The Ultimate Moving Packing List

Moving into a new house or apartment can be exciting, but it can also be ridiculously stressful.

There is a lot to keep track of when you’re making a big move. You’re essentially relocating your entire life. Naturally, your many possessions have to come with you.

Packing your possessions for a move can be one of the most disorganized activities you’ve ever taken part in. That is, of course, unless you’ve properly prepared.

Want to pack up your possessions for as seamless a move as possible?

If so, make sure to use this moving packing list.

Throw Out Items You Don’t Wish to Take With You

If you’ve got possessions you’ve been thinking about getting rid of, a perfect time to throw them out would be during the moving process. There’s no sense in wasting box space on items that will soon be ditched anyway.

When throwing out items during the packing process, it’s ideal to get rid of them in the beginning stages. This way, they’ll be completely out of the way, allowing you to focus on items which will actually be coming with you.

Items you might think about throwing out are mattresses, furniture, and small trinkets which do little more than take up space.

Group Like Items

After you’ve thrown out unnecessary items, you can start worrying about items which you’ll be taking with you. It’s best to deal with these items by grouping them into categories.

Use a notebook or spreadsheet to organize these items into categories. Categories to consider are kitchen appliances, shelf items, and bathroom products, to name a few.

Once you’ve grouped these items together in a spreadsheet, you can start physically grouping them together as well.

Estimate Space Taken Up by Items

You’ve just finished physically grouping up your items into different categories. Now it’s time to survey their size on both an individual and group basis.

Your survey doesn’t have to be dead-on accurate, just somewhere in the ballpark of how much space your items will take up.

It’s best to measure your items in inches so that you can determine whether or not they’ll fit into specifically sized boxes.

Obtain the Necessary Amount of Packaging

After you’ve estimated the size and space taken up by your categories of items, you can go out and find the proper amount of packing to accommodate these items.

In most cases, you’ll be best suited by using cardboard boxes. These boxes will accommodate the vast majority of your items as they’re capable of storing essentially anything aside from large furniture.

However, there are other types of packaging available which are beneficial, and sometimes even necessary. They will ensure that your possessions get from point A to point B in one piece.

Remember, it’s always better to have too much packaging than not enough packaging. You don’t want to scramble around for storage implements at the last second.

Designate Packaging

After you’ve obtained the necessary amount of packaging, you’ll need to designate and label said packaging for its intended use. For instance, if you plan to use a box for the storage of your kitchen items, make sure to clearly mark the box with the label “kitchen items.”

To make organization just a little more simple, you might want to consider color coding each box. For instance, you could use a blue marker for bathroom items, a green marker for small shelf items, a black marker for books, and so on and so forth.

Need other labeling tips? Check this out.

Damage-Proof Your Possessions

When your possessions are crammed into boxes and taken at high speeds over bumpy roads, they’re especially vulnerable to damage. This is particularly true of fragile glass and ceramic items.

For this reason, you need to do everything in your power to keep your items safe from damage during the move.

There are a number of measures which must be taken, but some key measures are to keep lighter items toward the tops of boxes and to wrap glass items in bubble wrap or styrofoam.

Keep Tabs on Your Valuables

A step that many leave off of their moving packing list is to keep tabs on their valuable items. Valuable include everything from checkbooks, to legal documents, to wallets, to car keys, and the like. These items carry special importance, and so should be monitored with a special attention.

This is doubly true when using a moving company to move your boxes from point A to point B. While you hope that the moving company’s employees will be honest, you never know who might try to steal your most valuable items.

Mark your valuables boxes so that you can easily identify them. After they’ve been marked, try to keep them around you as much as possible.

Secure a Method for Moving Large Items

The last box to check on your moving packing list is to secure a method for moving your large possessions. These possessions include everything from mattresses, to chairs, to tables.

Obviously, these items are not going to fit into easily-carried boxes. In most cases, they’re going to require a truck, van or trailer.

If you don’t have access to your own truck or trailer, make sure to schedule a rental or borrow for a trailer. You can do this either with a friend or through a moving company.

Hire a Professional Moving Company to Tick the Last Box on Your Moving Packing List

After your possessions have been packed up, they need to be moved from your current home to your new home. This requires transportation in the way of a moving truck or van.

If you’d prefer that a team of movers checks off the last box on your moving packing list, we here at Alero Moving & Storage can help. Our team of movers will get your possessions, both big and small, to their designated location in a timely and safe manner.

Have any questions about how we can assist you in your move? Don’t be afraid to contact us.