How to Pack Your Kitchen for a Move

Moving to a new home is an exciting endeavor, but the prospect of packing up your entire kitchen can be overwhelming. Fragile dishes, bulky appliances, and an assortment of utensils require careful handling to ensure they reach your new abode intact. Our professional hints and tips will help you fast-track the process and approach it with a plan that enables your household to keep functioning as long as possible before move day. In this article, we’ll guide you through a practical step-by-step process on how to effectively pack your kitchen for a move.
1. Sort, Select, and Simplify When Packing for Kitchen Move
Before you move, select the items you’re taking with you and cull out the items you’re leaving behind. Make sure you have “homes” for the things you won’t be taking, and check to make sure you’re not moving items that shouldn’t be packed. Go through each cupboard and drawer and be very selective. Donate unneeded items to shelters or food banks, have a garage sale, or give them to friends and neighbors.
2. Supplies When Packing for Kitchen Move
Having the right supplies on hand will make the packing process much smoother. When packing a family-sized kitchen, you’ll need the items listed below:
- Moving Boxes
- Large boxes for appliances, cookbooks, and dry food items
- Medium-sized boxes for dishes, cups, and pans
- Small boxes for silverware, spice containers, and loose items
- Heavy-duty boxes for ultra-fragile or expensive items
- Bubble wrap to protect fragile items from clinking together and breaking
- Plastic wrap to separate glass containers and keep them from shifting within boxes
- Newspaper to prevent pots and pans from scraping together and shifting
- Packing tape to securely seal cardboard boxes
- Plastic Ziploc bags to carry loose items
- Box dividers to effectively transport glassware and dish sets
- Box labels to thoroughly organize groups of items and simplify the unpacking process
3. Start with Non-Essentials When Packing for Kitchen Move
Begin by packing items you don’t use frequently. This might include seasonal dishes, special occasion serve ware, and infrequently used appliances. Carefully wrap delicate items like glassware and ceramics in packing paper or bubble wrap before placing them in boxes.
4. Pack Appliances Securely When Packing for Kitchen Move
Small and medium-sized appliances: are best transported individually in boxes. For expensive and irregularly shaped appliances, you should also be sure to unplug them ahead of time and prepare them for transportation. Tape down any moving parts, remove any accessories, and add packing paper around them.
Large appliances: make sure you properly prepare large appliances for your move, at least 24 hours in advance. Improper preparation can lead to gas leaks, broken parts, and appliances that won’t work. Read the manuals, and if you’re unsure of how to prepare them, call a professional.
5. Wine, Liquor, and Other Unopened Bottles
Wine and alcohol can be packed for kitchen move early on in the process. Select the bottles you plan on opening between now and the move, and pack everything else. Other items you may want to pack now are food items that are in glass bottles, such as cooking oils, specialty oils, and fine vinegar. Remember to ask yourself if the weight of each item is worth the cost of moving it. For expensive items such as aged olive oils, balsamic vinegar, or truffle oil, it may be worth the cost of moving. For many items, though, it may be more efficient to buy new bottles when you reach your new home.
6. Dishes
Dishes are usually flat and stackable, making them easy to transport. However, avoid packing them without protection; these items are still breakable, and one accidental drop could cost you an entire set of plates. Dishes are heavy, and a large, overfilled box is more prone to falling apart under the weight. For this reason, avoid packing these items into huge moving boxes. We suggest packing dishes in a medium-sized container reinforced with heavy-duty packing tape.
Start by lining the bottom of the box with bubble wrap to prevent the items from sliding and jolting. Always place a layer of packing paper or plastic wrap between flatware items. This keeps the items from sliding around in the box and provides shock absorption in the event of a drop. If you run out of paper, save money when packing for the kitchen move by dividing your flatware with dish towels.
7. Pantry
The pantry should’ve been sorted by now, with only those items you want to move separated out. Start with the spices, then work your way to the larger items. Canned goods aren’t worth moving unless you’re performing the move yourself. Again, check the weight of each item and consider the cost to move it. Tape up any opened food packages and get rid of all perishables, including freezer items, unless your new home is quite close.
8. Perishable food
When moving the kitchen, for health and safety reasons, your mover will not move perishable food on the day of your move such as your milk, eggs, frozen cake, meat, fruit, etc. These items will not be packed and moved on a truck. For this reason, and to help minimize waste, it is best to try and phase out grocery shopping before your move day.
9. Seal and Label Boxes
Once each box is packed, securely seal it with packing tape. Use a marker to label the contents of each box and indicate the room they belong to. This will make unpacking and organizing your new kitchen much easier.
10. Seek Professional Assistance
If the task of packing for your kitchen move feels overwhelming, don’t hesitate to enlist the services of professional movers. Singapore movers with experience in handling kitchen items safely and efficiently.
Penguin Logistics is proud to be one of the most reliable house and office moving companies as well as a storage provider in Singapore that provides first-class service to all customers. Over our years of operation, our movers and crew members have completed thousands of relocation and storage jobs for residential, corporate, and international clients in Singapore.
Conclusion
We hope these tips help you pack your kitchen for a quick, efficient move. With intentional nesting and careful padding, you’ll arrive at your new home with all items intact. A rule of thumb for moving any kitchen item is to wrap it in cushioning material and fill the empty space in moving boxes. This best practice will save you a lot of frustration and heartbreak when unpacking.
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