The Ultimate Guide to Packing

Moving from an old house to a new one is a tiresome and strenuous affair which takes time, effort and planning. Relocating to a new house includes making the new place ready for moving in, purchasing new furnishings (if needed) and moving all your belongings from the old place to the new one. While the first two steps are not entirely effortless, they can seem like a cakewalk compared to moving the old stuff, which involves packing, moving and unpacking.

Packing the old stuff for moving or other purposes seems like a straightforward chore but it is only during the packing that we usually find out how difficult it is. The amount of stuff in the house, the nature of the stuff and the size are very important factors that determine how easy or difficult the packing experience is going to be. It is better to plan ahead in order to avoid any last minute hassles and obstacles.

Planning
Like any other systematic exercise, packing needs proper advance planning. It starts with making a list of everything that you have inside the house. This is followed by prioritising everything and crossing out whatever seems unusable or unnecessary. It is important to remember that the more stuff you decide to keep, the tougher the packing is going to be. But, this in no way means just throwing things away; it means leaving out the unimportant items and donating or selling them.

Looking at the stuff that you intend to pack, one should try to figure out how many moving boxes might be needed. After noting down the number of moving boxes needed, a few extra should be added, just in case. All your belongings should be checked for breakable stuff, which might need special packing such as bubble-wrap or padding. All these packing materials should be purchased or arranged beforehand.

One might consider moving insurance if there are a lot of valuable or breakable items among your belongings. Taking pictures of valuable items such as the HD television might be a good idea. A moving house van service may be required to transport everything and a booking should be made beforehand.

Sensible Packing
The first step to sensible packing is starting early. With time on your hands, you can pack at ease, while a rush job will only make things more difficult. The first things you pack should be the boxes that you won’t need to open first; therefore, it is better if they don’t contain all the essentials needed during the first few days at the new house. Pack the essentials only after you’ve packed up the less frequently used items, such as clothes, electronics, furnishings, etc.

It is important to pack different kinds of things in different boxes. For example, toiletries and bath towels should be separate from kitchen utensils and cutlery, and similarly, the summer clothes should be packed separately from the winter clothes or shoes. Labeling the boxes will help identify things easily while unpacking.

Securing the boxes firmly on the bottom with packing tape before the packing is mandatory; a bit of extra tape won’t harm. The boxes should be loaded with less usable things packed on the bottom and more urgent things on the top. The breakable stuff should be packed with proper padding, such as, bubble-wrap, newspapers or whatever is available to provide cushioning. The things should be distributed into different boxes in such a manner that no one box is too heavy to carry and move. Once the boxes are loaded, the boxes should be closed properly using heavy duty packing tape.

Packing is not an easy job and should not be left to the last minute. It is not something you can take care of in an hour and takes planning in order for and the execution to be perfect. Packing sensibly can not only save you time and effort, it can also make life in the new house easier and it will save space.