to pack the last of your items the night before the movers come. By starting early and being organized, you’ll keep your last night in your old home as a celebratory night, just as it should be.
