Moving Storage Boxes

Keeping an Inventory of Your Moving Storage Boxes

This happens a lot to people moving to their new home: finding out that some of their belongings are missing – only after arriving at their destination. Some may have been left behind, while some may just be in one of those heaps of moving storage boxes.

There is a way to make the tedious task of unpacking much easier. You just have to do some preparatory work. Before you start packing away, make sure you already have a system in mind to keep track of all the things you are moving to your new home. This will save you a lot of stress once you are ready to unpack.

Taking an Inventory before Packing

Walk through all the things you will pack and list down everything. If possible, take photos or videos, especially of the valuables. Note the identifying details such as serial numbers.
Once you are done with the documentation process, make sure to keep a copy in a location outside your home. If you took an inventory electronically, keep a copy in an online storage facility. Having a cloud-based backup of your files will make sure that you will always have a copy even if you lose the original.

With an inventory list, it would be much easier to purge the list of things to pack even further. Obviously, packing the moving storage boxes would be easier if you have fewer things to pack in the first place.

Devising a System

There are various ways to come up with an organized packing system. You may follow the suggestions in this article, or you may tweak it to suit your preference. What is important is that you come up with a system that will properly keep track of your things and keep everything organized.

First thing you must do is to create a tracking sheet. You can do this using a computer spreadsheet or manually using a pen and notebook. Just make sure that the sheet will contain details of every box – the contents, and the rooms they were taken from.

Assign a number for each of the moving storage boxes as you pack. Using a bright marker, label the box with its designated number and a short description of its intended contents. You can be as specific as you want, but it can be more time-consuming the more details you want to include in the description.

One good thing about this packing system is that if, at any time while packing, you find out that you need something that is already in one of the packed boxes, it will be very easy for you to determine which particular box that item you need can be found.

You may also want to include the cost of the items (at least the more expensive ones) so you can readily provide the information, when necessary. This can happen in case some of your belongings get damaged or lost while in transit and you need to file an insurance claim.

Using Color Codes

For every area or room in your house, you can designate a particular color. You can then attach the corresponding color to every box using colored paper or spray paint. Once you get to your new home, use colored stickers or construction paper to tag the assigned color for each room. This way, you can easily distribute the moving storage boxes to their proper rooms.

Tick Off Boxes as They Are Unloaded

Once you arrive at your destination, the first thing you must do is to see if all the boxes are complete. To do this, check each box in your list as it is unloaded from the moving van. This will help make sure that everything is accounted for before the movers leave. You do not have to unpack right away.

Make the Boxes Containing Priority Items Easy to Spot

You can wrap bright-colored duct tape around moving storage boxes that contain the more expensive or important items, or even those that you will immediately need. You can then unpack, beginning with these marked boxes.