how in the heck am I gonna get this freaking kitchen packed?

I've been here 10 years and even with a de-clutter/feng shui after 11/04 it's still full of small appliances, favorite dishes, pots and pans (which makes me glad I don't have to pack Husb2Sparkly's kitchen!) books, etc etc etc

for 20 years I moved all the time but the last 18 years I have moved ONCE! and that was with professional movers and packers so I didn't have to do a thing except unpack

suggestions? cautions? and where do I get boxes that won't cost a fortune???


:banghead:

help? :cry:

I know, but at least the price is right! Also, if someone is moving into your neighborhood, you might be able to get some of their boxes to move out with.

Did you find a new place yet? I missed it if you did, but I haven't been around much.

but we can't buy a new house til we have an offer on this house

we have been madly cleaning, painting, landscaping and generally de-junking for a couple weeks with a couple more weeks work to do

but the real estate guy is coming over tomorrow to take a look and make suggestions. we're planning on listing the 15th with an open house the 21st

this price range home sells fast and the market is heating up again after being flat since the holidays

everybody say a little prayer for us please to close fast and find something decent in NM. I really don't want to rent then have to move AGAIN!!

Moving generally sucks, it is just a matter of how badly.

It sounds like you are doing everything right, getting it ready and everything. Do you have a price yet? the right price and a nice presentation seem to make all the difference. I see so many people put a too high price on their home, then wait and wait for a sale and end up giving it away for less than they would have got if they priced it right in the first place.

RE broker

What I think it will sell for with the market watch I've been keeping and what Mr K thinks it's worth are quite a bit apart.

I'd rather the bad news come from a 3rd party :rofl:

It is a website that will give a general valuation of your property.

Good luck with the sale! Hopefully the price will be on the high side, instead of the low :)

but this market (like all the others) is in a state of flux.

I'd rather list low and get multiple offers

that's how i'm thinking ......

so big that you end up with something so heavy you can't lift it or the bottom falls out, plus they are built extra heavy anyway.

I packed EVERYTHING (that didn't go in drawers) in those flip-top plastic crates from Home Depot type stores (translucent bottoms/colored flippy lid). They cost about $4 each, depending on what sort of sale you find. Moving boxes are not much/any cheaper.

You don't have to tape the bottoms and wonder if it'll hold. They stack nicely and securely in the truck. They are STRONG... I packed my KitchenAid mixer in one! I had exactly ZERO broken items that were packed in these, even though the truckload shifted and much of my furniture was mashed & broken.

Once you are at your destination and they are emptied, they nest inside one another and take very little room, and are useful and easy to give away... you don't have to disassemble them and try to figure out how to dispose of them.

I think it was one of the best labor-savers during my move.

even at $4 each it could really add up fast....

I used about 40 of em! But look at the price of U-Haul boxes. They aren't any cheaper. And the plastic boxes are just a HUGE labor saver. I am real lazy!

I'm lazy too, especially when faced with this much work LOL

I'd also check for the big blue ones they sell at home depot or Target. SO packs for a living and he is a firm believer in the plastic tubs for moving. Ask Lowes or Home Depot when they are going on sale.

You'll be able to sell what you don't need to keep at a garage sale when you reach NM. You won't make back all your money but if the tubs are clean they'll go fast and you'll get at least half back.

that's certainly something to think about

I'll start watching for sales cuz those things are incrediably handy to have around and since we're going to start roasting coffee commercially they'd make great storage for green beans to keep them clean and critter free especially if I got the snap tops instead of the flip tops....


:think:

Those are always worth checking out for packing crates.

storage containers, and you can probably sell the ones you don't need..:)

We moved from CA to OR almost 6 years ago after being in our previous home for 15 years. We took as much as we could to St. Vinnie's and gave away a lot of things to family, but still wound up moving all kinds of stuff that in hindsight we neither needed or wanted in our new house. I swear I'm never moving again until they carry me out on a gurney.

One thing that we did was to use household linens and clothing to pad a lot of our breakable items (t-shirts, towels, sheets, pillowcases, etc.) instead of packing materials that we would have to dispose of later. We packed our stuff ourselves, then rented a Ryder van that we drove ourselves, but had professional movers on each end load the van and unload it. The house we live in now is on a hillside lot with 40 steps between the sidewalk and the front door. I think we got our money's worth with the moving crew - when they left they said "Please, don't EVER call us again!!!" Especially considering our dining room table and chairs have wrought iron bases.

It used to be that you could get all kinds of boxes from grocery stores, but these days I think most markets break them down and send them to recycling before you can get to them. I think we managed to pick up some boxes from a local box plant that had been misprinted and returned for scrap/recycling - you might give it a try - the worst they could say is "no".

After you find your new home you will have a much better idea of what will fit in your new place and what won't, so you'll be able to streamline what you actually decide to take with you.

