Advice for Labeling & Inventorying Your Belongings

Moving tends to get a little disorganized even if you start early and are careful about how you pack and move. One of the ways to minimize that disorganization is to label the boxes you pack and take an inventory of your belongings. While this is simple to do in its most basic form, you'll want to learn how to avoid some common issues.

Label More Than One Side of Each Box

First, remember to avoid a very common mistake: Don't label just the top of the boxes. When you're in a rush, dashing off the number of the box or the name of the room it should go in seems like it will be enough. Then you see the boxes stacked on top of each other and wonder how you're going to know where all of them should be because now the label is covered.

Label more than one side of each box. Label the top and two or three sides, for example. That should be enough for you to be able to see the label no matter how the boxes are arranged.

Pack Important Items Together and Mark Those Boxes

When you move, you're going to have some items that you need to retrieve immediately. These can range from clothing items to electronics to kitchenware or tools; whatever the items, you want to find them fast and not have to dig through boxes. Identify what you'll want to unpack first and group all of the items together in boxes. So, instead of placing important and unimportant electronics in a box, you'll place the important electronics in the same box as the important kitchen goods, for example. It's much easier to grab a few boxes and fully unpack them than it is to search through several boxes across several rooms.

Make a List of Boxes by Priority

Having labeled boxes is great, but it's not the only inventory task you need to complete. You need some record of what's in those boxes that you keep with you; what you wrote on the sides of the boxes does you no good if the boxes are lost or damaged.

The record you keep can be as simple as a list of the boxes by number and major category, such as "1 of 50, urgent items; 2 of 50, important kitchen stuff," and so on. Or, it can be a detailed list that you made as you packed, so you know exactly what's in each box. That second option is better if you're worried about a box being lost or damaged, although it does take more time.

If you make the list on your phone or computer, email the list to yourself via a cloud/web mail service that you can access no matter where you are. You don't want something happening to the file on your phone or computer. If you make the list on paper, take pictures of it with your phone and email them. You can always delete the files when you're sure you've got all your boxes and everything is in good shape.

Trust Our Movers To Take Care Of Your Belongings 

When you move, you want to go with movers who you know will do their very best to protect your belongings and bring them to your new home in great shape. If you're looking for a moving company in Conshohocken, PA, or need a moving company in West Chester, PA, you need to call BR Moving. It doesn't matter if you just need a company that can move boxes and furniture or if you also need packing services; BR Moving can do both and get the job done quickly. Make your move as easy as possible.