How to Pack for Moving so You Can Unpack Faster
When you’re packing for a move, there’s a lot to consider. You might think about how to minimize expenses and how to get rid of all the extra junk , but what about packing in a way that’s easier to unpack ? There are few things more annoying than arriving at a new home and needing a specific item —where the heck is that screwdriver? —only to discover that a sloppy job of packing in the past has made your life more difficult in the present.
You want your transition into your new space to be as smooth and even enjoyable as possible. Here are some tips to help you make not only the packing process easy, but the unpacking process as well.
Start sooner than you think
In the past, when I moved into a new apartment, I would wait until the week of the big move to start packing. I never succeeded. Don’t do that. In fact, you should start three to four weeks in advance. I know it sounds annoying, but you need that time buffer.
“Packaging always takes longer than expected, so start early,” says Evan Hock, co-founder of MakeMyMove . “This is especially true for seasonal items or things you don’t use every day.”
Time isn’t just for packing, mind you: packing also includes decluttering , since you don’t want to waste money or energy moving things you don’t want or need in your new place. Next, and perhaps most importantly, you need time to make changes to your plans. If the boxes you’re using aren’t sturdy enough, if you haven’t budgeted enough for packing supplies, or if you find yourself having a hard time categorizing everything, you’ll be grateful for a few extra days to sort it all out.
Choose the right accessories
Several professionals I spoke with recommended buying new boxes instead of trying to save money by using old ones. It will cost you money, but it can also save you a lot of headaches as old boxes can lose their integrity – this, plus having boxes that are all (or mostly) the same size, will make packing and moving much easier.
If you don’t want to buy boxes, consider using reusable plastic crates, which also give you uniformity in addition to being even more sustainable. A number of companies locally and nationally will rent you these boxes. U-Haul , RentalCrates.com , and Perfect Crates offer this service, but check locally and compare prices for your specific needs. If you’re moving locally, a local company should be able to help you. For longer moves, consider one of the larger companies above to make it easier to return since they’ll drop off and pick up supplies.
Another thing to keep in mind is high-quality tape. Rob Rimeris, owner of EverSafe Moving Co. , says that sturdy boxes and strong tape are “worth every penny.” Charles Chica, co-owner of CT Best Movers , also advises never “going cheap” with tape: “You’ll regret it when a box or bag breaks during your move.”
Go room by room
You need to be strategic when you pack. Again, I’ve historically failed at this — probably because I waited too long and ended up just running around shoving things into boxes where they would fit and praying I’d be able to sort out the mess when I got to my new place. Instead of getting so panicked, approach packing systematically. Go room by room.
“Pack one room at a time to ensure that all items are grouped together when you unpack,” says Stephanie Reese, assistant product manager for Duck Brand moving supplies. Matt Graber, co-owner of Cool Hand Movers , says the same: “As you go room by room filling moving boxes or containers, you ensure that items that need to be unpacked are likely to be together in the same room on the other side. You don’t want to be dragging boxes around your new home looking for places for scattered items.”
This approach will also help you stay organized in your new place because it follows the rules of the Organizational Triangle : everything should have a place and be stored with similar things. Grouping similar categories together makes it easier to organize and store things after the move.
Separate out the essentials
While you’re packing room by room, you should also pack your items in order of urgency. Charles Chica, co-owner of CT Best Movers , says you should have one box of essentials that includes “things like medications, chargers, toiletries, documents, and even just a change of clothes,” and you should pack those and bring them with you yourself, even if you’re hiring movers for everything else.
You should also have boxes of essentials for each room in your home—things that might not be so important that you’ll put them in a box for things you’re taking with you, but that you know you’ll need soon. For bathrooms, this might include things like extra toothbrushes, soap, and a towel. For bedrooms, think pajamas, kids’ stuffed animals, and a few changes of clothes. Kitchen essentials might include some cooking utensils and a coffee pot. With a box like this for each room, even if you’re too tired to unpack on your first (or second, or third) night in your new place, you’ll have everything you need to be comfortable, and you won’t have to dig through all the other boxes just to find toothpaste.
Shaniqua D’Sa, head of content marketing at Attic Self Storage, suggests the same, but adds an important caveat: “The most overlooked thing that makes unpacking easier is having scissors or a pocket knife handy,” she says, so add that to the things you keep on hand rather than packing. “So many people move, get ready to unpack, and then can’t get the packing tape off the boxes and don’t have scissors or a knife handy. It’s just another added frustration that you don’t need.”
