House packing tips

[FedupofTurkey]

Help me, need to move and overwhelmed by packing! What's the best way to do it?

Are you using a removals company?

Yes but I'm packing myself using own boxes

The best way is to pay the removal company to do it.

That's not an option for everyone. There must be some people with some tips or suggestions?

alternatively....

1. get rid of everything you don't need. Run down food stocks. Run down everything. Be ruthless.

if possible, dedicate a room to the boxes. Start with the stuff you can do without until after the move. Pack full, but not too heavy. Label on top and sides. Loads of packing tape. Plates packed on edge, china wrapped and then cushioned with shredded paper. Clothes in bags and suitcases.

BTW freecycle can get you moving boxes and packing materials if you move quick. Also sweet talk your supermarket.

clean empty fitted cupboards as you go. Then don't open them again.

did it - took two weeks of doing almost nothing else. Be warned.

Thanks Prag, just don't know where to start!

Ikea blue bags are helpful for fabrics, toys etc.. Easier to carry than boxes.

It's easy once you get started.

I go through each room 3 times, cleaning as I go. I start with stuff you can easily do without, then stuff you can be without for the final week and finally the last bits.

Don't overfill boxes and make them really heavy. A white label (to stand out) with the room you need them taken to the other end marked on it in thick marker with a pencil note of contents underneath so you can prioritise unpacking properly.

When stacking your 'done' pile ensure you don't put anything delicate at the bottom.

Pack a box with cleaning things and another with the kettle, tea and cups as you'll need these as soon as you arrive at the new house.

Get on ebay and order some bubble wrap and tissue for fragile things and mark fragile boxes.

Good luck! BTW, you'll find all the things you thought you'd lost forever as a bonus!

Label your boxes!
Even if it's just a number, and you log what's in the box in a notebook, it will make a huge difference at the other end.

What are you moving from and to please? (i.e. 1 bed flat, 6 bed with triple garage etc)

Oh, and number/ages of children...

all of that labelling boxes eg bedroom 1, make good use of the effort by delegating someone to instruct/supervise removal men at new house to ensure that they put boxes in right places rather than dumping them anywhere. This happens easily towards end when everyone is tired.

Know this is not so much to do with packing but also try to work out beforehand exactly where you are putting furniture so that men can put these in situ (or know where main things eg bed are going) and then boxes are placed accordingly.

Will save you having to re-jig things,

Remember to isolate your precious or confidential things in case you want to take these personally.

Avril - moving from a 2 bed house to a 4 bed house with my one child, age 10. Also moving in is fiancee and his 3 children.

Our removals company said I could leave chests of drawers full and they will just tie a strap around them and load them like that. I haven't physically started packing just yet but have started working through everything and binning everything we really don't need - be ruthless! When I've moved previously good labelling of boxes has been the key to success. Our removals company are also dismantling the two double Ikea beds that belong to my daughters and will reassemble at the other end - this is a huge relief as it took my husband a whole day to put them together in the first place!

I'm 2 months from moving and am starting to make my action plan.

So far, I've been assigning myself small tasks to get done by the end of each week. Things like going through the kitchen cupboards and getting rid of expired stuff, sorting drawers out, sorting wardrobes for charity shop etc. If you have time, a little bit each week before the major packing starts will really help you get organised.

Spreadsheets and lists are the way forward. I realised this when I packed up my house for an international move and customs required a list on each box of the contents - unpacking was a dream!

My intention is to issue the removal people with a very crudely drawn plan of the house with rooms numbered, and all boxes have the number of their destination. Masking tape also works well as you can put it on furniture items and not cause damage when its removed, and can be written on. This way you can also add your room numbers to the furniture items so they go in the right place too.

This will go completely against everything I've just said about organisation, but we usually have a box that gets moved last labelled something like 'Crap from the kitchen side', because inevitably, this is the stuff you'll need most urgently and when you're in a panic because its gone, you'll have the conversation with everyone of 'where did you last see it?' 'on the kitchen side'. Has worked wonders in the past

Put your important documents like passports, birth certificates etc somewhere safe. Don't do what my parents did once and put the cardboard box of important documents in the same room as stuff to go to the tip.

