How do I pack so unpacking is not miserable?

Packing badly does not show up on moving day. It shows up for the following fortnight, when everything you need is in an unlabelled box in the wrong room.

Safety

Step by step

1. Declutter before you pack anything.Every item you move is packed, carried, transported, carried again and unpacked. Deciding to keep it is the moment to decide, not when it comes out of a box in a new house.
2. Pack room by room and finish each.Not by category across the house. A finished room is visible progress, and it means every box has one clear destination — which is what makes unloading fast.
3. Start with what you do not use.Books, out-of-season clothes, the loft, decorations, spare bedding. Weeks ahead. Leaving only daily-use items for the last few days makes the final week manageable.
4. Label the side, not the top.Boxes get stacked. A label on the top is invisible the moment anything goes on it. Write on at least two sides.
5. Put the destination room first.In large letters. Whoever carries the box needs to know where it goes in half a second, and getting boxes into the right rooms is most of what makes unpacking bearable.
6. List the three main contents.Not everything — the three things you would look for. 'KITCHEN — pans, baking trays, mixing bowls' is enough to find something without opening it.
7. Number every box and keep a list.A note on your phone. It tells you immediately if a box has not arrived, which is the point at which you can do something about it.
8. Mark the priority boxes clearly.A coloured tape or a large mark for the ten boxes you need on day one. Kettle, bedding, towels, tools, chargers, a pan. Those get loaded last and unloaded first.
9. Small boxes for heavy things.Books in small boxes, bedding in large ones. A large box of books cannot be lifted and its base will fail. This is the most common packing injury.
10. Fill every box completely.Half-full boxes collapse when stacked and their contents move. Pad gaps with towels, tea towels and clothing — which also packs them at the same time.
11. Photograph anything complicated before dismantling.The back of the television, the bed frame, the shelf brackets. Screws into a labelled bag taped to the item itself.
12. Keep essentials out of the van.Documents, medication, chargers, keys, valuables, and the first-night box. Vans get delayed, and these are the things you cannot wait for.
13. Pack a cleaning box, twice.One for the place you are leaving and one to open first at the new one. Cloths, spray, bin bags, loo roll and hand soap. The single most appreciated box on arrival.
14. Load by room, not by size.Keeping each room's boxes together in the van means they come off together and go into the right room. That is worth more than efficient stacking.

Tips

• Wardrobe boxes are worth the cost. Clothes go straight across on hangers and there is no folding at either end.
• Take a photo of every room before packing. Useful for insurance and for remembering how things went together.
• Buy more tape than you think, and a tape gun. It is the thing everyone runs out of on the last night.

Common mistakes

• Labelling the top of boxes — Boxes are stacked, so the label disappears. Write on at least two sides with the destination room first.
• Moving things you intend to throw away — Every unwanted item is packed, carried twice and unpacked. Decluttering before packing is the largest single saving in a move.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask