Five Packing Hacks When Moving
There is a lot of excitement that goes along with moving into a new home. However, long days of packing and moving day, in particular, probably don’t rank high on the list of things that people look forward to when it comes to making a move. Instead of dreading an upcoming move this spring, know this: you can hack it – in more ways than one! Yes, you’ll get through a move, regardless of whether you feel like you’re ready for it or not. But, you can thrive through your next move with these five simple packing hacks: 1. Throw Clutter to the Gutter Moving into a new space is the perfect reason to rid yourself of items you no longer use. We’re not just talking about your wardrobe, either. In addition to throwing out that pair of jeans you haven’t worn in years, it also is time to get rid of things like old toys, books or outdated electronics that you certainly do not use, but have been hanging onto for one reason or another. Instead of moving unused and unwanted items into a new home, sell or donate them. You’ll have less to pack, move, unpack and put away! 2. Leave ‘Em Hanging Now that you have rid yourself of the clothes you no longer want to keep, you should be planning to move everything that is currently hanging in your closet, right? Well, what if you didn’t have to remove all those hangers and box up those items after all? You don’t! Instead of taking clothes off of their hangers (not to mention, messing up that expertly-organized, color-coded closet that you’ve created), invest in a few wardrobe moving boxes! You’ll save yourself time and energy while packing. Plus, you’ll easily be able to arrange your new closet in no time at all! 3. Lighten Your Loads No, this isn’t repeat advice from our first hack – though selling or donating unused items may leave you with a few extra moving boxes, which actually will help with this hack! When you’re packing up your home, it can be easy to simply stuff each box to the fullest in hopes of making the packing process go a little faster. However, don’t forget that you’ll also have to move all of those jam-packed boxes on moving day. Instead of over-filling moving boxes, keep them manageable by only packing a few heavy items in one box at a time. You may end up with a few more boxes to move, but you’ll thank yourself when you’re easily lifting boxes from room to room in your new home. 4. Be Colorfully Crafty Speaking of moving boxes into your new home, make that task much easier on yourself or your moving helpers with this next hack! As you’re packing and sealing your boxes pre-move, color code them with different rolls of duct tape. For example, use orange duct tape for your future family room, blue duct tape for your future kitchen, etc. Select a different color of duct tape for each room in your new home. You can even put a color-coded chart on your new front door. This way, when you and any helpers are moving boxes around your new home, you won’t continuously hear, “Now, where did you want this box to go again?” 5. Just Cut it Out! You’ve already gone to all the trouble of packing lighter boxes and color-coding them; now, there is just one thing left to do! Cut handles out, of course! You can make moving day a whole lot easier by cutting triangular handholds in all of your moving boxes. Simply grab a box cutter from your tool box and cut a triangle large enough for your hand to fit inside on two opposing sides of the each box. On moving day, you’ll have an easy time lifting and carrying your boxed-up items to your new space! Dread the packing and moving process no longer! With these five simple hacks, you’ll be packed up and moved into your new home this spring in no time at all!
