Start three to four weeks out by decluttering first, never pack anything you won't keep. Then stage all your supplies in one spot, set up a packing station in each room, and work from least-used rooms to most-used, labeling every box with its room and contents. Fragile items get wrapped individually, and hazardous materials never go on the truck.
Declutter before you buy a single box
Every box you don't pack is money saved twice: once on materials, once on truck time. Professional packers start every big job the same way, a walkthrough that separates keep, donate, sell, and toss. Do this before you order supplies, because the pile you're moving determines how much you need.
Be ruthless in the garage and the junk drawers. If it's broken, expired, or hasn't been touched since your last move, it doesn't earn a spot on the truck. Gather donations in one staging area and schedule the pickup now, not during moving week when every hour is spoken for.
Get your supplies right the first time
Under-buying supplies stalls your momentum; over-buying wastes money. For a typical three-bedroom home, plan on roughly 60 to 90 boxes in mixed sizes, and remember the counterintuitive rule: heavy things go in small boxes, light bulky things go in large ones. A large box full of books is how backs get hurt and bottoms blow out.
One note from our side of the truck: if you're moving locally with us, wardrobe boxes are free to use on move day, so don't buy them. Your hanging clothes travel on the rod and skip the fold-and-wrinkle cycle entirely.
- Small, medium, and large boxes, more small than you think
- Dish packs or double-walled boxes for the kitchen
- Packing paper (cleaner than newsprint) and bubble wrap for fragiles
- Quality tape, cheap tape fails in a hot truck
- Markers, labels, and a roll of stretch wrap
- Trash bags for soft goods and for the post-pack purge
Set up a station and work one room at a time
Pros don't wander the house packing whatever catches their eye. Set up a small packing station, tape, paper, marker, labels, in the room you're working, finish that room, then move the station. Start with the spaces you use least: garage, guest room, storage closets. The kitchen and bathrooms go last because you're still living in them.
This one habit is the difference between a house that's 90% packed and a house that's 40% packed in every room. Partial packing everywhere feels like progress. It isn't.
Run the whole job off a checklist
Write down what needs packing room by room and cross items off as boxes close. Label every box on the top and at least one side with the destination room and a few contents, 'Kitchen: everyday plates, mixing bowls' beats 'Kitchen' by a mile when you're hunting for the coffee maker on night one. Color-coded tape or stickers per room speeds up the unload, because the crew can route boxes without reading a word.
What never goes on the truck
Some items can't legally or safely ride in a moving truck, and a few others simply shouldn't leave your sight. Keep this list handy as you pack.
- Hazardous materials: paint, propane, pool chemicals, gasoline, aerosols
- Perishables and opened food containers
- Important documents, IDs, deeds, moving paperwork stay with you
- Cash, jewelry, and small high-value items ride in your car
- Medications, chargers, and a first-night box you transport yourself
Know when to hand it off
A big move packed well takes most households three to four weeks of steady evenings. A professional crew does the same house in a day, with materials included and every box packed to survive stacking. If your timeline is short, your fragiles are valuable, or you'd rather spend those three weeks doing anything else, packing service is the single upgrade our customers say was most worth it.