Where to begin your packing for the move?
February 7, 2017
For most of us, moving from one place to another implies arduous and time-consuming process - decluttering your house, getting moving quotes, tedious planning, securing the belongings, endless packing and labelling, and on goes the list. However from a different point of view, moving can actually be a signifier of fresh starts, exciting new opportunities and a chance to simplify your possessions. Whichever might be your personal approach, the importance of actual preparation and packing of your belongings ahead of the move, cannot be underestimated. You can rely on our insightful guidelines below to prevent a lot of headaches and backaches, yet ensure successful outcome of your moving adventure.
Certain preliminary steps are key to a successful and efficient move - creating inventory of all your items, sorting them properly, decluttering your home, discarding unwanted things or donating them, carefully packing the valuables, availing appropriate insurance coverage, etc. To ensure your packing success and the safety of your items, you need to create a packing list, get hold of appropriate packing materials, get rid of unwanted items, organize your belongings and start packing in advance.
However, first things first! Of all the preparatory steps, the actual packing process is most daunting, and without a doubt, the most time-consuming, laborious, yet most pertinent to the outcome of a move. And even before you roll up the sleeves and get down to the packing business, you will ask this - where to start packing? How to begin packing my house? What to pack first for moving?
So, it is only common logic that the first things to pack will be the things you would use the least. Let the packing marathon begin!
- Non-primary items: These are pretty ubiquitous, everyone has them - you can call them 'non-essential' or 'non-primary' or 'not everyday use' items. Items and knick-knacks stored in drawers, closets, cabinets, etc. fall in this category. Since these are items that you tend to use one a while, you won't be hard pressed without them for a few weeks. So, you can advance pack all such items you are not likely to use soon before your move. You should start attacking less used and cluttered areas of the house first.
- Out-of-season items: These will mostly include holiday decorations, seasonal clothes, winter coats, beach umbrellas, ski gear, swimming goggles, seasonal shoes, etc. As these items won't be used normally, they should be easier to organize and packaged. Most importantly, it is highly unlikely that hat you will need any of them before Moving day, so you won't miss them.
- Specialized tools and equipment: Logic dictates that in the time left until moving day, there is very little chance of you requiring special equipment such as fishing gear, climbing gear, sporting equipment, or other specialized tools such as leaf blower, lawnmowers, snow blowers, bikes, electric drill, etc. Hence it would be wise to get them packed and set aside in advance.
- Extra supplies: As you approach the actual Moving day, narrow down to only the most used things left outside. The extra supplies, craft supplies, canned goods, non-perishable pantry items, mats, spare sheets and blankets, table linens, extra clothes, office supplies, towels, toiletries, office supplies and similar items must be carefully sorted out and stowed into labelled and/or color coded boxes.
- Collectibles: In the weeks leading to your move, you will not have time to go dewy eyed over old photo albums or to admire your coin collections. So any collectible items that seem to have aesthetic value but serve no practical purposes should be getting organized and stowed away into the moving boxes long before the relocation. Such items might include coin collections, stamp collections, photo albums, scrapbooks, figurines, miniatures, dolls, train models, art collections, etc.
- Artwork and decorations: Framed pictures, figurines, memorabilia, vases, souvenirs, and other lovely items would have been used to create an ambiance in your home, and they might even have sentimental value or could even be extremely pricey artworks. Hence you should pack them well ahead of the move so as to ensure safety of fragile pieces as well as preservation of family heirlooms. You will need time to bubble-wrap and secure these delicate items for the move, and so starting early on such items would be highly recommended.
- Books and media: Usually the days leading up to the move are marked by hectic activity and so you would hard pressed to find time for pursuing your hobbies or enjoying your music collections or reading your favorite bestsellers. So it would be wise to pack and set aside your books, music CDs, DVDs, gaming devices, etc. as early as possible. Be sure to pack those heavy books in sturdy boxes to so that your collections arrive in your new home in excellent condition.
- Kitchen gadgets and utensils: Special kitchen tools and serve ware such as fine china, cake plates, condiment dishes, pie pans, cookie cutters, barbecue and grill accessories, crystal glasses, ice-cream cups, small appliances, extra dishes, dishtowels, food storage containers, and other such items that you don't use on a day to day basis, must be packed prior to the move day.
- Items in storage areas: Often storage areas like garages, basements, or attics, are teeming with hidden or out-of-sight knick-knacks and less used or half-forgotten items. It is therefore sensible to not leave these items unsorted until the moving day. Moreover, purging such storage areas in your home and sorting out all the extra things laying there will be time and labor intensive, and probably the most challenging areas, and hence better tackled in advance.
After you pack these non-urgent, non-essentials items, it is also vital to label them with their contents and their location. The boxes must be kept neatly and safely aside in a dry place so they're not in the way. Thereafter, you can slowly proceed towards other areas and rooms, packaging more things - a simple and smart, yet effective way to reduce your moving stress levels!
