17 Moving and Packing Tips for Your Smoothest Move Yet

1. Get rid of everything

Packing all your possessions into boxes, bags, and more can be overwhelming. Make it a little bit easier on yourself by cutting back on excess and clutter as much as possible. Before you pack a single box, do a merciless purge of unused or unnecessary items. You’ll have less to pack, less to move, and less to unpack—and you’ll start life in your new space with a clean slate.

2. Make a moving folder

Start collecting new addresses, rental or purchase papers, moving contracts, and more in one folder. (Consider a hard copy, rather than a digital one, in case computer or phone batteries die during the move.) If any questions come up during the planning process or the move itself, you’ll have the answer (and records of agreements, payments, and more) on hand.

3. Pack as far in advance as possible

Ideally, you’ll know about a move (even if you’re not sure of the final destination) weeks or even months in advance. Start by packing off-season items and the items you won’t miss. When it’s time to pack everything up, many items will already be ready to go. In the stressful final weeks and days just before the move, you won’t be worried about not getting everything packed in time.

4. Book early

If you’re hiring moving services, renting supplies, or having services such as painters or cleaners work on the house, book early. Waiting to do so could mean paying a higher price or not being able to get a truck or movers at all, particularly if it’s peak moving season.

5. Schedule utilities for your new place

Once the dates are finalized, contact your utility providers to schedule service at your new home. You don’t want to arrive there, tired from the move, to find that the electricity, water, or heat is off. Schedule it ahead of time, and keep records of your requests in your moving folder. At the same time, request service stops for your move-out date at your current home.

6. Keep the essentials with you

On the night before the move, tuck everyday essentials—a change of clothes, a toothbrush, must-have stuffed animals or toys for the kids, medications, paperwork, etc.—into a suitcase or bag you’ll keep with you in the car, the truck cab, or on the plane. If catastrophe strikes and the moving truck gets lost, at least you’ll have some essentials with you.

7. Get a truck with a loading ramp

If you’re a DIY mover, you absolutely need a truck with a ramp. It may be cheaper to rent a truck without one, but the hassle (and struggle) of lifting every box and piece of furniture high enough to get it into the truck will add hours—plus sore muscles—to your move.

8. Invest in Equipment

A few days before the big move, stock up on supplies. The last thing you want is to have to make a run to the store while loading boxes or making sure everything is out of the house. Order or purchase box cutters, adhesive bandages, permanent markers, packing tape, paper towels, and garbage bags. If they aren’t all used during the move, they’ll still be useful afterward, especially during unpacking.

For larger moving equipment, considering renting moving tools from a moving company. (If you hire a moving service, they’ll likely have their own.) If you move very frequently, you may be better off purchasing these tools. Either by buying, renting, or borrowing, make sure you have a furniture dolly, furniture pads or covers, and tie-down straps or rope at your disposal during the move.

1. Use the right size boxes

Put heavy items, like books, in small boxes; light items, like linens and pillows, in bigger ones. (Large boxes packed with heavy items are a common complaint of professional movers. They not only make the job harder but also have a better chance of breaking.)

2. Put heavier items on the bottoms of boxes, lighter items on top

And if you’re loading the truck yourself, pack heavier boxes first, toward the front of the truck, for balance.

3. Don’t leave empty spaces in the boxes

Fill in gaps with clothing, towels, or packing paper. Movers often won’t move boxes that feel loosely packed or unbalanced.

4. Avoid mixing items from different rooms in the same box.

It will make your packing quicker and your unpacking a lot easier, too.

5. Label each box with the room it’s destined for and a description of its contents

This will help you and your movers know where every box belongs in your new place. Numbering each box and keeping an inventory list in a small notebook is a good way to keep track of what you’ve packed―and to make sure you still have everything when you unpack.

6. Tape boxes well

Use a couple of pieces of tape to close the bottom and top seams, then use one of the movers’ techniques―making a couple of wraps all the way around the box’s top and bottom edges, where stress is concentrated.

7. If you’re moving expensive art, ask your mover about special crating

Never wrap oil paintings in regular paper; it will stick. For pictures framed behind glass, make an X with masking tape across the glass to strengthen it and to hold it together if it shatters. Then wrap the pictures in paper or bubble wrap and put them in a frame box, with a piece of cardboard between each framed piece for protection.

8. Bundle breakables

As you pack your dishes, put packing paper around each one, then wrap bundles of five or six together with more paper. Pack dishes on their sides, never flat. And use plenty of bunched-up paper as padding above and below. Cups and bowls can be placed inside one another, with paper in between, and wrapped three or four in a bundle. Pack them all in dish-barrel boxes.

9. Consider other items that will need special treatment

Some movers treat TVs like any other piece of furniture, wrapping them in quilted furniture pads. Plasma TVs, though, require special wooden crates for shipping if you don’t have the original box and can be ruined if you lay them flat. If you’re packing yourself, double-box your TV, setting the box containing the TV into another box that you’ve padded with packing paper.