Moving House Packing Tips: How to Organise For Your Move

While settling into a new home can be incredibly exciting, the actual moving process can quickly become a headache.

From bubble wrap to a colour code system, here are some quick packing tips that could help ease the stress of moving house.

Before you even start thinking about moving boxes, doing the right preparation is key to cutting down on unnecessary work.

This could include measuring the dimensions of your future home to make sure you're only moving items that will work in the new space.

Make the packing process easier by measuring fridge spaces, bedroom dimensions, storage spaces and closets to see how much of your existing belongings are worth moving over.

Once you've made a moving checklist of what will fit and where it will go in the new house, you can look at getting rid of what's left over.

The type of packing materials you choose will generally depend on what you want to pack and how protected you need it to be. As a general rule, you're likely to need a range of packing supplies including:

• Packing tape
• Bubble wrap
• Packing paper
• Scissors
• Garbage bags or plastic bags
• Packing boxes (both large boxes and small boxes) or plastic bins
• Permanent markers (for labelling boxes)
• Box cutters
• Plastic wrap
• Zip lock bags

While bubble wrap can help protect fragile items when moving house, if you're conscious of waste then you can look to use packing paper instead. For a cheaper option, you can try using linen, towels, clothing and even stuffed animals as an alternative to bubble wrap.

When you source packing supplies, no matter what material it is, as long as it's malleable and able to fill the empty space in a moving box, your belongings are likely to be protected.

Packing tape should be used on top of moving boxes to secure them shut. But one of the best handy tips for moving house is to reinforce the bottom with tape as well to avoid any breaks in the base.

When you start packing, get as many boxes as possible and use the strongest ones for fragile items. And if you're looking for budget-friendly moving tips, locals will often sell or even give away second-hand moving boxes on Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree.

Don't forget to use your own supplies as well whether it's a plastic bag from the grocery store or an overnight bag, most things can be used to transport belongings. You can also use tote bags, shoe boxes or even kids' toy boxes.

Lighter items like pillows and linen are generally better off in larger boxes while heavy items like books and knick-knacks can be packed into smaller boxes to avoid any tears in the base of the moving box.

When it comes to packing materials, get creative. For instance, one of the best moving house packing tips is to feed necklaces through toilet paper rolls to stop them from tangling when being transported.

Part of how the move will pan out is based on whether you hire a professional moving company or you do it yourself.

From money to effort, there are pros and cons for both options. To help weigh up what might suit you, here are a few things to consider when comparing hiring a removalist company and doing it yourself.

• Easiest way to save money
• Move to your own schedule and avoid time pressure
• Keep your eyes on all your belongings and ensure nothing is broken or misplaced

• Can be a very big effort
• Might still need to pay for heavy items such as moving fridges
• Can be a more drawn-out process

• Gives you less to think about and less to do
• Can streamline the process and make it quicker
• No heavy lifting

• Can make the move more expensive
• Can be concerning to hand over all of your belongings to someone else
• Paid by the amount of time it takes, so it can feel stressful on the moving date

Decluttering is a great way to give yourself more room in moving boxes to make sure you're taking all the essentials and nothing more.

When you get rid of items, remember you don't have to just throw them out. Instead, it could be a great way to make a few extra bucks by selling off furniture or appliances. If that isn't an option, you can package them up and donate them to your closest op shop.

To make the move to the new house fairly stress-free, one of the best moving house packing tips is to take it room by room.

Before you start hacking into your kitchen accessories, remember how much space you have in your new home to determine what you might be able to keep.

Start by throwing out multiples and broken items. This is a good time to tackle the container cupboard. Choose the best quality containers and keep enough to get you through the week, then donate or throw out the rest.

When you move, avoid taking too much food with you by checking expiry dates or eating it all before you leave. Make meals with what you have left over to give you some more space in moving boxes and avoid the risk of food spoiling.

Choose lighter items over things like canned goods which just take up space and might not be worth carrying over to the new place. You can always donate these to make sure they're not going to waste.

If you really want to get ahead of the game, you can pack up your crockery in the days leading up to the move and use paper plates, cups and cutlery to see you through.

When packing crockery, a few tips could be to:

• Stack plates vertically with padding in between to make them less likely to break.
• Wrap fragile items such as glassware in dish towels or old clothes.
• In the future, keep the original box for special glassware, such as wine glasses and cocktail glasses, to slot back into cardboard dividers when moving house next time.

Firstly, figure out what's worth taking. If you were tossing up getting a new lounge, now might be the time to avoid the struggle of lugging it from house to house.

For the items you decide to take, start dissembling furniture as early as possible. This will take time and energy so it's best to tackle it early when you're still fresh.

If you're looking for packing tips for the living room, you can try:

• Putting small nuts, bolts and screws in labelled zip lock bags and taping them underneath the correlating item to keep everything together.
• Numbering each of the zip lock bags in order of when they need to be used and with which piece to make the unpacking process a bit easier.
• Avoiding dangerous breaks by making sure you remove light bulbs from lamps before you move.

Paperwork can be a silent assassin in the packing process. Not only can it be hard to know what to keep and what to throw out, but dealing with random office clutter can slow down the rate at which you pack boxes.

In general, most records should be kept for five years. However, some should be kept for longer depending on what they relate to. [1]

For everything else, not including sentimental items, you can generally get rid of anything over a month old.

Some tips for moving house with your home office might include:

• Scanning documents and saving them digitally if you aren't sure you want to throw them away or if you want a backup.
• Backing up your computer files and photos using a cloud storage service or external hard drive. This can come in handy if your computer or electronics somehow get damaged during the move.

Although it can be one of the biggest jobs, sorting through clothes is a great way to cut down on what you bring to the new house.

You can start by getting a garbage bag and filling it with items that are still in decent condition but that you haven't worn in months or that are too big or too small. These can go straight to the donation bin or be sold online on platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Gumtree or Depop.

Clothes that are stained, torn or just not in a good enough condition to go to second-hand stores can be repurposed as rags or even as an alternative for bubble wrap in packed boxes.

While it's important to be brutal when culling clothes, you should also be aware of your level of waste and avoid throwing items straight in the bin where possible.

Packing tips for moving house with your clothes might include:

• Trying to pack clothes in plastic bags, suitcases or even large garbage bags to save the boxes for the more fragile items and be able to fit more in the truck or car.
• Using a wardrobe box to transport clothes on the hanger so they can be transferred straight into the new closet.
• Using socks to fill shoes to keep their shape.

When you start tackling closets, garages and other storage spaces, a rule of thumb is if you haven't used it in years, there's probably no point in moving it to your new place.

You can choose whether this rule applies to sentimental pieces. However, keep in mind the amount of space in your future home when making your decision.

For moving tips when dealing with storage spaces, you can:

• Use the same box or plastic bag for items that you plan to keep together when you relocate so it's easier to move them to the correct room.
• Colour code and label boxes with numbers to make sure everything is accounted for when you unpack.
• Keep valuable possessions in a secure place and take photos or write notes of where they've been stored during the move.

Packing outdoor furniture down can be one of the first things to tackle as it's usually not something you'll need to use every day in the lead-up.

Dedicate a few boxes to clearing out the shed, packing up pet items and gardening equipment and getting the barbeque sorted early on in the process to get it out of the way.