The kitchen is by far the hardest room to pack in your home. Taking a quick look through your cupboards, drawers, and fridge will tell you why. Teetering plates and bowls fill these storage areas, along with appliances, utensils, and foodstuffs you have to organize. And let’s not forget that you’ll be cooking in this room up until the big day, so it’s not like you can pack away things early.
With these difficulties in mind, check out this guide to packing the kitchen. It provides a systematic approach to this challenging room so that you pack like you’re a professional mover.
Downsize Before You Pack Anything
If you’ve lived in your current place for a year or more, you probably have a lot of things hiding in cupboards that you don’t really need. Why pack them up and make more work for yourself?
Instead of lugging unnecessary items to your new home where they’ll take up space, go through your kitchen and sort everything into three categories:
- Keep: These are the essentials that you’ll want to have on hand at your new home.
- Sell: Any appliances in good condition can earn you some extra cash if you put them on an online classified ad.
- Donate: Consider donating anything leftover that you know you won’t use. A local charity will be happy to take any flatware, cutlery, or utensils in good shape.
Start by Getting the Right Packing Materials
Your choice of packing materials is key when it comes to your kitchen. Consider renting plastic moving boxes. These are a great choice to protect everything in your kitchen. You’ll want to use heavy-duty boxes for your most fragile glasses, plates, and other flatware; you can buy packing boxes from Ezi Storage in Osborne Park. After all, you don’t want to pick up these boxes and have their bottom fall out, so make sure you reinforce their seals with professional packing tape.
You can protect these fragile items by wrapping them beforehand in newspaper, tea towels, and bubble wrap.
All these supplies can be found at moving or office stores. But, if you hire dedicated professionals to help you, your movers will provide quality packing materials for the kitchen.
Pack in Order of Use
While you’ll need to keep plates and cups on hand until you’re ready to move, there are some items you can safely pack up well in advance of your move-out date. Consider your belongings carefully and prioritize them according to these two rules:
- How frequently you use them
- How soon you’ll need them in your new home
Specialty items like baking sheets, herbs and spices, and serving dishes can go first. Then move through your list until you’re just a day or so away from moving.
In these last moments at your old house, you’ll want to keep some items out of the box until the last minute, including one cup, plate, and set of cutlery for each family member. Keep these items in an easy to grab box so that you can unpack them first when you get settled.
Clean out Your Fridge
Unlike your pantry, your fridge contains perishable items that can go bad quickly. Make sure to clean out your fridge of any leftovers, jars of sauces, and forgotten Tupperware breeding mould. Put what’s left in a cooler on the morning of your move to make sure it stays at the right temperature.
Bottom Line: Be Prepared
The kitchen can pose more challenges than any other room in your home, but you can handle them all as long as you’re organized. Use this guide to help you pack up your space like a moving pro.