Oh and put your iron in the same box as your kettle, because every time I've moved this has ended up missing and therefore when I need to go somewhere I can't find it

Number the boxes.

So as you pack non essential stuff into boxes start with No. 1 and so on. The last few boxes (essential stuff) will have the highest numbers.

Then when you unpack do it in reverse numerical order. You therefore unpack essential stuff first and then gradually work towards the non essential stuff.

I do room numbering too - just tape a piece of paper to the door at the destination with the number rather than expecting them to remember a plan!

And label the boxes on the packing tape not the cardboard - much easier to reuse!

Have you asked your removals company how much their packing service is? When we moved it was an extra £150 or so, and many removals companies only insure the stuff they have packed themselves. I figured that a broken picture or dropped box of crockery would probably cost more to replace than the packing service, so managed to scrape the money together.

It was well worth it. 2 men came round the day before we moved and stripped the house like a pair of locusts.

When you number the boxes don't just number them on the top, but on all sides. The removal men may well stack them several high when they put them into your new house.

I just moved in Feb. Started in loft then worked through cupboards. Start running down fridge/freezer/cupboards. Store important paperwork somewhere safe. Declutter and clear out as you go, dont pay to move stuff you dont really need/want. Think about moving day box-kettle and stuff for hot drink, snacks, toilet roll, lightbulbs. Takeaway menu for first night! When you get to other end prioritise getting beds made up, everything else can wait. Good luck!!

Only pack what you would be happy to seeagain.

We have moved house 4 times now, and IMO it is best to be ruthless, and have a big clear out. That is more work to start with, as yu have to make lots of decisions ( and that is the most tiring bit).

Things that are tricky are broken or incomplete tings. Bin them all.

Things you never use, but are sure may come in handy one day. Bin them.

Kids art work : one folder each, bin rest

Christmas decorations, only keep what you will use again

Half broken or incompete toys: bin them, if necessary let kids choose one new toy each to compensate.

It is a massive job, but it is very nice as well to start with a clean slate.

It is really worth the hard work, as it means you will not have boxes and boxes of stuff ypu do not even have the heart to open once you arrive in your new place.

My little tip is to buy a ream of packing paper, cost me about £10 from local removal firm. It was so much easier for wrapping plates, glasses etc than newspaper and dishes arrive without newsprint all over. They also sell bubble wrap cheaply and in larger rolls than local shops.

My little tip is to buy a ream of packing paper, cost me about £10 from local removal firm. It was so much easier for wrapping plates, glasses etc than newspaper and dishes arrive without newsprint all over. They also sell bubble wrap cheaply and in larger rolls than local shops.

I moved house this year and last year. I put clean towels and clean bedding in large laundry bags instead of boxes so they were really easy to find. I also used the same for dirty washing (obviously you need to label the bags!) I used them for clothing too but you can leave clothing in drawers as long as the drawers are being moved with you.

I wish I'd had lots of teatowels for the move as I washed all the kitchen stuff when unpacking and they quickly ended up too wet to use.

I kept a list on a clipboard of boxes packed. I numbered each box and wrote which room and contents in one word such as Books, but on the written list I sometimes wrote more detail, which was really helpful when unpacking and looking for things. I wish I'd written the number on more than 1 side of the box as sometimes it was hard to find the right box when they were all piled up.

We had a lot of boxes and moved into a smaller house than I'd hoped for (renting). I allocated one large bedroom and told them to pile most of the boxes in there and fill the room completely if they needed to, and I slept in the smallest bedroom originally, planning to change once we'd unpacked enough - oops, haven't managed that yet!

I also paid the removal company to dispose of a few pieces of furniture which weren't fit to donate and that really helped when moving in. But it might be cheaper to pay the council or a waste company before you move. My removers charged £80 +VAT for about 6 large items.

I do it by emptying a cupboard/wardrobe at a time.

I completely pack it, and label the box. Eventually you will end up with rooms full of empty furniture, and packed boxes.

Also, start NOW, the sooner you start the better.