In an effort to make our move last month, less stressful than our previous ones, I decided we needed to do things a little differently this time around. During past moves we packed without any type of strategy. More often than not, boxes would go unlabeled and because boxes didn't clearly indicate which room they belonged in, the people helping us move, would put them down in any random spot in the new place. This would result in an overwhelming first few days (and weeks) living at the new place as unpacking took forever and we would frustratingly run around to each room and open and look through all the boxes whenever we needed to find something that we hadn't yet unpacked.
What brought down our stress a couple notches during this most recent move, was color coding and numbering boxes while packing. Doing this made things much more organized. The movers were able to easily identify what room to put each box in, and once we were moved in, we were able to quickly determine which boxes to open first and also where to find any unpacked item we needed.
For any of you moving soon, below is the strategy we used. I hope it will help make your move less stressful. If you think this might be useful to someone you know, be sure to share it with them!
Supplies
label pads in various colors (one color for each room)
a writing pad or notebook + pen
highlighters in the same colors as your label pads
black markers
a piece of poster board
Steps
1. Designate one color for each room in your new place and use the poster board to make a legend. Post this somewhere that's visible while you pack.
2. Designate a landing spot for all of the packing supplies and let anyone helping you pack, know where that is. A basket, caddy, tray or bin is helpful to corral everything.
3. When packing a box, label it with a numbered post-it note in the color that corresponds to the room it will be going in.
4. In your legal pad, jot down the number of the box and it's contents. Place a star next to any priority boxes that you'll probably want to open within the first few days of having moved in. *Bonus: If you pack a few different rooms at one time, it's helpful to highlight what you wrote down, in the color that corresponds to the room it will going in. Doing this will make it easy to later scan down your list when you're checking to see what box something is in.
5. On moving day, post the legend somewhere where the movers or you and your crew will see it upon entering the home. That way, whoever comes in the door with a box, can immediately place it in the room it belongs in.
6. Once you're moved into your new place, refer to your list to determine which boxes you want to open first. As days pass, use your list to help you easily locate any unpacked item you may be looking for.