Space Saving Ideas for Packing

Terri Deno
Whether you are packing to go to college or move across the country, space will always be limited. And because you don't want to end up opening boxes of broken dishes and other breakables once you arrive at your destination, packing carefully is essential to your belongings arriving safely and intact. The way most people try to save space is in the vehicle used to transport furniture and boxes, but if you look at the first step of packing the bags and boxes, you will find that there are many more space-saving tricks. This will easily cut down the number of boxes you have to move.

Finding the Hidden Cave

There are many times when packing a box that a good size space is looked over. Maybe you are packing up an odd shaped object and a corner of the box is left open. Many people might stuff some newspaper in this space just to be on the safe side, but what about those t-shirts or pajamas? As long as you don't mind something getting wrinkled, you can use old or everyday clothes to pack up these extra spaces.

Finding spaces that are large enough for books is another way to cut down on the weight of some boxes. It is never a good idea to pack a box full of books because it becomes to heavy in most cases. If you spread your book collection throughout your boxes, you can save a lot of potential strain on your back muscles when moving the boxes to and from residences.

Doing Double Duty

Newspaper can help to keep your dishes and other glassware safe, but newspaper is usually a hassle. Not only is it time consuming to wrap everything up, but you also have to wash everything once you unpack because it may have newspaper ink all over it. A quick solution that can also help you save space is to take sheets, towels, or curtains and wrap your dishes in those. One large towel can easily be folded over and protect three or four dinner plates in a box.

If you have kids or just a lot of stuffed animals, you can use these plush toys for another way to keep your breakables safe. This will also cut down on the amount of bags you will need to pack, since bags will take up a large amount of space.

Warnings

When trying to save space packing, do not overlook the important of packing like items together. That way, you won't end up with dinner plates that smell like perfume or stuffed animals that have been exposed to bathroom cleaners.

Make sure that you can lift all the boxes. It is important to pick up the box every once in awhile during the packing stage to make sure that you do not overload it with large, heavy items. When a box seems like it's getting too heavy, fill any empty space with light objects such as pillows, clothes, or linens.

Published by Terri Deno

Terri Deno is a freelance writer living near Indianapolis. She holds a B.A. in English from Ball State University. She has a passion for research; this passion is the driving force for writing about antiques...  View profile

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