How to Pack for a Move in a Weekend
Here are my top 12 tips on how to make the packing process quick and a little less painful.
This giant list will be your guide as you make quick work of packing the house. Having everything on the list can help you keep your brain focused on the job at hand, and it will feel good to check each task off.
Take a garbage bag and walk through the entire house. It is truly freeing to get rid of things you don’t need. Throw away expired medicine, broken toys, puzzles with missing pieces and other things you’ll never use again. Make sure everything that remains is a full set or in great condition.
5 Areas to Declutter Before You Move
Grab your beach towels and large bathroom towels first. Put them at the bottom of your boxes to absorb any shock or shifting that may take place during the move.
Next, grab other towels, linens, dishrags and even T-shirts. You can wrap the fragile items in these pieces, which means packing that section of the house will take less time later.
Tip: Now that you have moving boxes getting full, take a minute to label each box with a number using a permanent marker. Then, start a list of the numbered boxes and their contents. This is essential and will save you precious time later in your new home when you need to quickly find something.
If you have shelves with sweaters, sweatpants and shoes, pack them into medium-sized boxes. Make sure you label the boxes and add them to your ongoing list.
Tip: Use an extra shoe box or a clear container for the odds and ends — such as buttons, safety pins and old letters — you’ll come across while you pack the closet. You’ll be amazed at what you find.
Tip: Do not put these items in the moving truck. Instead, keep them with you in your vehicle as you go to your new home.
This method also will keep all the toys together, and the kids will be happy to pull them all out again in their new home.
Declutter the kids’ stuff in 6 steps
Tip: If any of these items are fragile, grab clothes out of the dresser and use them as packing material.
Shop storage bins and boxes
If your large wall art doesn’t fit in a box, you can carefully stack the pieces in the moving truck or your vehicle and use flat pieces of cardboard as dividers.
Tip: Small art and wall decor can be packed similarly to your fragile kitchen items.
The trickier parts of the home have been addressed, so now you just need to keep going into each room and putting the contents in boxes. Keep in mind any previous tricks, such as wrapping breakables in clothing.
If you find anything, put it in a box. It’s totally OK to have miscellaneous boxes as long as their contents are labeled on your box list. You may find that the items that are last to be packed are the things that didn’t fit into other categories. Ask yourself whether you really want these items before packing them away.
Make sure each box is taped shut, has a number and is listed on your master move list.
If all the loose items are packed and the boxes are closed, you’re officially done.