Every homeowner who’s about to pack up their home or renter who needs to pack up an apartment will appreciate the simple joy of an easy move. Since most people find moving to be one of the most stressful tasks you can do as an adult, it makes sense that you’d want to streamline the process as much as possible. While our suggestions for packing up the areas of your home listed below aren’t exhaustive, they can help you make your list of what needs to be done during your move.
As with anything, it’ll be best if you can divide your project of packing. Focus on completing small tasks instead of looking at moving as the daunting bigger picture. Separating moving as a whole into bite-sized tasks also makes it easier to delegate to your family, friends, and team of movers for an easy move.
When Should You Start Packing Your House?
Once you know you need to move for work, school, family, or pleasure, you should get to work making your list of what you need to do. For some, the moving process can take months. For others, you may need to move within a few days or a couple of weeks. If you’re moving on a short timeline, you may find that you’ll want to start packing as soon as you get the news that it’s time to move. For those who have months before they need to turn in their house keys and occupy their new living space, moving can be a more leisurely process.
When you’re moving, you need to balance preparing for your new home and living comfortably in the space where you currently live. Although you might want to pack up everything you own overnight so you don’t have to think about it anymore, you’ll probably find that it’s unpleasant to dig necessary items like shampoo or clothing out of boxes every time you need to use them. What’s more, having boxes everywhere in the house can be a safety hazard if you could trip over them.
While every situation is unique, we recommend packing on the timeline that your employer or moving company recommends. If your employer needs you to relocate within two weeks, you should start packing your house as soon as you get that message. You don’t have to pack up every little thing to be productive. You can start by packing away extra items or large items you don’t use. For example, if you have twenty plates but you only have three family members in your household, you might be able to pack half of those plates or more to make it simple to pack them when it’s time to create an easy move. Additionally, if you have a large collection of trading cards that you never use, you might want to box those items up so you don’t have to worry about them at the last minute when you’re driving to your new place.
What Tools Do You Need to Pack a Home?
While an easy move sometimes involves having a lot of tools at your disposal, the truth is that you don’t need very many things to help you move. A roll of packing tape, a set of cardboard boxes, plastic totes, old newspapers or magazines, bubble wrap, and plastic wrap can be a good start for a list of the things you need to pack up a house. Of course, you might need other things if you have large items to move. A hand truck or wagon can make it easier to move boxes and large items efficiently. If you don’t have some of these items, you can borrow them from a friend or neighbor. Alternatively, you can make a quick trip to the store before the movers arrive.
For boxes, you may be able to buy them at your local hardware store. If you don’t want to spend money on boxes, you might be able to get them for free from local stores. To have the best chance of scoring free boxes for an easy move, ask around your neighborhood to see what stores are willing to part with excess boxes and offer to pick them up on shipment day. This helps these stores declutter their backrooms while helping you have the easiest moving process possible.
1. Bedroom
The best place to start packing for an easy move could be the bedroom if you don’t intend to sleep there on the night that you begin this process.
In the bedroom, you probably have hefty furniture pieces. From bedside tables to lamps to dressers to desks and desk chairs, there are many items in your bedroom that might not be possible or even safe for you to attempt to lift without additional help. Unless you have someone helping you lift these items who is strong enough to safely lift them, you may need to call in the movers to get them into the moving truck.
Still, even if you can’t lift these heavy pieces, you shouldn’t let that stop you from making progress in packing up your bedroom. Although you might not be able to move your bedroom furniture immediately, you can start packing up the things that are stored in that furniture. If you have a dresser, you can start packing up your clothes. This way, the movers will have an easier time lifting it since some of the weight from the clothes will be removed.
Once you’re ready to pack up your furniture and move it into a moving truck or van, it’s time to get your muscles working or find movers who are qualified for the job. While you may have an easy time moving a desk, you might find pieces of furniture with multiple components like the bed challenging to pack up. Some types of mattresses may be more difficult to pack than others. If you have thin, mat-style organic mattresses, you might be able to get away with folding them or rolling them more easily than you would be able to fold or roll a traditional spring mattress.
