You just signed the rental agreement on your new apartment. Congratulations! However, before you can kick back and enjoy your new living space with all of your stuff, you’re going to have to get all of that stuff situated. This means moving, and if you’re anything like most people, that’s not a thought that fills you with any sort of optimism. Between the backbreaking labor, bank-breaking transportation costs, and dinnerware-breaking accidents, moving is a necessary evil that most of us would rather just skip. Still, you can’t really begin your new life at a new location until you’re finished moving your old life into it. But take heart! ForRent.com has a few tips and tricks that should help take some of the sting out of moving. So, why not take a break from trying to find a way to get your car-sized couch through your motorcycle-sized door, and take a look at seven moving hacks to make the entire experience a bit more pleasant.
1. Color code your boxes
Before you start cramming all of your possessions into boxes and loading them into the truck, take some time to make sure that once everything is at your new residence, you’ll have a clear idea of where it all goes. You can do this a number of ways, but none are as easy and as efficient as using colored duct tape. Buy as many different colored rolls as you have rooms in the apartment you’ll be moving into, and assign one color for each of these rooms. Now, as you load items into the boxes, label the boxes with the colored tape indicating where the items in the box will be going. Additionally, any important screws, anchors, or any other small bits of hardware that you’ll end up needing in your new apartment should be stored in sealable sandwich bags and labeled using the same method. So, once it’s time to unpack, you’ll be able to know at a glance where everything goes.
2. Wrap with what you already have
Breakable items need to be protected through the course of the move, but rather than buying a bunch of bubble wrap and tissue paper that will just generate additional waste, rely on packing material that you already have. Towels, blankets, pillows, etc., are all useful for protecting breakables through transit and will help you save space in your boxes.
3. Optimize your moving truck packing
It would be nice if everything you had to move were the same size and shape, but the reality is that when it comes to fitting it all into the back of a moving truck, you’re going to find that most things aren’t designed to fit together like puzzle pieces. Start by packing the heaviest items as far towards the front of the truck as possible, distributing weight evenly on both the driver and passenger sides, with desks and armoires facing the walls so that doors and drawers won’t be able to open during transit. Secure large, flat items upright using tie-downs located on the inside walls of most moving trucks. Load lighter items on the top, and save a secure spot (such as the area located directly above the cab) for small breakables and expensive electronics. Load your toolbox last of all, so that you’ll have access to it as soon as you begin to unload.
4. Pack closets together
Emptying out your closets of all of your hanging clothes can be a real burden when you have to load everything into boxes and then worry about fitting them into the aforementioned truck. So, why not take the easy way out and just gather all of your hanging items together, still on hangers, and place them in garbage bags (or garment bags, if you have them)? Use zip ties around the necks of a group of hangers for added help keeping them all together. These tidy little bundles can then be placed on top of your boxes and moved easily. Best of all, once you reach your new home, they’ll already be ready to be rehung.
5. Use plastic wrap on drawers and jewelry displays
Why bother unpacking everything from your drawers and then repacking it all into boxes, when you could just keep it all together where it goes? Remove drawers from dressers, and then simply wrap them—contents and all—in plastic wrap. You can also use plastic wrap on jewelry displays to ensure that small, valuable items remain safe and together where you want them.
6. Take photos of your electronics hookups
Once you’ve got everything unpacked and ready to be set up in your new home, you may find that between your various electronic systems (stereos, computers, TVs, video game consoles, etc.), you have a lot of wires and no clear idea where any of them are supposed to go. Prevent this future incident from ever occurring by taking detailed photographs of how your hookups attach to your devices before you disassemble them for packing. Also, use masking tape and a permanent marker to label which wires go with what equipment.
7. Keep important documents together in a single folder or binder
Paper is not generally thought of as being an overly durable substance. Despite this, the most important and irreplaceable documents we have, such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, and social security cards, are generally printed on flimsy, unlaminated paper. Amid the hassle of packing, transporting, and unpacking, there’s a very real chance that some of your vital documents might end up lost or damaged. Protect them by purchasing a durable folder or binder (along with binder sleeves) beforehand and keeping every important document you have inside. Then, it’s only an issue of keeping the binder itself someplace safe during the move.
Many hands make light work. Do you have any helpful moving hacks that you’d like to share? Drop them into the comments section, and lend a hand!