Packing is the most essential step to a successful move—and often the most overlooked! Efficient and organized packing is the key to facilitating a smooth and productive transfer of your belongings to the moving truck, into your new home, and back in their rightful place.
The best approach to packing for a major move is really to leave it to the professionals. However, if you decide to tackle the beast on your own, prevent packing chaos by taking care to avoid these most common oversights!
Skipping the packing plan.
Going into the packing process blind is a guaranteed waste of time and resources. Come up with a strategy to ensure your packing is efficient and organized!
Packing up everything you own is a major project, so it needs to be planned like one. Decide the best order to box up your house in before you get started. Start with the rooms and areas you use the least, then work your way up to an essentials box. You might even consider making a list for each room of what to pack together and when.
Not giving yourself enough time.
Here’s looking at you, chronic procrastinators. It’s going to take more time than you think to pack up your entire house. If you wait until the last minute, you’re going to stress yourself out and slow down the moving process.
The less time you have to get organized and pack carefully, the more mistakes you’re going to make. Make a realistic timeline and do your best to follow it. As soon as you close on your new home, you should shift your focus to packing up your old one. Set aside the time you need throughout the upcoming weeks to get it done.
You don’t purge before you pack.
Don’t waste time or supplies packing items you don’t use or plan on getting rid of. You might be tempted to put off a thorough sorting until you reach your new home, but you’ll just be making things more difficult for yourself in the long run.
Sort your belongings into piles of what you plan to keep, donate, sell, or trash, before or as you pack. Keep the separate groups organized and labeled so you don’t accidentally pack something you plan on sending to the curb.
Using your packing materials improperly.
Packing your items correctly and carefully is imperative if you want to prevent damage and make the most of your resources. Be sure you don’t underfill or overfill your boxes and containers. While it’s true you don’t want to waste any usable space, you also don’t want to make a box so heavy it’s unsafe to lift or at risk of breaking.
Take the time to wrap and secure fragile items with bubble wrap, newspaper, and/or packing peanuts so they make it safely to their destination. You’ll also want to make sure you’re starting out with enough supplies so you can set up your packing station and get into a productive flow!
Forgetting to label your boxes.
Labels are the key to staying organized during this hectic phase of your move! Clearly identify each box or container by the room it belongs in or even a full list of its contents. You can make a master copy of what each box contains and leave a copy inside or attach it to the outside to match it up when you unpack.
Don’t forget to label the sides of each box as well as the top. This will make it easy to find what you need as you pack up your home and get each container into the right room on moving day, even when the boxes are stacked!
Protect your belongings and your peace of mind for your upcoming move by hiring a team of moving and storage professionals to pack up your household! The experts at Dowell’s Moving & Storage Victoria will come to your home and help you pack, ship, and move your belongings safely and efficiently.
Contact us today to learn more about our extensive moving services and feel confident about your moving process!