How to Pack for a Move Like a Pro and Stay Organized (2024)

Use these super simple tips for packing up your house to make the big move all while staying organized!

I had forgotten.

It has been over seven years since our last move, and I had forgotten what a big job it is. I mean, packing up every single thing you own into boxes while trying to maintain some semblance of order so that you can unbox it all and have a chance at finding everything you need? That is a tall order. It may be one of the biggest organizational challenges I’ve had to date.

And that’s saying something.

At the beginning I was all, “Well, I purge stuff all the time and we only live in a tiny townhouse, so surely it won’t be that bad, right?”

And then reality set in and I went into panic mode and started thinking, “Well how am I going to pack THAT fragile thing, store it for two months, and have it arrive at the new house in one piece?! I have tons of painted furniture. Can we move it all without chipping and scratching everything up?! And mirrors. I have a slight obsession with mirrors. Will ANY of them actually arrive in one piece?!”

Thankfully before I went into full-on hyperventilation I called my mom, who just happens to be the world’s most skilled mover. Seriously, the woman is a moving ninja.She assured me that moving would not be as hard as I was making it out to be, and that we could tackle it with not too much trouble at all.

Deep breaths.

Fortunately, she was right.We made sure we had all of the supplies we needed and put systems into place to make everything go more smoothly. Before I knew it, the townhouse was packed up. And we were even out a few days early! It was a miracle!

Our Moving Situation

A huge thanks to Scotch Brand Products from 3M for sponsoring this post! My favorable opinion of high-quality packing products that make our move easier is 100% my own. 🙂 For more information, see my disclosures here.

Obviously, every moving situation is different. We are actually only moving a few miles down the road. BUT therewere almost two months between whenwe had to be out of our townhouse and when our new house willbe ready. Because of this, we chose to load up all of our belongings in pods to be stored during that time. (We are renting a furnished apartment in the interim, so we didn’t need to bring any furniture there.)

Using the storage podsalso meant that we had to be extra careful while packing. Forklifts are used to move the pods on and off the trucks that haul them, and everything gets jostled around like crazy.

Needless to say, we put extra padding on everything. And we were sure to use the Scotch Heavy Duty Packaging Tape to tape all of the boxesup tightly!!

10 Tips for Packing a House to Move

Since thesystem we used for packing up all of our stuff ended up working out so well, I thought I’d pass along the tips and tricks we learned along the way. Hopefully they can helpmake your next move a little easier too!

Here we go:

1. Gather your materials.

We made a few trips to the store to gather things we needed to make the moving process as easy as possible. Here’s what we used to pack up:

• Scotch® Heavy Duty Shipping and Packaging Tape (seals seams with one strip and keeps boxes closed!)
• Scotch™ Cushion Wrap
• Moving Boxes- we used small, medium, large, and extra large sizes. We used about 75 boxes total.
• Packing Paper (like newspaper, but without words so the ink doesn’t rub off on your stuff)
• Roll of Foam Sheets (great for in between plates and dishware)
• Stretch Wrap
• Permanent Markers
• Scotch™ Scissors

2. Start with the items that aren’t everyday staples.

Once we had our materials gathered, the big question was, “Where do we start?!” Since we packed up here and there over the course of a few weeks, we started with the thingsthat weren’t necessities.

Sadly for me, that meant that my decor items were some of the first things to be packed. Next I packed up the familychina that I only use on special occasions.

I gave my two boys each one bin that they could fill with toys they wanted to bring with us to our temporary apartment. Then all of the other toys were packed away.

Out-of-season clothes and outerwear were also at the beginning of the process. Any “luxury items” that I knew we could do without were packed away first, not to be seen for a few months!

3. Declutter as you go.

Now, I am a declutter-er by nature, but I was still able to fill several bags with things to throw away or give away.

It didn’t make any sense to move things to the new house that we never use anyway. And moving gave me the perfect excuse to thoroughly clean out every single space in our home. I was ruthless!

Decluttering as I went along may have taken me a few extra minutes during the packing process, but it will certainly make unpacking a lot easier. AND we can start our life in the new house with as little clutter as possible. That is such a freeing feeling!

4. Use items you already have for extra padding.

We definitely used our fair share of bubble wrap, packing paper, and foam sheets during the packing process. But we also used items we already had (and that already would need to be packed) to give some extra cushion to our moving boxes.

These items included things likecloth napkins, towels, sheets, pillow cases, blankets, throw pillows (I knew my obsession with pillows would come in handy someday!), table cloths, and any other soft materials we could get our hands on.

5. Use drawers as boxes.

There were so many items– like clothing and DVDs– that could simply be packed in the drawers they already “live” in. It didn’t make sense to move them into a separate box.

