Moving day is coming up and you feel like the Prince or Princess of preparedness. You have all the boxes you need, packing materials, fancy labels, and you’ve already scheduled a crew of friends to help you out.
Unfortunately, no matter how prepared you feel, there are always a few items that get overlooked on moving day, but that will really come in handy. Here are a few commonly missed items that will make the packing, moving, and unpacking process a breeze—don’t forget to put them on your supplies list!
Stretch Wrap
While you might have enough boxes to pack up all your belongings (and then some), there will be some items that you can’t fit in a box. Plastic stretch wrap will help you to successfully cover any items that aren’t being boxed up. If there are items you want to protect, use the stretch wrap to cover up the wood and paint to keep it from getting scratched or chipped in the moving process. You can also use the stretch wrap to cover drawers that you would rather not empty to keep contents from spilling out.
The beauty of stretch wrap is that is usually comes in bulk, and will hold much better than trying to tape bubble wrap to your furniture. An extra roll of stretch wrap will really come in handy when it comes to moving any large or delicate items, so don’t forget it!
Plastic Baggies
Although there are probably specific boxes and bags for every item in your home, there will always be a few odds and ends that pop up during the moving process. In order to avoid losing any small items forever, make sure you have plenty of extra sandwich bags. These little baggies come in many sizes and are helpful in organizing and keeping track of washers, screws, and bolts from disassembled furniture.
If you will be disassembling or assembling furniture on moving day, there will be tons of nuts and bolts to keep track of. You can label these baggies with the names of the furniture pieces they belong to, so that you have everything you need if the odds and ends get separated from their owner.
Wall Patch Kit
Even when you are extra careful, accidents happen. Maybe you back a piece of furniture into a wall and end up with a hole. Or perhaps your landlord needs you to patch up small nail holes before you get your deposit back. In any case, a wall patch kit is great to have on hand on moving day. Once you remove frames and wall hangings from the walls, you can go around the house spackling any areas that need extra help. These kits will usually consist of some kind of spackling and a putty knife, so you can patch up any holes or dings in the walls.
Markers
If you plan to be super organized with your items, you’ve probably devised some sort of labeling system. Whether you’ve already created your labels, or plan to make them as you pack up, you’ll need a few extra markers to make sure everything gets labeled. There will inevitably be a few items on moving day that haven’t been labeled yet and without a marker, you’ll be left to find a random pen to label the boxes or bags.
Get some extra permanent markers so that your friends can help you label as you pack up—these little buggers tend to disappear, so having extras will ensure you aren’t left without a labeling device.
Color Coded Stickers
This idea is similar to the marker strategy above. If you want to be super specific, you can use a color-coded labeling system to make it easier for those who are helping with the move. After you have written on your box with your marker, place a color coded sticker or two on the box. These stickers can correspond to a certain room of the house. When you are unloading, this will tell anyone who is helping which room to take the box to.
Once again, not all your items will be in boxes, so placing a small (easy to remove) sticker on bigger items will make it so you don’t have to orchestrate every second of the move. Otherwise, you’ll spend the whole day answering the question, “Where does this go?”
First Aid Kit
From paper cuts, to blisters, injuries can occur on moving day. Keep a supply of band aids, elastic bandages, tweezers and triple antibiotic on hand for small scale ouches. Many people forget this one because all of the medical items get stowed away in a box, and no one will want to go digging through dozens of boxes just to find a band-aid. Leave out a few items that will help in case of an emergency, because you will no doubt need them.
This article was written by Dixie Somers, a freelance writer who loves to write for health, women’s interests, and home niches. She lives in Arizona with her husband and three beautiful daughters. Dixie got advice for this article from the professionals at Yellowhead Self Storage, who provide self storage in Edmonton.
