Give me your best packing tips!

[ladybee28]

DP and I are moving out of our home in a month's time, into TWO places: a little country cottage and a 2-bed apartment in town (yes, sounds odd, but it's our best solution for meeting both the needs of his job and my need for greenery).

We'll both split our time between the two, with me spending more time in the cottage and him spending more time at the apartment.

We've got boxes. We've got tape. We've got marker pens and coffee.

Give me your best advice on how to make this go smoothly and easily!

I would have house one and house two and then put like house one kitchen stuff house one bedroom house one lounge and then house two kitchen house two bedroom et etc. Then you will know exactly what it going where so you dont get confused. I found labelling what room made it so much easier when we moved.

I think I’d use different colour packing tape as well, one colour for each property. So you can see at a glance which box belongs where.

Figure out which essentials you'll need at both places, so you don't end up with no soap/coffee/duvet/kettle at either place. Wrap fragile stuff in newspaper and pack in layers. It sounds very exciting! Do you access both properties on the same day?

@NaturalBlondeYeahRight that's a genius idea! I've never heard of different coloured tape but that makes a lot of sense.

@MopsRUs unfortunately I don't think so – dates haven't been confirmed yet but it would be a pretty big win if we could wangle access on the same day. It is pretty exciting; it's landed quite strangely with our family and friends as we've been living together for nearly 3 years and now to them it looks like we're moving out and living separately, but I have a hunch it'll actually be really good for both of us as individuals and as a couple. Fun for DSS, too - best of both worlds for him.

The cottage also only has pedestrian access – down a little lane – and parking nearby is a bit of a nightmare (think 'historic centre of small Spanish pueblo', cobbled streets etc.), so I think I'm going to need to invest in a little handwagon / trolley!

Pay someone. Sorry, but its genuinely the best idea I could offer.

Honestly it might be worth looking for quotes.

@ladybee28 they even sell it on amazon. We use it at work sometimes so I knew it existed.
With the same idea in mind, what about puttinh coloured stickers on furniture to tie in with each property? You could go around your house really quickly and feel like you’ve achieved something.
The good thing is, if you make a mistake, you know you can get it from the other property.
General moving advice is to have a MASSIVE clear out before you start packing - don’t bring the crap with you.