For delicate items like fragile figurines or mirrors, you’ll want to practice proven safety tips for wrapping them up. You can use materials like bubble wrap or packing peanuts to keep them safe. You can also use old newspapers or pages from magazines if you don’t want to spend money on new packing materials. This could be better for the environment and your wallet.
2. Home Office
When you work from home, you’ll want to make the process of home office moving an easy move if you can. Out of everything that could bring you to your wit’s end in the moving process, the home office should be the last thing on your list that worries you. Most home offices don’t have as many items or furniture as a larger space like a living room. Even if your in-home workspace is an expansive, extensive place where you complete complicated projects, moving and packing up this area of your home shouldn’t be more complicated than packing and moving any other room in your house.
Still, it’s important to pack up your workspace with care. If your company provides items for your home workspace like a fancy computer or sound system, you’ll want to treat these items delicately. After all, if you accidentally damage them during the move, you may need to reimburse your company for a replacement or pay to have them fixed. Additionally, if you accidentally harm your office materials during the move, you may not be able to get back to work immediately after you move. This can cost your employer their reputation on the projects for which you are responsible. It can also cost you money if you rely on hourly wages from your remote job to support your household or family.
If you find this move stressful because it’s hard to move your office furniture, you may want to invest in ergonomic office furniture in the future. Furniture that is lightweight or has wheels will always make an easy move when compared to moving heavy furniture without wheels. Of course, since you can’t go back in time and change your office furniture choices, you’ll have to work with what is in front of you during this move rather than what could have been. Even if you have heavy wooden furniture or clunky styles that are difficult to maneuver, a professional set of movers will know how to transition your current office pieces from your home office to the moving truck in a breeze.
3. Kitchen
Packing up a straight run kitchen involves a streamlined plan. From pots to pans to appliances, there are plenty of items that will need your attention to make an easy move. If you know that your new house or apartment has certain appliances built into it, you may want to sell those appliances in your current property. This will help you pay for movers and other fees associated with relocation. For sharp or dangerous items like knives, it pays to research ways to safely pack them. Wrap them in materials that will prevent them from cutting movers if the box that contains them breaks unexpectedly.
4. Bathrooms
Packing up the bathroom can make for an easy move. As you pack up essential items like your toothbrush and shampoo, you may want to keep them in one place so it’s easy for you to find them on your first night in your new place. Once you box up all of your toiletries and hygiene items, it’s time to thoroughly clean the bathroom. For this task, you can either call in bathroom cleaning services or do it yourself. While doing it yourself can be cheaper, it can also be a hassle.
5. Living Room
When you’re packing up your living room, you should consider how you’ll move not only the furniture but also window covers like blinds. If you recently had a roller shades installation, you should call the company that installed them to see how best to remove them. Even if you’ve had motorized shades since you moved into your home, it’s still a good idea to call their company to see how you should take them out of the window without damaging them. You may be able to reuse them in your new home, so you should pack them with care. Large pieces of furniture like sofas or coffee tables should be left to movers or others who have the strength to lift them. If you have to move these items yourself, you should take on a team-lifting approach to avoid injury.
6. Outdoor Spaces
When you’re packing your home for an easy move, you won’t want to forget the patio, deck, and other places outside your home. If you don’t have room in the moving truck for patio chairs, you may need to sell it or gift it to a neighbor. Once you get to your new home, you can use the money from those sales to buy new outdoor patio furniture. Depending on your personal preferences, you might feel like you need a deck at your new property. If it doesn’t have one, you can call deck builders for quotes and advice before you move into your new home. They may want to complete the project before you live there, so you should ask about their timeline and availability before you schedule your move.
While our moving tips may be helpful, they may not be enough for you to move on your own. Sometimes the surefire way to guarantee an easy move is to enlist professional help with the move. While there’s no shame in asking the pros to step in if you feel overwhelmed with the moving process, it can be expensive and even time-consuming to ask the movers to assist you with this task.
You’ll need to plan your move on their timetable, which might not be ideal if you have work, school, or other obligations to handle during the day. For this reason, we recommend having at least some idea of how to move. Additionally, you should take on some of the relocation tasks to offset moving expenses.