Let’s face it; the kitchen is always the hardest room to pack when you are moving. With all of the small items and fragile dishes, not to mention food items, packing a kitchen can be a daunting task. Luckily, there’s a systematic approach to pack up and move your kitchen with ease.
Supplies You Will Need:
- Large Boxes – For lightweight plastics and non-perishables.
- Medium Boxes – For heavier pots and pans.
- Heavy-Duty Boxes – For silverware, glassware, and vases.
- Newspaper or Bubble Wrap
- Packing Tape
- Labels & Markers
Step 1: Sort & Simplify
Before you move, it’s important to only take items that you use! You don’t want to haul an entire kitchen only to have to sort and organize in your new home. Take this opportunity to sort your kitchen items and declutter. Go through your entire pantry, all of your cabinets and drawers and be very selective. Imperial Movers – www.imperialmovers.com – says donate any unneeded items to shelters or food banks or have a garage sale.
Prepare the Essentials
Set aside all of the things you will need for the next few days in your current home, including a few dishes, pans, cutlery, food items, appliances like a coffee maker or can opener as well as dish towels, soap and cleaner.
Step 2: Run Down Your Food
The last thing you want to do is waste food, so, before you move, plan your meals ahead of time to minimize the amount of food that will be wasted. Start by looking at what perishable items you currently have and look up recipes to use them up. Try not to grocery shop and keep new food purchases to a minimum. Only buy the essentials if you need to before your move. Arrange everything in your refrigerator and freezer so it will be easy to find and use.
Step 3: Pack the Remaining
Pack everything you won’t be using. Consider emptying out your cabinets first. Take every single thing out, so you can see what you have to work with. Make one pile of things to donate, one pile of things you will need for the next few days and one pile to pack. These items can include vases, wine glasses, mixing bowls, blenders, cookbooks, pots, special utensils, and towels.
Dinnerware
Place a layer of bubble wrap on the bottom of a box. Wrap each piece of dinnerware with bubble wrap or newspaper and stack them one at a time with the largest on the bottom. For extremely fragile items like wine glasses or coffee mugs, consider wrapping these individually. Tip: Use your dishtowels for wrapping fragile items.
Silverware
You don’t want loose silverware moving around and potentially damaging your other fragile items, so save yourself the trouble and wrap your silverware in bundles with a rubber band and place them in a separate box like a shoe box. Tape the box closed and you can place that box inside the larger box for easy packing.
Pots and Pans
Using the medium sized boxes, start with your biggest pan first. Try stacking them flat and rotate every other one so the handles aren’t all facing the same way. Use bubble wrap or towels after every few pans to keep them from getting scratched or damaged. Once all of your pots and pans are inside, wrap the glass lids with bubble wrap or towels and slide them vertically around the sides of the box.
Step 4: Miscellaneous Items
Instead of using multiple boxes for your smaller items, try wrapping your utensils and other odds and ends with packing paper, label them and stuff them inside your other boxes to fill up any unused space.
For pantry items like spices, canned goods, and nonperishable start with the smaller items like your spices and pack them into small boxes. Tape up any opened nonperishable items like cereal boxes and bags to keep them from spilling and place them into boxes upright.
Using these techniques will help lighten your load and make packing your kitchen as easy of a process as possible. Always be sure to label your boxes! It’s also a good idea to draw an arrow showing which way the boxes should stand. This will make for an easy move and easy unpacking once you get situated into your new home. Happy moving!