When we got ready to move last summer, I didn’t think the insanity would ever end. Especially the packing. It’s no easy feat to pack up an entire house with four children. The last time we moved was 10 years ago – Nate and I had only one child (Nathan) and we moved from a small two bedroom apartment. I don’t think we even rented a moving van. This time was an entirely different situation.
It wasn’t just packing six people. It was the uncertainty of when we would actually move. There’s always a last minute scramble for paperwork and we were no exception. And the closing date for both old and new houses was in limbo as our realtors and mortgage brokers scrambled to get everything ironed out.
As our (hopeful) moving date came closer, I went into crazy planning and organizing mode. While there were some things I couldn’t control (appraisals and underwriters to name two – here’s some tips for surviving the paperwork madness), packing was one thing I could do. After I pushed past that whole are-we-actually-going-to-move-on-our-set-moving-date-because-the-closing-date-could-be-delayed, I decided to have faith that the Lord would work it out and dove headlong into making the move as easy as possible.
I found many great moving tips on Pinterest, including ideas like packing plates between paper plates and wrapping breakables in sheets and towels. But the one thing I knew was most essential was labeling the boxes. There’s so many different ways to do it and after I experimented with a couple ideas, I finally came up with something that worked incredibly well.
It worked so well that, after the move, my husband came to me and emphatically thanked me for this awesome idea because it made moving so much easier for him and his friends.
The #1 Moving Tip:
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The idea is to color code each room and label each box accordingly. There’s different ways to do this, but I settled on buying colorful little round Avery dot stickers. I ordered my stickers from Amazon, but you can also find them at office supply stores, like Staples. Here’s the Avery stickers I bought:
Avery Blue, Yellow, Green, & Red Round Labels
Avery Round Black Labels
Avery pink, orange, green
1.) Make a list of rooms in your new house or apartment and assign a colored dot to each one.
I ended up with 9 different colors for 9 different rooms. Originally I listed 3 of the 4 bathrooms, but later decided it was easier to just put the master bathroom boxes in with the master bedroom. I found it easiest to keep my list in Google documents where I could easily edit or print out another copy.
Print out your list and attach a colored dot next to each room. This will be your Moving Color Key chart.
I printed three moving color keys – one to keep on hand as I packed, one to display at the new house, and one spare (because even if you’re very organized, stuff likes to get lost when moving.)
2. Label each box with the coordinating colored dots.
The next step is pretty fun: packing the boxes and labeling them. This is where the simplicity of this sticker system comes in handy. Instead of hand writing which room each box belongs to, you simply add a sticker. (Also much easier than duct tape colors – another idea I toyed with.)
I added 5 stickers to each box – one for each upper right hand corner and one for the top of the box. This way, no matter which side the box is facing, it’s obvious where it belongs.
You should still label what’s inside each box – ie “books”, “Christmas decorations,” “Toys”, etc.
One more tip: to keep better track of what’s inside essential boxes (ie kitchen), you can keep a little pocket sized notebook and write more details. I did this for some of my kitchen boxes – “Kitchen Box #1” on the box and in my notebook, where I noted more specifics, like “regular utensils, kids’ cups, tupperwear,” etc. This makes life so much easier during those first few days after moving. Again, you shouldn’t need to do this for more than a few boxes. Unless you really like lists. Which I do. But I had to stop somewhere.
3. Make simple signs with the colored dots and hang in each room.
The next simple part of this moving tip is to print out signs and hang them in each room of the new house.
For example, my living room boxes had red dots. While the moving key clearly showed this, I didn’t want our moving helpers to have any doubt about which box went where. So I printed out papers with the name of each room displayed in large clear letters and then attached at least two of the coordinating colored dots. This way it was super easy for anyone to see which box belonged where.
Even small children can understand matching colored dots!
On our moving day, things were incredibly busy and exhausting, but this simple moving tip worked so well that even our guy helpers commented on how easy it was. If it works for the guys (bless their hearts!), I knew it was a success.
Another bonus: this easy moving tip made unpacking so much easier than I anticipated. I had the entire house unpacked within the first ten days because everything was exactly where it belonged!
Have you moved recently? Planning a big move this year? Leave me a comment and let me know what your best moving tip is!
Danielle K says
These are great tips! I hate moving just because of how unorganized I always feel.
ss says
put post it s on the ell where the major pieces of furniture will be placed. that way movers only move it once and you don’t have to run into every room
Yoly | SavvyMujer says
Great tips. Wished I could have think of doing the color coded boxes/areas ideas when we moved. We never are organized.
Raijean says
Love this, I agree the only way to move is to be organized!!
Jenni E. {Sweet Pennies from Heaven} says
I love the whole room color coding idea. I love organization but my perfectionism keeps me from being organized, if that even makes sense. As soon as I see that the organization idea is not going to work – I just throw it all out the window.
Crystal says
Moving is so hectic! I’m glad it’ll be a long time before I have to do it again (I hope). These tips are so helpful, especially when you have lots of people helping you move.
Shannon says
I have been looking for a home binder and other things to help me get organized for the impending move. With an additional child and a live in nanny, things will get hectic. This moving tip is by far the best, simplest ways to keep everything organized and allow for the little helpers to actually help!! Thanks for taking the time to share!!!
Julie says
I’m at the “half our possessions are in boxes so far” stage right now. I was going to number the rooms but I think a colour sticker system is probably going to be easier – thanks for the tip!
Sherri says
Have a first night box packed with essentials. …toiletries, coffee, mugs, snacks,…. After a long day you don’t want to have to go through umpteen boxes to find basics.
