Boxing Your Household Goods

Because our family moved over thirty times when I was still living with my parents and siblings, Mom and Dad became expert at boxing our household goods. As we became teenagers and the inevitable move approached, we packed boxes alongside our parents, learning from experience the best methods to box our stuff. Having moved thirteen times in my adult life, those packing lessons have served me well. Follow these tips for boxing your household goods and you will maximize space, save time and money, and know what items are in which boxes at all times:

• Invest in a tape gun and the best packing tape you can find. You can purchase both at your local hardware or home improvement store.
• Tape the bottom of each box twice; once across the seam where the bottom flaps meet, and once across the width of the box.
• Use small boxes for heavy items such as books. The heavier the item, the smaller the box should be.
• Use towels, socks, and linens to wrap around fragile items, and pack them tightly.
• Tape the boxes shut with one strip of tape across the seam where the two flaps meet.
• Use a black marker to mark and number the boxes containing heavy items. Use a red marker to mark and number the boxes containing fragile items. Store the "black" boxes on one side of an empty room, such as a guest room, and store the "red" boxes on the other side of the room.
• Using a black or red marker, number the box on the top and on the side, and write on the box what room it will go to in your new home.
• Use a clipboard and paper to make a master list of your packed boxes. Make two columns on your paper; one for a box number, and one to record the contents of the box.

When you stack your packed boxes, make sure that you don't stack heavy boxes on top of lighter ones, or else you may crush the items in the bottom box. If you have to force the flaps of a box shut, then you are trying to fit too much into a box. Instead of boxing canned foods, use plastic grocery store bags. That way, you know that anything that is inside of a grocery store bag goes to the kitchen in the new home. Never use boxes to pack flammable products such as kerosene or gasoline. Instead of taking clothes from dresser drawers, leave the clothes inside of the dresser and use painter's tape to tape the drawers shut.

Make your moving day less stressful by creating organization out of disarray, knowing that your household goods are packed safely in appropriate boxes.