Packing is where moves go wrong. The boxes are the easy part; the broken plates, the lost box of chargers, and the first night with no bedding are the parts people remember. A system beats speed: pack early, pack one room at a time, and label everything as you go. The boxes you pack in week one will be the ones you are glad about on moving day, and the ones you pack at midnight the night before will be the ones you regret.
You need more boxes than you think — small, medium, and large — plus packing tape, a thick marker, packing paper or bubble wrap, and a few mattress bags. Small boxes are for heavy things: books, dishes, canned goods. Large boxes are for light things: pillows, linens, lampshades. Free grocery boxes are fine for light loads, but they are thin and often damp — do not trust them with anything heavy or fragile. Buy the tape: one roll per ten boxes is about right, and cheap tape that splits is the most expensive kind.
Declutter before you pack. Do not pack what you are going to throw away. Go room by room and pull out donations, trash, and things to sell before a single box is taped. Every item you do not move is a box you do not pack, carry, or unpack.
Pack room by room. Finish one room before starting the next, and label each box with the room it belongs in. A box labeled "kitchen — pots" goes straight to the kitchen at the other end; a box labeled "stuff" gets opened last and cursed first. Pack the rooms you use least first — the guest room, the storage closet — and the kitchen and bedroom last.
Heavy small, light big. Books go in small boxes, and a full small box of books is already heavy enough. Pillows and linens go in large boxes. A box that one person cannot lift safely is a box packed wrong — repack it before it hurts someone or splits open on the stairs.
Wrap fragile items individually. Wrap each plate, glass, and framed picture in packing paper, and stand plates on edge like records — they survive better upright than stacked flat. Stuff glasses with paper so they cannot crush inward. Fill every gap in the box with paper so nothing shifts; a box that rattles is a box that breaks.
Label everything. Room, contents, and two flags: "fragile" where it applies, and "open first" for the boxes you will need on day one. Write on two sides, not just the top — boxes get stacked, and the top is the side you cannot see. A photo of each box's contents, taped to the outside, helps even more.
Pack an essentials box. One box per person, kept separate and loaded last so it comes off first: bedding, a change of clothes, toiletries, phone chargers, medications, snacks, a few dishes and cups, and the tools to reassemble the bed. The first night in a new place is miserable without it, and it is the box people always wish they had packed.
Load the truck heavy-low, fragile-last. Heavy boxes on the floor at the front of the truck, lighter ones on top, fragile boxes last and on top where nothing can fall on them. Strap the load so it cannot shift. The essentials box goes in last so it is the first thing out — and the first thing you carry into the new place.
Do not pack hazardous things: paint, propane tanks, gasoline, chemicals, and aerosols — movers will not take them, and they do not belong in a hot truck. Carry valuables yourself: documents, jewelry, cash, and anything you cannot replace. Plants are a maybe: check the rules if you are crossing state lines, and carry them in the car if you can. Everything else can go in a box.
Walk every room, closet, and cabinet before the truck leaves — the moving out checklist covers the repairs and cleanups before the landlord walkthrough, and the same walkthrough catches the forgotten drawer. Take meter readings and photos of the empty rooms. When you arrive, the new homeowner checklist covers the first week in the new place — start with the essentials box, make the bed, and unpack the kitchen first. Everything else can wait a day.
Three to four weeks for a house, two for an apartment. Start with the rooms and things you use least, and leave the daily essentials — the kitchen and the bedroom — for the last few days.
Small ones. A large box full of books is too heavy to lift safely and usually splits. Mix books with light items if a small box still has room, but never fill a large box with books.
For a professional move, usually yes — the weight makes the dresser hard to carry and the drawers can slide open. For a short local move with a sturdy dresser, light clothes can stay if the drawers are taped shut. Remove anything heavy or fragile either way.
In its original box if you still have it, or a TV box from a moving store, with the screen protected by a moving blanket. Never lay a flat-screen face down, and never stack anything on it. Take a photo of the cables before you unplug them.