While you’re budgeting for the essentials, “don’t lose sight of your health care needs,” says Evan Hock, co-founder of MakeMyMove . “Before you move, make sure you have access to your medical records and enough prescription medications to last until you find a new primary care provider. This small step can prevent unnecessary stress in the future.”
Don’t overcomplicate the little things.
We all have so many little things lying around — batteries, screws, art supplies, etc. Why not keep some of them where they belong? If you have a block of drawers that hold a bunch of stuff, tape the blocks securely and just transport them, says Jordan Sakala of laborhutt.com . Other small items can and should be thrown into Ziploc bags, but you should clearly label them, says Chika, and you should tape those bags to their proper place. For example, bags of screws should be taped to the furniture they’re intended for, and bags of chargers should be taped to the container or furniture they’re stored in.
Clothes may seem like a “big thing,” but you can actually think of them as “little things.” Gather up your hanging clothes and put a trash bag over them, leaving them on hangers, says Chika. I always cut a small hole in the top of the bag to allow the hangers to stick out, then hang them on a new rod when I move and (carefully) cut the bag off right away.
However, some items of clothing can be used to protect the “little things.” Many professionals have told me that scarves, socks, T-shirts, tablecloths, curtains, and more can and should be wrapped around valuables. This will save you money on packing and keep your items safe. Rob Rimeris, owner of EverSafe Moving Co. , even claims that “T-shirts cushion dishes better than bubble wrap.”
Label carefully
As you pack, be sure to label your boxes. Many professionals recommend color-coding the labels to match the room the contents are going to, but how exactly you do this is up to you. Shannon Beller, CEO and co-founder of Wall-Russ , says colored labels can help professional movers place boxes in the right room, but if you don’t have colorful labels, even colored stickers can work, according to Marshall Aikman, owner of Amazing Moves Moving and Storage .
On top of that, be very specific. “Don’t just write ‘miscellaneous,’ because that’s a nightmare when you’re tired and trying to find your coffee maker on the first day,” says Thiam Behdarvandan, CEO and founder of Let’s Get Moving . Write specific names of items on the side of the box so you always know exactly what you’re dealing with. Label urgent boxes, first-day boxes, and any other details that will be important when you get there.
Pack (and load the truck) carefully
Whether you fill your U-Haul yourself or hire a professional to handle this part, think strategically about the order in which you load everything. If the kitchen of your new home is at the very back of the house, put the kitchen boxes last so that they are the first to be carried out and you can easily get them to the back of the house without tripping over other boxes. Ideally, the furniture should be in a separate van or truck so that it can be carried out first, since you also don’t want to be pushing a buffet through a pile of cardboard boxes.
The same goes for packing the boxes themselves: label them clearly and try to pack them in a way that makes some logical sense. A box full of kitchen appliances is more important to unpack first because you want the big items in place on the countertop before you add decor. You want to unpack the sheets before you unpack the pillows so you can lay them on the bed in the right order, so you might want to put the pillows on the bottom of the box with the linens and the sheets on top.
Finally, you’ll want to write down on each box what its contents are. Don’t just label them by room. Instead, says Thiam Behdarvandan, CEO and founder of Let’s Get Moving , write specific names of items on the side of the box so you always know exactly what you’re dealing with. Label urgent boxes, first-day boxes, and any other details that will be important when you get there.
Here’s a bonus tip from Marshall Aikman, owner of Amazing Moves Moving and Storage : You probably already know that you should pack as many things as possible into suitcases to avoid wasting money on boxes, but you should think a little more critically about what you pack in them. Heavy items like books are a great option, as the wheels of a suitcase can help save your back. Items that need to travel around your new home for a long time are also a good option, again because of the wheels. The same goes for things that fall into many subcategories, like toiletries, if the suitcase has interior pockets. One pocket could be for lotion, another for skin care products, a third for perfume, and so on.
Of course, these are suggestions for an ideal scenario. I know how much more stressful packing is in reality; sometimes you just don’t have time to think through all the little details. That’s why it’s best to start the process a few weeks in advance if you can. You need time to make a plan so that unpacking and moving isn’t as stressful as packing and moving. Start your time in your new place now.