Erika says
Great idea, Sherri!
sean says
I really like your colored dots system, it is shockingly simple, and it really seems effective. I like that you organized your boxes based on the home you were moving into instead of the one you were moving out of. I think when you are packing it is easy to go through rooms and pack them up based on where things are now. However, that is not always where things will be in the new home.
Hannah says
We will be moving for the seventh time in five years, and this time I’m determined to make it easier. I found this color coding idea via pinterest a while ago and I really think it will save our sanity! It will be so nice to know that the item I’m looking for is in one of a dozen boxes instead of one of a hundred!
Form the kitchen I’ll be labelling contents but for most if the rest it won’t be needed. This move will be so much better! Glad you found the system worked well for you.
London Removals Ltd. says
Great tips! A well organized move is a smooth move! Thumbs up! 🙂
Alicia Torne says
You are totally right! The advice I would take most advantage of is that of making a Moving Color Key Chart! Thank you for the great idea. Regards.
Phillius Thomas says
Organized sanity, is an odd way to describe moving. The color key is an interesting idea. It would probably be good to try this next time.
Jane Fox says
I really love your idea of coordinating dot colors to rooms! I’ve moved quite a lot in my life (army brat), and I think this would have made it so much easier. I’m looking at another move soon, and I’ll definitely be using this tip. I think it will really simplify things for both the moving company and myself. Thanks for the tip!
Rachel Mendelson says
This is true, moving is not easy specially moving with a big family. Color coding your things is a great idea and having a checklist is a must. This article is really a big help.
Brandy Brock says
It is so important to have a well organized move. Most people stress so much during the house move because there many times is something that goes wrong. Most of the time this “something” is having stuff broken, loosing something, give wrong or unclear instructions to your movers. If you have all your belongings carefully packed and labeled.. the whole move planned… than there is really little that can go wrong. This article is truly brilliant! I find it really useful for people who are planning a move! Thanks for sharing! We would love to share it and use it to help our clients. All the best, balhamremovals.com !
Correy Smith says
Erika, that tip that yo provided about making a list of the rooms and then identify them with a colored dotted sticker is pretty smart to do. Maybe it would be a good idea for my wife and I to do since we are going to be moving later this week. So far, we have given a moving company a week notice just so they don’t forget.
Annette Harvey says
The idea with the colors is brilliant! It is so much easier to put a colored sticker instead of writing on each and every box. 🙂 Moving house is definitely not an easy thing and ideas like this can save you so much time and effort! Thanks for sharing!
Avery Grey says
Wow, I really love your first tip! That is one of the things that I am definitely stressing about as moving day gets closer. We found out that we were moving to another state a few weeks ago and staying organized has been a real challenge. I have been thinking about looking into getting a storage unit just to get some things out of the way and reduce the size of the chaos. These tips will really help us with this whole process. Thank you for sharing.
Erika says
Good luck, Avery!
Ryan Scott says
Fantastic ideas. Being organized will make your move less stress. Color coding and labeling can make your recognized which is which because it is already labeled. And with your glasses tucking in a clean socks will prevent them from breakage,. Yo can also put some of your important documents i a ziplock before putting it in a storage box.
Joseph Harris says
Moving has always been a problem for many people especially when it comes to organizing stuff, which is why your tips will surely come handy for your readers who are planning to or about to relocate to a new place.
Justin Gray says
Label boxes with their destination room and the items in it to make unpacking and locating items easier. Do not overload moving boxes and use smaller boxes for heavy items such as books.
MaryKay says
To move items on hangers: slide hangers together in groups about 8 inches thick, wrap a jacket or coat around and zip it. You can also duct tape the hangers together but this leaves a residue. For heavier or larger bundles you can reinforce with a belt around the coat about halfway down. This makes transferring closet to closet quick. Unpacking is as simple as hanging the items and removing the coat.
Erika says
Love this!
Jenilee says
Movers come tomorrow so I better get on this! Love this idea so much more than just plain ol markers. I need to be organized, otherwise I’m going to go crazy haha.
Valorie says
I am in the middle of my second cross country move in 10 months. To play up on your moving suggestion, I also color code the rooms. In addition, I assign each box a number and write down on a chart the contents of each numbered box. I also pack a separate box for moving in – filling it with cleaning supplies, toilet paper, paper towels. I pack a second box with bedding and towels and a third box with clothes for a few days. These boxes I load into my car so they can be easily retrieved. Happy moving!
Erika says
Great tips, Valorie. You are a pro!
Brian says
I love the idea of using stickers to color code the boxes. I always hope to count on my memory to know where things are and I almost always fail and lose a lot for a few days. I’ll have to try this next time. Thanks for sharing!
Anthony says
Great
Marlene says
Great tips but WAY More time consuming then it needs to be. I just write on the box which room it goes into and be done with it
Michelle Sarantis says
Brilliant idea! Going to use this strategy with our next move. Thanks!
Erika says
Thanks, Michelle. Good luck!
Kate says
This is such a great idea – and really appeals to a color-coding enthusiast 🙂 I was thinking of using duct tape, but the labels do sound much simpler. We have 3 months to pack our house, and I want to start now. So I will also use your idea to keep a notebook to write what’s in each numbered box. Thanks so much for sharing!
Amir Corbin says
This article helped me a lot as these tips are very important. It is a great post for the people to get the proper information about moving. I found this much helpful tips on moving. Thanks for such post and please keep it up.
Deven Carley says
Your tips are very useful for me. Moving process is very difficult. I get the right information on this blog. Thanks for information.
Sonya Walker-Betts says
This was an awesome article, my husband and I will be moving in three months and I can’t wait to utilize this helpful article with moving organization.