Moving and Packing Tips

Whether you’re looking for packing tips for moving clothes or packing tips for moving in a hurry, you’ve just hit the jackpot of easy ideas that will make your next move a breeze!

Let’s get started with these best Moving and Packing Tips.

Here’s what you need to do…

What to pack first? You are moving! Now you have to pack. The most important task to perform is also one of the most feared. Do you get overwhelmed when you think What do I pack first?

Get a good head-start when packing to save time and spare your nervous system. Learn the answers to two critical questions:

• What To Do first before packing
• WHAT ROOM to pack first when moving
• WHAT THINGS to pack first when you move to another home.

What to Do First Before Packing. 

Before you can even think about what to pack first when you move out, you need to eliminate some basic moving tasks. This list will help you organize your move and prepare for successful packing.

• Get a moving checklist. 

The moment you know you’re moving, you should grab a moving checklist. With dozens and dozens of moving-related tasks to complete, you don’t want to let anything slip through the cracks. Your checklist should give you a timeline of all these tasks so that you know, for example, when to change utilities versus when to decide what to pack first for moving.

• House Inventory. 

Before figuring out what to pack first when moving, it’s smart to take inventory and see just how many belongings you have. Create a spreadsheet or a simple pen-and-paper list of everything you own. Then, break it into categories. How many sets of sheets do you have? How fine much china? How many boxes of out-of-season clothes? Having this list on hand will help you figure out what exactly you should pack first when moving.

• Purge your belongings. 

Hopefully, as you took inventory of your belongings, you realized that you have a lot of stuff to get rid of. Before you begin packing, take the time to get rid of old or tattered clothing, recycle books you won’t read again, and toss other items that are taking up unnecessary space in your home. Once you’ve done that, you’ll have a clear mind (and home!) and you’ll be ready to get packing.

• Find a Moving Company. 

Okay, one final step before you choose what to pack first when moving.  Your moving company is one of the most important pieces of your move, so don’t push this task off. To be properly prepared for an in-home estimate, start packing after the estimate. To ensure the most accurate estimate, you won’t want half-packed boxes scattered through your home. Find a moving company that fits your needs below.

What rooms to pack first when moving. 

If it’s going to be several weeks before you actually move, well you don’t want to pack up the heavy traffic rooms right away because then you’re going to be bobbing and weaving between boxes for quite a while.

• Garage: The storage areas in your home should be the first rooms to pack for a move, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and enter your garage with sorting and packing in mind. As a rule of thumb, garages contain all types of things in them – car-related stuff, hand and power tools, and often items that you’ve long forgotten that even existed. Keep in mind that garages often have hazardous items in them that are forbidden for transport (non-allowable items).

• The attic and basement: All of these areas tend to store a lot of odds and ends and they’re going to take quite a bit of time to pack. These are so easy to pack because usually they don’t have a lot of stuff in them and will make you feel very accomplished. Once a spare room has been packed up, you can then use the rest of that space to store other boxes as you go.

• The kitchen: This is your third room. That one tends to be pretty tough because you’ve got odd-shaped items that don’t fit in the boxes easily or effectively. So this one you need to really go at methodically. But this is when things really start to disrupt your daily use of the house.

• The living room: That’s probably the room you spend most of your time in but to leave this to the last minute? Not advisable. Games, puzzles, and books – you want to make sure you attack this room.

• The bedrooms: You’re definitely going to be tired so you want to approach this room as one of the last rooms. Thankfully things like comforters and pillows can get packed up and pulled the day that you’re moving. Also, your decision to move some of your bedroom furniture can cause extra difficulties for you.

• The bathrooms: Finally the very last rooms that you should pack. This is a room you absolutely need access to every single day right up to the day of moving so you’re not going to pack the bathroom until the night before, if not the morning of your move.

Moving packing Tips

1- Declutter so you can pack less.

A crucial packing tip is making sure you don’t move anything that you no longer need. Lighten your stress and workload by decluttering before you enter the packing stage, which means figuring out what to toss, keep, sell, or donate. Take measurements of your new home and get rid of any furniture that won’t fit or you know won’t use.

2- Invest in quality moving boxes.

It’s tempting to go to your local grocery store and try to score some boxes for free. However, moving boxes are relatively inexpensive, and the added durability can be worth the cost in the end. Grocery boxes and reused moving boxes can be compromised due to wear and exposure to moisture or worse, a bug infestation. The last thing you want is a box falling apart in your hand while you’re trying to move it into the house.

3- Pack as soon as possible. 

We recommend you start packing as early as you can because the closer you get to the date of the move, the more stuff there is to do, the more hectic and chaotic it gets, so the more you do even weeks ahead of time, you will thank yourself later.

4- Give each room a different color packing label.

To stay organized, print off multi-colored packing labels or use different colored masking tape and give each room its own color. Label the contents of each box and include the room it belongs in. Then in your new place, use colored tape to mark entrances to rooms. This moving tip will save movers a ton of time. Instead of needing to read the label explicitly or play the room guessing game, they can just match color to color.

5- Repurpose household items for packing.

Think about how you can repurpose things you have — like hampers, suitcases, and laundry bins for storing some of your clothes and household items. To help take up as little space as possible, use vacuum sealing for your clothes.

6- Pack two or three “Open Me First” boxes.

Actually, you think about the things that need to be included in these boxes in advance, you can go ahead and write them down so you don’t forget them. And then what you put in these boxes are the things that you will need on your first night in your new home because you don’t want to go through all the boxes to find the essentials. And these are things like bedding, just a few dishes, maybe some of her favorite foods, a shower curtain, and a couple of towels so you can take a shower and get ready the next morning.

7- Use straws to keep jewelry from knotting.

Avoid knotted, tangled, and broken jewelry by taking extra care of these items. Place your necklaces through straws to keep the chain from tangling, or lay them flat on a small towel and roll it up. Use a plastic pill case to organize and transport your extra small jewelry like rings and earrings. Consider keeping these valuables with you and not on a moving truck.

Most people who are moving with families require some assistance with a long-distance move. Moving can be a stressful time and it can be challenging to get all of your belongings from one state to another. Therefore, it is in your best interest to hire professionals who can help make the transition as smooth as possible. Real Movers has been a trusted moving company for over 10 years and they are equipped to handle long-distance moves from state to state. Real Movers is prepared to assist you every step of the way so you can start enjoying your new life in Texas right away.