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The Best Way to Label Your Moving Boxes

label your moving boxes

When it finally comes time to move your entire household into boxes, chances are you’ll fall into the same trap as every other person who’s ever moved: where did all this stuff come from, and how am I going to keep it all organized? A truck full of identical boxes is a nightmare on the other end, so take our advice and label your moving boxes well. Your professional movers will know where things go, and you get to keep your sanity intact. Everyone wins.

Develop a color-coding system

Whether you want to get fancy with different colors of packing tape, some fancy patterns of duct tape for labeling (we’d caution you against closing your boxes with duct tape as it makes opening them again a lot more work!), or getting creative with markers, color-coding your boxes by room is an easily visible way to keep things organized.

Use stickers that identify each box’s destination

Maybe you have an abundance of animal stickers from your kids, or you’d like to print your own label stickers to keep things really professional. Either way, stickers can be a quick and easy way to label your boxes. Just make sure they aren’t going to easily fall off.

Using waterproof markers, label each box on multiple sides

Where should it go? Is it fragile? Is there something inside that you will want to locate later? Contents lists can be a great option for making more significant lists, particularly if you are moving a large household. Whatever you choose, just be sure that the label is clear (labeling a box “books” won’t tell you much later down the road) and that any surprise precipitation won’t render your labels illegible.

Label all sides of your boxes

In transit and once they’ve arrived at your new home, you and your movers will want to know which box is going where without turning each one over multiple times. Taking that extra minute to label each side will save you a lot of time and hassle when you’re unpacking. There’s nothing more frustrating than being unable to find your favorite coffee mug…

Create a numbering system

If you’re motivated to be really organized, you can label each box with its destination as well as a number corresponding to your inventory. That is one way to know how many boxes are supposed to be delivered to each room, where to find your bedsheets, and if you share your system with your movers, it will help them to stay organized too.

Or? Your professional moving company may have a system they suggest to help you and your movers stay on the same page and keep your move efficient and smooth. Ask if they offer labels or inventory systems already, and you might save yourself some time with the stickers or the printer. If you need help strategizing how many and which boxes to use, check out this blog post!

 

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Unpakt Team