We simply wrappedstretch wrap around each drawer a few times so it wouldn’t slide out of the dresser during the move, and the piece was good to go.

6. Write details on every box and/or pod.

You probably won’t be surprised, knowing my love for labels, but I was a bit neurotic about labeling EVERYTHING. 🙂 My worst fear is that we’ll get to the new house and won’t be able to find anything. So I tried to be as clear as possible about where everything was located.

The boxes we used had a place to write down everything that was inside, and they also had checkboxes we could mark off to indicate which room the box would be going to. (I may have even gone a smidge overboard and used star stickers to indicate fragile boxes as an extra precaution… 😉 )

I also taped a piece of paper to the inside of each of our storage pods. As Donnie loaded them up, he made a list of what was inside each one so that it would be easier to unload them.

7. Have two teams– packers and haulers.

If you can convince a few friends or family members to help you, this strategy worked really well for us! My mom and I worked together inside to pack up boxes while Donnie and my brother-in-law carried items out and packed the pods.

We had a staging area inside our house where we would put any boxes that wereready to go. And the guys would make trips in and out with the boxes and also any furniture that could be packed away. The process went quickly and smoothly!

8. Think through what you’ll need in the interim.

If you’re one of the lucky ones who gets to move out of one house and into the next on the same day, you may only need a few essentials by your side. If your in-between time is longer like ours, however, it was really helpful for me to make a list of everything I might possibly need while the majority of our belongings are packed away.

Clothes are an obvious one, as are toiletry items. As I mentioned earlier, each one of the boys got to pack up a small bin of toys that we’ll be taking with us.

I kept things like our printer and my craft cutting machine because I know I’ll have projects to do with them before we move into the new house. I put together a caddy of cleaning supplies to use at our temporaryapartment so we wouldn’t have to buy all new ones.

We were staying in a furnished apartment, but it didn’t have kitchen staples. So it was helpful to pack some of my most commonly used spices and baking items to have with us.

Everyone’s needs will be different, but thinkthrough every possible situation you may face while you’re between houses and try to keep out any necessities– it will save time and frustration for sure!

9. Leave out camp chairs and mattresses/sleeping bags until the end.

I would love to say that we were able to pack everything up all in one day, but that was not the case for us. It was a process.

Since we had help with the heavy lifting items a few days before we actually moved out of the townhouse, there were a few nights where we slept on camp mattresses on the floor so that our actual mattresses could be packed.

(Thankfully I remembered that we’d need the mattresses at the last minute and left them out! Otherwise we would have been right on the hard floor!)

Our living room furniture consisted of camp chairs and a cardboard box as a coffee table for a few days. And then at the very end, we were able to throw those last few items in the storage pods and send them away.

10. Help out the next owner.

Finally, we made sure to help the next owner make a smooth transition into their new home as much as we could.

We checked to see if they would be keeping the same paint colors and left sample pots of each color along with a list of the exact paint colors in each room. We left extraflooring and wall tile in case they would need to replace anything in the future. I used Scotch Expressions washi tape to label all of the keys so they could easily tell what went where.

Along with leaving the items mentioned above, we also patched any holes in the walls and did a final thorough cleaning of the house from top to bottom so everything was in the best shape possible.

Not only are these simple gestures an act of good will, but they’ll save phone calls/emails and hassle down the road.

Whew! That was a lot!Moving is definitely a lot of work, but with the right supplies and the right systems, it doesn’t have to be painful!

By taking the time to get organized and pack everything securely, we can be sure that everything will arrive at our new house safe and sound (and easy to find!). And that gives me incredible peace of mind!

Packing to Move: Frequently Asked Questions

If possible, it’s helpful to start packing at least 6-8 weeks ahead of time. It’s surprising at how many things we acquire over time, and it is a big task to pack up everything in a secure way!

This timeline leaves enough room for decluttering and being able to organize everything before it’s placed on the moving truck or in pods.

This will differ for everyone, but in general, the garage and kitchen can be toughest to pack. Most garages house tools that are weirdly shaped, random things (as a catch-all spot), along with larger items like golf clubs, bicycles, and sports gear.

The kitchen, of course, contains tons of breakables which can be hard to pack. We also use most of those items on a daily basis so it has to be packed near the end, but kitchens can hold so much!

Want to save this post to revisit later? Be sure to pin the image below so you can find it easily!

Have you moved recently? I’d love to hear your best tips in the comments!

Thanks so much for following along! Have a wonderful day!

A huge thanks to Scotch Brand Products from 3M for sponsoring this post! My favorable opinion of high-quality packing products that make our move easier is 100% my own. 🙂 For more information, see my disclosures here.