Is there an art to packing a box? Yes. Is there a strategy for labeling and organizing those boxes? Yes. Is there a good reason you should pack two months in advance? Yes. Find out more
Pack the Boxes Right
For a super secure box, you should tape the seam on the bottom, and you should run a piece of tape perpendicular to that seam. Pad the bottom of the box with newspaper and stuff the sides with extra paper to really make the bottom solid. Depending on what you’re packing, you should wrap each item with paper. When you’ve filled the box to capacity, tape it shut and label it with its contents and your name. And be sure that you label the sides of the box, not the top of the box.
Pack Boxes by the Room
Pack similar items together. After you’ve filled a box, label it with your name, what it contains and an arrow indicating which side is up. And of course, if it’s fragile, write that on the box as well.
Leave Stuff in Drawers
If you want to save boxes and the trouble of moving items from a drawer to a box, then simply take the drawers out of chests and desks. As long as the drawers are full and don’t contain anything breakable, you can stretch tape across the top of the drawer to hold the components in place. Be sure to use masking tape — it won’t take the paint off of the furniture. That said; don’t leave the masking tape on the furniture for too long. Take it off as soon as you move the drawers into your new place.
Pack Your Plates on Edge
Plates are less likely to break if they’re standing on edge inside the box. Of course you also need to wrap each plate in newspaper and include plenty of stuffing on the bottoms, sides and in the corners of the box. Put so much stuffing inside the box that the plates don’t have any room to shift around at all. If you’re using professional movers, consider having them pack your fragile items. Companies are usually only liable for the things they pack themselves. So if they pack it, you’re essentially insuring it.
Pack Clothes in Wardrobe Boxes
If you don’t know what a wardrobe box is, it’s basically a big box with a rack inside where you can hang your clothes on hangers. It’s an excellent invention for clothes packing because it saves you so much time. You don’t have to take your clothes off the hangers, fold them and throw them in the box. You leave them on the hangers and just move them right from your closet to the rack in the box.
Tape String to the Box
Here’s a cool trick: When you tape a box closed, put string underneath the tape and leave a bit of the string hanging out. When you arrive at your new place and you want to unload the box, you simply yank the string and it will rip through the tape — and voila, the box opens.
Label Your Boxes
If you don’t label your boxes to indicate what’s inside, then when you arrive at your new home, you and your movers will have no idea where each box goes. Imagine how tedious it will be to go through every single brown box, trying to figure out what’s inside and which room to place it in. So, be smart and label each box. You can label it by the room and with a general description of the contents it contains. If you include the room, then the movers will know where it goes. If you just label it by the contents, then only you will know where it goes. The label should be on the sides of the box, not on the top of the box.
Keep Up with Furniture Casters and Picture Hangers
Furniture casters are likely to separate from furniture during the move. So just go ahead and remove them before transport. You can tie them together with heavy twine and tag them with the name of the furniture piece they belong to.
Start Packing Well Ahead of Time
Don’t wait until the week before you move to start packing your things. If you’re like most people, then there are some items you can pack even a couple of months before a move and not miss them. For example, pack up out-of-season clothes, holiday wares, your good china, stemware, and books you’ve already read and don’t plan opening again in the next two months.
Pack Small Items in Large Boxes and Large Items in Small Boxes
When you’re packing boxes, pack the small items in the large boxes and the large items in the small boxes. It’s a matter of physics. Heavy items are likely to come crashing through the middle of a large box. While this makes sense for most things, books are an exception. If you fill a big box with a bunch of small books, the weight is going to add up and the box is going to be too heavy to carry. Also, pack heavier items at the bottom of the box and lighter items toward the top of the box. And remember: If you’re straining to pick up a box, it probably contains too many heavy items, and it could wind up breaking.
