Top Packing Tips For Moving House

Moving house is exciting, but nobody looks forward to it much, as it’s also a stressful process. There’s a lot to do, and packing is a challenging, time-consuming job. How can you make packing easier and make sure everything arrives in one piece? 

Start Packing In Advance

How long it will take you to pack will depend on how many things you have to pack.

However much you own, and whether you’re moving down the road or planning on interstate moving, you should start packing much easier than you think.

For a big house, you might need two months if you’re going to pack a box a day. For a smaller home, one month could be enough. 

Start With Rooms and Items You Use Least

Start with the rooms you use the least, such as the loft, and work towards the rooms you use most, like the kitchen.

Some items you can tackle first could include seasonal items that you’re not currently using, like Christmas decorations, coats, or garden tools.

Sorting out things that you already have packed away will make it easier to set these boxes aside with the ones that you’re taking to the new house, and sort out any items you want to donate or throw out. 

Declutter And Donate

If you have a lot of items that you don’t want to take, you can hold a garage sale or donate items to charity. You can also list things on selling sites like eBay or Facebook Marketplace.

If you have friends who have offered to help you move, ask if they’re interested in anything you were planning to sell. Gifting them with something they need is a nice way to thank them for their help. 

Make A Detailed Inventory List

These are very helpful if you have large collections of things like CDs, DVDs, or books.

If you just write ‘books’ on your moving boxes, this is fine but could be more difficult to organize at the other end if you have a more specialized collection.

Instead, make an inventory list of everything you have, print out the list, and stick a copy to each box so you can find everything more easily. 

Pack One Room At A Time

A lot of people often skip this tip. There is a debate on whether it’s better to pack your belongings by room or by category. The right answer is whichever works best for you.

For most people, it’s easier to pack by room, as you can keep everything together and unpack in a sensible order too. This will help you to stay organized as you go.

As you pack, label the box with what room it’s from, and whoever unloads at the new home will know what goes where. You can also unload and unpack in reverse, with the rooms you use most packed last and unpacked first. Start with items that don’t need unpacking, and then tackle the rest of the boxes. 

Julie Higgins
Author
Julie is a Staff Writer at momooze.com. She has been working in publishing houses before joining the editorial team at momooze. Julie's love and passion are topics around beauty, lifestyle, hair and nails.