Good luck!

trick with the linens

and I just cleaned out and painted the linen closet and packed all the stuff too! :banghead:

They're about $16 for 30, and come with lids (they're 10 to a pack for 7.99, and usually on sale for buy 2 get one free). They're all the same size, and they stack in the truck really well. They're not too big for books, not too small for weird shaped stuff, and they have handles for carrying. 3 fit on a standard dolly and they're useful when you unpack, too. They go together in about 15 seconds, and don't require lots of tape (though tape is good for securing the lids.) We used the 12 x 15 x 18 inch size. We used a total of 105 boxes for our last move, 60 of which were books. (I still have an unopened pack of 10 boxes; we bought 120 total) I think the kitchen was about 15-20 boxes, including both sets of china and the pots, pans and appliances. We recycled a ton of the plastic before we moved, though. (There are ALWAYS more butter tubs and cottage cheese tubs to be had and no one needs 35 plastic travel mugs.) They were the best $70 we spent the last time we moved.

If you're driving or towing a car, pack the groceries the way you get them - ask for some paper bags at the supermarket and pack the groceries in the paper bags and put them in the back seat of the car.

We picked up a deck of clean newsprint at Expedx and used that for wrapping. Then I didn't have to wash the dishes when I unpacked them.

Pack it this way: start at the north wall, and put everything you want to take in box 1, and leave everything you don't want on the shelf. Work your way around the room, naming the boxes Kitchen N 1, Kit N 2, etc. Shove everything you might possibly want in the boxes - leave out only the obvious trash. It's an extra 10%, and it won't kill you to donate it or sell it or trash it when you unpack, but it may kill you to part with it now. When you get to your new place and you need to find something, you'll just need to remember where it used to be, and look for the right boxes.

Since you're going a long way ( we moved 20 miles) pack a couple of boxes that have 4 complete place settings (don't forget glasses and flatware), some napkins and dish towels, a small skillet, a small sauce pan, some pantry staples, a couple of favorite knives and a small cutting board. Label these boxes PACK LAST and put them at the very back of the truck, or in the car if you're towing it. A box with bandaids, basic first aid stuff, etc is also a good PACK LAST box. That way, you'll have the kitchen basics as soon as you get there, and that makes being at home quicker.

We moved every year when I was a kid, so I actually feel weird when I don't pack everything up at the end of the school year. (Thus, my HUGE spring cleaning this year.)

On edit: Having moved about a brazillion times in the last 30 years, I actually discourage the use of the plastic flip boxes. They don't stack in the truck well, and while they're sturdy, they can be a B!+@# to get rid of. The Navy started using those boxes (I think of them as McLane boxes, because McLane food distribution uses them to deliver stuff to restaurants and small groceries) in the last couple of years we were in for officer moves, and I remember thinking that they sucked. When I loaded them with books, they were too heavy, and they were hard to secure closed, they were screwy to pack in the container... Plus, they're plastic. Frozen oil.

shredder place, so I have a bunch of bankers boxes that i'm using up. they are also easy to label with a sharpie or whatever

the n/s/e/w thing is a great idea for the kitchen and that will make it easy to find stuff without having to write a book on the side of the box

Mr K will drive the big truck and I get the SUV with three dogs and a cat (oh joy!) although I might make him take our old girl who travels well and loves him best, that way I won't have the whole damned pack with me :rofl:

i think we can get those banker boxes pretty cheap at costco and with the vending we're still doing I am getting a few frito/dorito boxes too which are a good size and I have a bunch of milk crates

I guess now that I think about it I'm in pretty good shape, but that directional idea was golden! thanks!!

:yourock:

They're cheap and they stack easily and are easy to load compactly on a truck. The only downside is that they're kinda small.

I've used banker's boxes for my last four moves.

- They're just small enough that even if you pack it to the gills it's still manageable (unless you fill it with cast iron).
- They're just large enough to hold most oddly shaped items (blenders, coffee makers...)
- They have handles
- You can carry more than one at a time (if they're light)
- The fact that all your boxes will be the same size makes storage and stackage sooo easy
- They're easy to break down and store for future use, plus they're cheap enough that you can pass them on and not worry if they're returned to you.

used boxes, packing paper and tape. Allied Van Lines had the best prices. Bought book boxes for a buck apiece. they are very sturdy, abd I have lots of books. That size is good for many things. Also they sell paper by the pound and tape--good prices. For lighter things , I found boxes at RightAid and Big Lots. They have boxes on certain days.

but if you want great big boxes, try TJ Maxx. They were superb when I was in Florida and looking for boxes to pack my pop's stuff into for the Salvation Army and the stuff I was taking to ship home. They were big, heavy boxes. Just call and find when they get shipments in and tell them you'll be there to collect the boxes. The boxes will be flat, so you'll have to seal the bottoms again, but that's better than paying somebody for them.

Call supermarkets and health food stores, find out when they get their shipments, ask if you can collect the boxes. Some will oblige, some sell the boxes to a recycler. Depends on the store.

Good luck. I'm looking at my own kitchen and thinking of the renovation I want to do and my heart is sinking.

I'd love to go on an extended trip somewhere and come back to find it all DONE.

And think what toilet paper must be packed in. Every year I hit some because I have to mail practically all my Christmas stuff out and need boxes. Also went to Big Lots and they were more than happy to let me have whatever I wanted.

Lotsa critters ride in the corrugations.

copy paper boxes. We use a ton and flatten them for recycling. They have the nice tops that fit on and stack really nicely and are fairly hardy.