How to pack/organise stuff when moving into new home

[Anonymouse007]

Hi there,

Quick question as I just can’t get my head around moving out in an organised way. I’ve moved between houses before but this is the first time I’ll be doing it with 3 children in tow.

I was looking at cardboard moving/packing boxes on Amazon but can’t work out which ones would be best.

I’ll be moving everything this time (cookware, bedding, toys, books, clothing) but the only furniture item is one bunk bed.

What are your tips on moving out in an ORGANISED way? Any experience with these purpose-built boxes? Any neat tricks I can use to make the move easier?

I have about 3 weeks to pack.

Thank you!

Oh my goodness, pay for the removal company to pack. Even if it seems like a lot, it will be a fraction of the total costs involved in moving and save so much time and hassle.

Beforehand, de clutter like mad, and make sure everything is in a logical room, they will literally then pack it all up and hey presto, the box will appear in the equivalent room in your new place.

Hire a removal company. Pay them to pack for you!

I did this on my last two moves and it is BLISS! You can get up, get yourself ready, the guys turn up and do everything.

You unpack at your leisure at the other end.

Not cheap, but worth every penny imo.

You need one box that goes in the car with you, out last and in first. It must contain the kettle, tea bags, coffee, milk, sugar etc as well as mugs, spoons and some plates. A loaf of bread, the toaster, some marg, bacon and ketchup. Snacks for the kids, pombears etc. Keep your eye on the microwave at all times and make sure that also goes out last/in first.

Bacon butties and a brew all round to keep you going through the hell that is moving day. Good luck OP

When packing books, only fill the boxes until about a third full - otherwise they’ll be too heavy and the bottom of the box may fall through (bitter experience!)

Agree with others about decluttering

a bag with really important things in it that never leaves my side on moving day. Things like passports, credit cards, documents related to the house purchase, anything you would be panicking about it it was lost in transit.

This. Include birth certificates, banking information, driving licenses, spare car key, chargers - all the things that you probably knew where to find in your current house but could end up anywhere when moving. And don't leave it in the car to get nicked!

Declutter, Declutter, Declutter and Declutter.

Then Declutter some more.

I moved in October and had about six weeks to prepare. I spent that time having an absolute cull. You would not believe the amount of shit we managed to accumulate in ten years.

When I didn’t use movers, I packed boxes by room and colour coding the boxes with a selection of brightly coloured tape. I numbered each box with a sharpie and added the room designation, then listed what exactly was in each box in a spreadsheet. You can find generic templates, it’s not that difficult to create but helps you keep note of everything and prioritise, you can add the colour coding etc.

I kept the stuff I would need immediately that evening in a suitcase (documents, toiletries, the day’s clothes, bedding etc). We just ordered food in.

I have since used movers who were infinitely easier and more efficient.

As others have mentioned, removal companies will often supply boxes even if you're doing your own packing. In our case, that included wardrobe boxes with rails that they brought on the day. They dropped off a large pile of boxes, and we could ring them or go and collect if we wanted more.

We also labelled every box with the room it was going into. I wasn't going to be there ahead of them to label the room doors (had 3-week-old to feed), so I did by putting a map of the house on the labels.

The thing we failed on was that a table got dismantled, and we never turned up the screws - so perhaps a couple of freezer bags and something to write on the labels so that bits like that don't get lost.

Get someone else to have the kids on the day. Pack their must-haves and keep them with them, so they can't possibly get buried under other boxes. Bedding in a very clearly labelled box so you can get all the beds made with no hassle.

Alan (sp?) keys. Use them to dismantle furniture then put in a freezer bag with all the screws. Label the bag for which item they belong to, then parcel tape the bag to the item. Do not let those little fuckers get separated!!

Those of you who've used the removal company to do your packing, what's it like at the other end though? How do you know where anything is?
Fair enough the obvious stuff like kitchen stuff in the kitchen boxes but what about when you're looking for say knives and forks, which one of the kitchen boxes are they in?

