Packing Hacks - New Home Owners Guide

New Homeowners Guide – Packing Hacks

June 3, 2022by HOMEMAKERS Editor0 comments

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Congratulations! You’ve applied for, and have been lucky enough to purchase your first home! You have to start packing! Here are some packing hacks to make it easier.

There are so many little things that you need to remember, arrange and figure out before you are settled into your new home. Where would you even start?

Never fear, HOMEMAKERS is here to save you. Or, at least, just point you in the right direction regarding where to focus your attention.

Over the next 9 months, we’ll be releasing one chapter a month of our New Homeowner’s Guide to help you make the best choices on this journey.

Last month’s chapter was all about the homework you should do before even putting in an offer. Read it here for some critical tips.

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Before You Pack The First Box

There are a few things you should have in place that have nothing to do with transfer fees or contracts.

First and foremost, you should decide on a moving strategy. This is the most important part of the packing hacks that follow in this article. A moving strategy certainly includes the logistics of the move, but should also include:

Budget

How much are you going to put aside for this move? Would it suit your pocket better to bribe all of your friends and family members who own bakkies to come and take load or two over a few days?

Should you look for trailer and truck rentals or commit fully to using a moving service?

Packing Supplies

You can purchase sturdy, new boxes and supplies such as paper and bubble wrap online. You could consider trolling Facebook Marketplace for any free or cheap packing supplies or ask at your local retailer since they are constantly having to get rid of boxes. That way you can use our packing hacks most effectively.

Inform Your Providers

Earlier notice rather than later notice is the way to go with informing any service providers regarding your change of address. Your ISP should be on top of the list since most of us rely quite heavily on the internet for everything from entertainment to employment.

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find a local home improvement supplier

Location

Start Packing!

The important thing to remember is that no amount of time and effort spent before you move will be too much.

Sure, you can throw things into boxes and cause yourself weeks of headaches when you’re trying to settle into your new home. A better idea is to set yourself a packing plan which will join nicely with your overall moving plan when using these packing hacks.

Step One: Purge

Go from room to room and get rid of anything that you will not need when starting your fresh new life in your new home. See what can be donated, sold or what needs to be sent to the bin.

Ask yourself the following questions while identifying items to purge:

Have I used it in 6 months?
If I didn’t own it already, would I buy it now?
Can someone else use it better than I can?

Step Two: Procure

There are a few different online packing calculators that will help you establish how many boxes of which size you will need. When you have established what needs to be packed in a box, what needs to be wrapped in protective wrapping and what can be moved without hassle, you can procure only the necessary moving supplies to limit waste.

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Step Three: Pics

Now is the time to take pictures. And not in any kind of sentimental way.

Take pictures as references before you pack the first box to ensure that, when you start unpacking, you have a good idea of what needs to be where.

The things you should be photographing are:

The back of the television/entertainment space to make sure you know where all the cables should go when setting it up in the new home

Desk / work areas

Curated areas like a bookcase with sentimental or decorative pieces that you got just right and would like to replicate in the new place.

Kitchen Drawers and shelves

Tool shed / garage

Any hobby storage

General room by room pictures

Step Four: Planner

In this step, you will number the items on each picture. Thereafter you can label your boxes according to room and indicate which items are inside the box.

This way you will not be forced to scramble looking for items when in the new house.

It is also advisable to colour-code each room so that, on the day, everyone helping with the move will be able to put boxes in the rooms they’re meant to be based on your colours.

Washi Tape is a good idea here. Before the move starts you will then go to each room in the new house and paste washi tape of the corresponding colours on the doors or closest wall to the entrance of each room. This is by far one of our favourite packing hacks.

For example:

The entrance hall shelf is labelled as follows:

packing hacks And entrance hall box one might look like this:

packing hacks While the entrance hall in the new home might look like this:

packing hacks

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Step Five: Packing (at last!)

Wow, you’ve already done so much and have not even placed anything in a box! We promise it will pay off.

Here are the final tips for packing from a professional mover:

Pack room-by-room and not type of item by type of item.

Start with large items at the bottom of the box, followed by smaller items.

Tightly packed means that the box is strong. Nothing will crash against each other while moving.

Use towels and other linen to pack fragile items – that way you save on packing materials.

START EARLIER!

Packing always takes longer than you can imagine. Start as soon as you can and you will have a stress-free moving day!