Tips for Labeling Your Moving Boxes
Packing is the most time-consuming part of the moving process. Loading and unloading may take a few hours, and driving to your new home could take up to a day or two, but you probably take at least a week or two to pack up all of your belongings. The packing techniques you use greatly impact how easy it is to unpack. Follow these tips for an organized packing process that makes moving that much easier.
Label Your Boxes by Room
The most basic label you should include is the room the items belong in. This way, it’s easy for you, or your movers or a helpful neighbor, to know where a box goes with just a glance. Make sure you write in large print with a thick, dark permanent marker for easy readability. At the very least, label the top and one side of each box.
Label the Contents
If you have 12 “kitchen” boxes, how can you hope to find the silverware without digging through several boxes? To prevent frustration, include a summary of the contents of each box, along with the room it goes in.
Label with Colors
You can implement colors into your labeling system in multiple ways. One option is to use different colored permanent markers for each room. You might label a box’s contents in green if it goes in the kitchen, blue if it belongs in the master bedroom, purple for the living room, and so on. You can also seal boxes with different colored packing tape or attach colored stickers to designate where they go.
Just keep in mind that while you might have your color system memorized, your movers do not. To prevent this from being a problem, tape colored pieces of construction paper on the doors in your new home to correspond with the already color-coded boxes.
Label with Numbers
If you don’t want to mess with different colored markers, tape, and stickers, you can assign each room a number instead. The process works much the same as color coding. Label each box with its room number and the list of contents. Then, in your new home, post a number on the door to each room to match the numbered boxes. To keep things simple, use low numbers for the rooms upstairs, mid-range numbers for the ground floor, and high numbers for the basement, so your movers have an idea of where to go.
Make an Inventory Sheet
If you don’t want to write out the contents multiple times on each box, you can save a lot of time by using an inventory sheet instead. With this method, you might label one box “Living Room 1”. On a separate inventory sheet, list the contents beside “Box 1” for details about what’s in that box. Save the list on your phone, email it to yourself, or make multiple hard copies to ensure you always have a backup.
Get Help with Packing and Labeling Boxes
Packing is one of the services we offer here at Georgetown Moving and Storage Company. We offer full-service and partial-service packing for your convenience. If you prefer to pack your boxes yourself, we can still deliver the boxes and packing materials you need to make the process go smoothly. Just make sure you consult our packing supplies guide to ensure the safety of your items during the move.
To learn more about our packing and moving services, please give us a call at (703) 889-8899. We’re happy to answer any questions you have about how we can make your move go smoothly.
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