We unexpectedly sold our house 2 1/2 years ago just before Christmas. Had to be out by the 19th and didn't start packing until after Thanksgiving. I knew our things would be in storage for quite some time and as it turned out it took 1 1/2 years to finally get our new house built. In the meantime we rented a fully furnished and equipped home from some friends. This is how I packed my house:
- I got boxes, just any kind, and a spiral notebook. As I packed a box I put a number on it on all 4 sides and on top, that way no matter how it was put in storage I could see the number. As I put things in that box I made a list in the notebook of briefly what was in that box - ie - blender, processor, measuring cups, etc. I then taped that box and put it either in the hall or the corner of the Great Room. I also color-coded the sharpie I was using and designated a color for each room. If I knew I wanted to keep something out I put a big asterisk on the box. By the time I was finished I had over 130 boxes but each one had a number on it. We ended up with 4 storage units because the night before the moving guys came we found out that the house we had wanted to lease was not available so EVERYTHING went into storage, except for most of the clothes. When I needed to find a particular box, and believe me in the 1 1/2 years we were "homeless" I needed to find several boxes, I basically had to look for the number. Each evening I would take my list and put it on a spread sheet - box #, room, contents. With the spread sheet I could print it out 2 different ways - by room or by box #. I worked great for me. One thing I would have done was to be with the guys as they unloaded the boxes into storage. They just put them in where they were fit because they didn't know my "system"!! So there were some boxes that stayed untouched for the time. It really helped when we moved. While I was guiding the first moving van to the house I got a call and they had taken my mother to the hospital. I called my neighbor and she graciously said she would come supervise. So everything was put in the garage and believe me we barely had room to walk through. Long story short, my mother passed away that evening so it was a very traumatic move. My daughter and son-in-law live about 30 min. away and my son flew in from Baltimore. So that weekend instead of having to go though every box to see where it would go my daughter had the 2 lists and when the boys would bring a box she would tell them exactly what room to put it in! That was a little over a year ago and I have just finished unpacking all the boxes but I knew where something was if I needed it.
Sorry this was so long but I have always been wordy. So go get a LOT of boxes, several rolls of packing tape, a good spiral notebook and several different colors of sharpies.
And good luck!!
Fredda