Knee-deep in packing boxes & paper!

Hey everyone.  Hope your Tuesday is going well.  I did start the packing process yesterday & thought I would have time to post about it, but that didn't happen.  Apparently my body doesn't move as quickly through this process as mind thinks it should.  I know a bunch of you are noddin' your heads right now & chucklin'.  Me, too!  Part of what took some time was looking for some kind of template that I could download to keep a log of box contents.  Well, I didn't find anything like that, so I had to create my own.

The very first thing I did, & should have done a long time ago, was go room-by-room & take digital photos of everything -- furniture, art, accessories, contents of drawers, cupboards & closets.  I then burned this to a CD, labeled along with the date.  I feel so good that I finally took care of that.

Next, you know me, I have to have things organized, so I made up this sheet for recording the contents of each box.  I just made a bunch of copies, punched holes & put them in a narrow 3-ring binder that I already had.  I also put the CD Home Inventory in the front inside pocket of this binder.  This shall be my "Moving Bible" for lack of a better name.

You'll see a close-up a bit later, but there is a place to record what room in the new house each box will go, along with a place for the box #, a list of content categories (you'll see some of those later) & plenty of space to record the actual contents.  Over-kill, maybe, I don't know.  This is just how my "pea-picker" works.

These are my supplies.  This is my wrapping station in the sunroom closet & it is a great place to work!  

Of course you have to have one of these beasties & plenty of refills.  Don't get the refills at Sam's Club; they are $6 more there than at Lowes'.  Can you believe that?

A supply of these comes in handy for holding batteries & small light bulbs that need to be removed from items before packing.  Plus they are great for any small parts that need to be packed with but separate from certain things.  I also had a Black Perma Marker.

We are watching Craig's List for boxes, but for now, Home Depot & Lowes' are great for boxes & they are cheaper than the moving companies.  Beside, we have a Lowes' about 1 mile away, so we can get them as we need them.  The paper is from our local newspaper -- the end rolls of unprinted newsprint.  Super-cheap & The Man fixed up a contraption in the garage & cut them all into manageable pieces.

This is where I had determined I would start, since this is probably one of the more daunting spaces.  There is so much glass, pottery & oddball sizes.

I wrapped candles in plastic grocery bags before packing into boxes just so there is no color transfer if they get warm on the truck.  Also in case there is any melting -- this is AZ you know!

This is a close-up of the top of one of my sheets.  Right now the Room # is blank until I have a chance to get back over to the new house.  When we make the move, I will label each room with a 

corresponding # -- probably a large sheet taped to each door.

Each box has its corresponding #.  I'm also going to make some stickers that say "FRAGILE" & put them on probably every box.  I'm hoping that will make the movers more careful.  Whata' think?  The boxes will also get a Room #.

Well, this was the plan in my mind & it actually worked well.  All of the contents of this closet were packed into boxes & the boxes went back on the shelves.  I love when a plan comes together!

I'm so glad I have this closet with the built-in counter.  It is proving to be the best place & most comfortable for wrappin' & packin'!  I promise not to bore you with every single box I pack, but thought this might just be helpful to someone in my similar situation who hasn't had to do this in awhile.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by & please come again soon.  I'll try to have something a bit more interesting next time.  Okay?

CAS

I'm linking to the following:

Organizing Mission Monday

Wickedly Awesome Wednesday

Whassup Wednesday!

Feature Yourself Friday

It's A Hodge Podge Friday

Friday's Unfolded