When it’s moving time, everyone and their mother will be offering you packing advice. Although kind, you’ve probably heard their tips before label your boxes and pack an overnight essentials bag. Here’s what they’re not telling you that you wish they would. Try out these uncommon packing tips for yourself:
Kitchen Hacks
Packing up the kitchen is one of the most daunting packing jobs. All of the fragile items, from wine glasses to your china, make the task time-consuming. Instead of wrapping all of your plates in kitchen towels or bubble wrap, simply stack them up and insert a styrofoam plate in between each one. This will keep your plates from clanking together and potentially breaking during your move. You might also want to consider wrapping your stemware in socks. This will save you money on packing materials costs and will put your socks, which have to be moved, too, to work.
Pack Your Bags
Put your suitcases to good use and pack them up with clothes, shoes, and other items that will fit. You can also use luggage bags for heavy items like books. Your typical moving box can potentially lose its bottom, and when packed to the brim with heavy items, can be too heavy to carry. A suitcase, however, is easier to transport from place to place.
Study Up
Do your research and take time to study the new place that you’re moving to, especially if moving to a large metropolitan area like New York City. There are many online resources that can take the guesswork out of determining fees, deposits, amenity costs, and rent prices. By taking the time to study the available apartments for rent, you can save yourself money and prevent future stressful situations.
Sorting Kids’ Rooms
Enlist the help of your kids and make the move a family affair. Moving can be hard on kids, so be sure to have a dialogue with them about moving and help them pack up their rooms. It’s also advisable to create “keep,” “donate” and “toss” piles. It’s likely that your kids will have clothes that can be donated and toys that they’ve outgrown. Rather than packing it all up and sorting through it in your new space, take the time to go through it before it gets packed. This can free up space in the moving truck, and you can feel good about donating unused toys and clothes to charity.
Use Clear Boxes
Pack up a clear plastic box with all of the essentials that you are expecting to use during your first few days in your new home. A clear box will be easy to locate when it’s stacked among standard packing boxes, which means you don’t have to dig through and open the tops of unnecessary boxes to find that one thing you’re looking for. Items to consider adding to a clear box include paper towels, eating utensils, a box cutter, trash bags, phone chargers, power strips, and toilet paper.
Use Plastic Wrap
The plastic wrap that you keep in your kitchen drawer can come in handy when packing up your bedroom dressers. Don’t waste time and energy unpacking your drawers. Instead, neatly organize the clothes that are kept inside and keep them intact by rolling out a layer of plastic wrap, covering all the items, and ensuring that nothing gets lost in the move.
Moving is almost always a hassle, but you can significantly cut down on stress by trying out some of the above packing hacks.