Moving is difficult enough without wondering where to put everything, or worse, where to find it after you’ve moved in. At Coffeybros Moving, we get plenty of questions about how we pack as professional movers, and what tips we can offer our customers. Here is one of the major ones we often suggest; pack by category.
What exactly does packing by category entail? It means putting everything from one section of your home into one box or matching boxes, labelling them appropriately, and packing them onto the truck together. By packing things together, it makes the unloading process way easier as well, because you don’t have to run one box upstairs, and the next to the basement. You can unload all of your kitchenware in one go, before moving onto the living room.
Below you’ll find a few categories, and items we suggest packing into those categories.
Kitchen and Dining: Depending on the size of your kitchen and dining room, you may want to pack these spaces separately, but what we find in many homes is that the dining room has far less than the kitchen, so it makes sense to store them close together. In your dining room you’re going to pack things like decorations, items in your hutch or buffet, the table, table cloths, chairs, and other items you keep in this space.
Your kitchen is a little broader, because of the wide range of items kept there. Breakable items, such as plates, mugs, bowls, china, and stemware should be individually wrapped, and stored in smaller boxes to avoid breaking. Be sure to label anything fragile and leave an arrow pointing the right way up.
Also in your kitchen you’ll find many electronic devices, be sure these are cleaned, dry, and empty before packing. Packing an electric tea-kettle with a toaster is fine, unless there’s still water in the kettle, which could damage electronic components in other items.
Silverware, dish cloths and dish towels, fragile salt and pepper shakers, bar stools, and portable kitchen islands will all get packed into this category.
Edibles: You’ll notice we made edibles its own category, this is because food items should be packed separately. Edible items should never include perishables, unless the perishables are being bagged directly from one fridge, and taken to the new fridge for storage. Otherwise, it’s best to use up perishables, and buy new when you move.
Items you may choose to keep include spices, cereal, dried pasta, canned goods, preserves, sealed sauces, condiments, and other easily non-refrigerated items.
Bathroom and Toiletries: You’ll likely want to keep this box until the end, as it will include all the items you’ll need early on at your new home. Shower curtain, shave gel, toilet paper, and other toiletries, all go into this category. You can choose to pack your face cloths, hand towels, and bath towels in this grouping as well, or pack them with your linens.
Linens: The linen category can include everything from curtains to bed sheets. Generally, we suggest storing anything in your linen closet in this category, and then adding additional soft cloth items as necessary.
Living Room and Den: Most living rooms and dens include large furniture. You’ll want to be especially careful packing electronics. Make sure that your television, computer, and other breakable items are wrapped and packaged properly. These rooms also include a wide variety of knickknacks, souvenirs, family photos, and other breakables. Pack these separately from your electronics.
Finally, large items, such as couches, chairs, and desks should be wrapped in a protective layer before moving, but rarely need to be boxed. Be sure to remove everything from desk drawers and book shelves and pack them in their own boxes to avoid confusion and extra heavy lifting.
Storage and Outdoor Gear: Finally, your outdoor gear, anything in the attic, basement, or storage closets, can also be packed up. This includes the lawn mower, rakes and shovels, as well as old boxes you’ve had stored away for years and years collecting dust. Packing for a move is a prime opportunity to go through some of these old items and see what you want to keep and what to get rid of.
