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Hey Twinstant Gratifiers! Resident expert packer here. Today’s lesson will be all about packing. What makes me an expert in packing, you ask? Well, hubs and I are about to embark on our 13th move in 13 years. Yep, you read that right. THIRTEEN. And we aren’t even a military family. We’re just kinda cray cray. We’ve moved quite a bit-NY a couple of times, CT a handful of times, FL a bunch of times. Fingers crossed that this is our “for-the-indefinite-future” home. I don’t like to say “forever,” because we all know that life likes to throw us some curveballs.
So, you’re packing to move? It’s a daunting task, trust me I know. And you’re going to unearth stuff that you either didn’t remember you had, or you wonder why you ever bought it in the first place. Good news-you don’t have to keep it all! With my tips and tricks, you’ll be purging, packing, and pleasantly surprised with how smoothly a well-organized and coordinated move will run.
First things first: come up with a game plan. Figure out how you’re going to pack in a logical and organized way. Ask yourself these simple questions: is this a local or a long distance move? Are you hiring movers or doing it yourself?
Are you storing your boxes in pods or are they going directly onto the moving truck? Are you moving to temporary housing and storing some of your boxes in a storage facility temporarily?
If you’re hiring a mover, call at least three moving companies to get price quotes. Have them come out to view all of the contents of your home so that you can get a weight estimate and you can compare numbers, and they can determine the size of the truck to provide and the number of movers needed and the amount of time they estimate it will take. If you’re moving yourself, make sure you rent the correct size truck!
Next: order supplies. If you’re packing yourself, you will need a TON of bubble wrap, packing paper, packing tape, moving boxes, a good permanent marker, moving blankets to protect the furniture, and shrink wrap to secure the blankets on the furniture. I bought this professional-looking packing tape dispenser (not pictured) years ago, and it comes in handy every time we move. Tip: if you hire professional movers, they typically supply moving blankets.
A helpful tip is to go onto your local neighborhood website, like Nextdoor.com or a community Facebook page, and see if anyone has moving boxes that they’re looking to unload. For our last move, I was able to find more than enough boxes throughout neighboring communities to pack our entire house up. Many people suggest getting boxes from your local grocery or big box stores. Don’t do this. Typically when the boxes are unpacked in the store and then discarded in a loading dock or near the dumpsters, there are rodents and insects. You don’t want to bring them home and find an unwanted surprise or a new pet. The only boxes I recommend getting from any store are wine boxes-either to drink or just to pack your own bottles in! They have the cardboard dividers inside the boxes that prevent the bottles from touching each other. They come in handy for other packing purposes, like packing stemware and glassware.
If you are like I am and get frequent Amazon deliveries, you can save those boxes to reuse for your packing. But more importantly, the air pillows that come in those packages are great cushions and gap-fillers when packing boxes.
Now you have to actually start packing. Get your computer handy and pop open a spreadsheet. I like to use Google Docs so that it’s saved in my Google Drive and I can access it easily.
You’ll want to include the designated box number, a physical description of the box, contents of the box, and final destination of the box when it is unloaded off of the moving truck. Since my most recent move was into temporary housing, I labeled each box with two destinations: the first is where the box goes at the temporary location, and the second is where it goes when it’s moved to the new house.
Educating the movers on your system is a task in and of itself. Hopefully you’ll get a few bright crayons in your box.
Next up, come up with a logical and orderly way of beginning the actual packing. I like to do one room at a time. Start with the least used rooms first, this way they can be a holding area for the packed boxes if you need extra space in other rooms or to clear a path so that you can live among the boxes for the days leading up to the big move. Keep your computer with you while you’re putting contents into boxes so that you can document everything that goes into each box. This way, if you determine that something is missing after you’re all unpacked, you can refer back to your spreadsheet to find the box number and see if it was delivered and unpacked. If you want to be super organized, you can add a column on the spreadsheet for “Unpacked?” and as you unpack, you can type “yes” for each numbered box that is complete. This makes it easier to determine which box is missing, if any.
As you begin packing a room, make two or three piles: one for donations, one to sell, and one for the dumpster. For example, when I packed up our house two moves ago, I realized that I had two large bins of preemie clothes. I sent a package of the preemie clothes to the NICU where my twins spent two months. NICUs usually have a communal closet of preemie clothes to dress the babies in while they’re hospitalized, and greatly appreciate the donations.
If you have the time or the dedication, you can sell a lot of your household items on local swap shops or sale boards. Donated household goods are always appreciated by a number of organizations. Check with your local church or religious organization to see if they are collecting items, or look into donating to organizations that help mothers, battered women, or homeless people. Not only will you have a clean closet, but you’ll feel really good about helping others who may be less fortunate.
After you pack a box and seal it with packing tape, be sure to write the box number on top of the box and circle it. Next, write the destination of the box on the top so that you know which room to deliver it. If the box is going into storage first, write “1. Storage, 2. Final Destination” so that you know where it should ultimately end up.
Many movers have strategic ways of packing their trucks. They may require the boxes to go in first and then furniture, or vice versa. They will tell you on the day of the move how they operate. For our move from Connecticut to Florida, our movers ran out of room on the truck and had to strap our mattresses to the back of the truck.
I highly recommend purchasing mattress bags on Amazon for both the mattress and the boxspring, so that they’re all protected from dirt or the elements. Many movers offer this service, but charge an exorbitant amount to bag the mattresses for you. Save your money.
If there are any items that you don’t want going on the truck, make sure you separate them from the rest of the boxes and put them in a safe place to avoid confusion. I have moved specific items myself because they are heirlooms or completely irreplaceable and have more sentimental value to me than replacement value.
Finally, make sure you begin packing well in advance of your moving date. It takes a lot of time and effort to carefully wrap valuables and breakable objects. Turn on some music or the TV, pour a glass of something-anything alcoholic, and just start packing! Another fun idea is to host a packing party and invite your friends and relatives over to help you pack! Don’t worry, it will all make its way to your new home…eventually.
Do you have a particular way of packing? What are your go-to methods? Leave a comment below!
© Copyright 2018 Twinstant Gratification, LLC
Tamar Blazer is an attorney-turned-twin mom, with a passion for her family, friends, writing, good food, home decor and laughing. When she’s not lamenting on her lack of sleep, you can find her doing one of the too many projects she likes to take on, usually with a twin on either side.
