Furniture Movers in the Eastern Province: Pack and Label Room by Room

Colour-coding cartons: a simple method that saves hours

The idea is that each room gets a colour and a number. You put a green label on kitchen cartons, blue on the main bedroom, yellow on the children's room, and so on. On each carton you write its number and a short description, and keep a simple list linking each number to what is inside.

In the new home you put a sheet at each room door in its colour, so the crew knows where to put each carton without asking you every time. The method saves the family hours of sorting and reduces the chance of cartons going missing or reaching the wrong room.

• Choose a colour for each room and use labels or coloured tape.
• Write the carton number and contents on two different sides.
• Keep a simple list: number, room, contents, fragile?
• Mark fragile or heavy cartons that need care.
• Hang the colour sheet at each room door in the new home.

The kitchen: the room that needs the most sorting before packing

The kitchen brings together the fragile and the heavy, the wet and the dry, the sharp and the smooth, so it needs a more careful method than other rooms. Start with food: discard open and expired items, put sealed dry goods in cartons, and empty and switch off the fridge and freezer well before the move.

Then move to crockery: plates are wrapped singly or stood upright with paper dividers, cups and glasses are stuffed with paper inside, and knives are guarded and the carton marked sharp. Small appliances such as blenders and microwaves are cleaned, dried and put in their original boxes if you have them. For large appliances see our appliance and TV moving page.

• Start with food and discard the expired and opened.
• Wrap plates and cups singly or with paper dividers.
• Write fragile and sharp on the right cartons.
• Keep coffee and tea items and first-night needs in a separate bag.
• Switch the fridge off early enough for it to dry.

The first-night bag: what you carry yourself

The most common mistake is packing everything in cartons and arriving at night in a new home with no toothpaste, no charger and no change of clothes. So we recommend one or two bags that you carry in your own car rather than the truck, holding everything you will need for the first day or two.

If you have children, give them a separate bag with their clothes, favourite toys and any medicine. It makes the first night calmer for everyone.

• Important documents, jewellery, cash and medicine.
• Chargers, tablets and phones.
• Two days of clothes and personal care items.
• Coffee and tea items and a few plates and cups.
• A small torch and simple tools such as a screwdriver and scissors.
• Bed sheets and a towel for each person.

Using the numbering to arrange your new home

When the crew puts cartons in rooms by colour, half the arranging is done. Start with the kitchen and main bedroom because they are needed most, then the children's rooms, then the living room. Open the lowest numbers first if you numbered by priority.

If you lose a carton, go back to your list to know its contents and check that the number reached the right room. When you finish, keep the list until you are sure everything arrived and every piece is sound.