Start Packing! 

The important thing to remember is that no amount of time and effort spent before you move will be too much. 

Sure, you can throw things into boxes and cause yourself weeks of headaches when you’re trying to settle into your new home. A better idea is to set yourself a packing plan which will join nicely with your overall moving plan when using these packing hacks.

Step One: Purge 

Go from room to room and get rid of anything that you will not need when starting your fresh new life in your new home. See what can be donated, sold or what needs to be sent to the bin.  

Ask yourself the following questions while identifying items to purge: 

• Have I used it in 6 months? 
• If I didn’t own it already, would I buy it now? 
• Can someone else use it better than I can? 

Step Two: Procure 

There are a few different online packing calculators that will help you establish how many boxes of which size you will need. When you have established what needs to be packed in a box, what needs to be wrapped in protective wrapping and what can be moved without hassle, you can procure only the necessary moving supplies to limit waste. 

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Step Three: Pics 

Now is the time to take pictures. And not in any kind of sentimental way. 

Take pictures as references before you pack the first box to ensure that, when you start unpacking, you have a good idea of what needs to be where. 

The things you should be photographing are: 

• The back of the television/entertainment space to make sure you know where all the cables should go when setting it up in the new home 

• Desk / work areas 

• Curated areas like a bookcase with sentimental or decorative pieces that you got just right and would like to replicate in the new place. 

• Kitchen Drawers and shelves 

• Tool shed / garage 

• Any hobby storage 

• General room by room pictures 

Step Four: Planner 

In this step, you will number the items on each picture. Thereafter you can label your boxes according to room and indicate which items are inside the box. 

This way you will not be forced to scramble looking for items when in the new house. 

It is also advisable to colour-code each room so that, on the day, everyone helping with the move will be able to put boxes in the rooms they’re meant to be based on your colours. 

Washi Tape is a good idea here. Before the move starts you will then go to each room in the new house and paste washi tape of the corresponding colours on the doors or closest wall to the entrance of each room. This is by far one of our favourite packing hacks.

For example:

The entrance hall shelf is labelled as follows: 

And entrance hall box one might look like this: 

While the entrance hall in the new home might look like this: 

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