They are labelled. All the boxes end up in the correct rooms and I say that after a large move after 20 years and involving 1.5 days of packing, day of moving, furniture in storage and three vans. Most helpful thing was a box on each bed containing that beds linen and duvets, etc, which I changed the day before packing so they had been slept in for just a couple of days.

To be fair we booked into an hotel on moving day and that is my other top tip.

Gin&gingerbeer, that's why I'd rather pack myself, so that I can label things. I wonder if it's a good idea, if using a removal company to pack, to ask for a few boxes in advance so that you can pack things you know you're likely to want access to before unpacking everything, and label accordingly.
Another strategy might be to make some stickers and leave them in each drawer/cupboard, and ask them to stick the sticker from each drawer on the outside of the box the stuff goes into. Then you'd just have to look for the relevant sticker.

Anonymouse, I've realised that if you have next to no furniture you may well be using man-and-van rather than a removals company. It's worth posting on local freecycle/facebook groups to ask about boxes, because often people who've just moved have stacks they can't be bothered to return to the removal company. If it's going to be you rather than removal men lifting boxes, you may want to use smaller boxes - removal companies tend to supply large ones and smaller "book boxes", but if lifting myself I would use the book boxes for non-books and something smaller for books.

We did one move with friends helping move things by car. We got them to do the driving, and one of us stayed at each end, which meant unpacking could happen between loads arriving. If you do that, think about the order you want stuff to arrive in - probably easiest to do bedrooms first, so that you're not trying to get past downstairs stuff with new boxes, and hopefully you can get beds made between loads arriving.

Great tips! Thanks everyone who contributed, looking forward to reading anymore nuggets of wisdom from Mumsnet!

All I can say is... I didn’t realise just how many toys we have

Pay someone. I will never move us on our own ever again.

I have used movers in the past, fantastic, didn't even have to pack stuff in the cutlery drawer.

However you really don't want to pay to move a whole load of clutter/unused stuff to your new home.

Last move a few years ago we rented storage space- huge unit for two months. Very cheap.

As I decluttered we packed smaller stuff that we wanted to keep but could live without for a while and too to storage, Stuff from the loft, smaller pieces of furniture, clothes, toys, books etc.
The kids loved our regular trips to the storage facility- pass key, electronic roll doors, trollies, goods lifts. For six weeks we decluttered and took the keeping boxes to storage.
So by the day of the move we were down to essentials- kettle, microwave , beds, suitcase of personal items, heavy furniture.
One ( very cheap) van. and the whole move took 2 hours.
Landed in the new places with essentials, then as we found places for everything started decanting from storage again.

Total removal costs including storage was around £380. Five people.
Plus entered out new home completely clutter free and organised.

Dont empty draws. Remove them put frame on van put draws back in. Then do same at new home (unless breakables in draws)
Label box with room it is to go to in new house.
Be ruthless at not packing things you may need - have a good clear out.
Do hanging clothes trick at start
A week before plan meals and leave out just essentials you will need for them

Dont empty draws.

Draws???

Stick an envelope on the outside of each box with a list inside of the contents that way you don’t need to open every box if you are looking for a specific thing.

Last box put in your car with kettle mugs tea coffee and cleaning products.

Try to pack in a logical order. Stuff you don’t need urgently pack first and then stuff you are using pack last. Take curtains down and dry clean and pack. Stick paper on W windows whilst that is happening.

Buy decent packing boxes. Good removals company’s will give you them for free. Or at least included in the quote price. Stay away from large boxes you can’t get your hands round you won’t be able to lift on your own.

Make use of wardrobe boxes they are pretty good.

As a military wife we’ve done a fair few moves.

Good luck.

Oh and sellotape bits to main bit when taking apart. Eg small screws taped to dining table to put legs back on. Tape underneath incase it marks

nicknamehelp84
Dont empty draws. Remove them put frame on van put draws back in.

You wouldn't give that advice if you saw my drawers.
A move is a good chance for a clear out.