How and why you should color code your next move

Key Insights

• Make moving a breeze by creating a strategy to color code your boxes and large items in advance.
• Do you have random junk drawers? Organize these items based on where you want them to live in your new home.
• Give movers a color-coded key of your new floor plan that corresponds with your labeled boxes.

If the promise of a new home is causing more stress than excitement, it may be time to create more structure and organization as you pack up your things. By color-coding every box and item that you’re transporting from home to home, you can minimize unexpected issues and confusion among your moving staff (or the kind friends and family who are helping you pack up).

Plot your colors

Consult the floor plan of your new home to determine how many colors you’ll need, and to determine what room and color will correspond with each other. Then, purchase colored tape or large colored stickers from an office supply store. Keep in mind, the tape and stickers that you purchase don’t need to match in size or shape. Your main concern is having a variety of colors that can easily be distinguished on your packed boxes.

If you have extra time to prepare, you might consider ordering colored labels designed specifically for moving, like these:

• Room moving stickers
• Blank moving stickers
• Colored masking tape
• Colored duct tape

Pack with the future in mind

If you’ve lived in your current home for a while, you might have developed some quirky storage arrangements. As you pack, be sure to place items in boxes based on where they make sense in your new home — which may not reflect where they reside now! This extra bit of upfront work will help streamline your moving and unboxing process later, and will help you stay ultra-organized in your new home in the future.

There’s no better time to implement smart storage solutions than when moving into a new home. For example:

• If your guest pillows are stored in your kid’s bedroom closet, code them to match the spare bedroom in your new home.
• If your holiday lights are stashed in a garage corner, code them to go into long-term storage in your new basement.
• Think in advance about where to place your bulk toilet paper or paper towel rolls now that you are downsizing from a house with a walk-in pantry.

Don’t forget to label large furniture and appliances

It may seem obvious that your current living room couch will get on the moving truck and soon live in your new family room. However, this assumption might not carry over to the movers – so to minimize confusion or constant calls from your movers, label absolutely everything.

Furniture and other large, non-boxed items should all receive labels to clearly communicate where they’re moving. Take care when adding sticky labels and tape to furniture, and use a safety pin to adhere colored labels to upholstered items.

Make a key for moving day

If you have time, color code your floor plan before moving day. Then, follow one of these strategies to communicate the plan with your movers:

• Offer a copy of the color-coded plan to each mover.
• Post a color-coded key in the main entry and the garage entry.
• Post colored stickers or sheets of paper in each room or on their doors.

Get ready to unpack!

Once the color-coded moving efforts are complete, there’s only one (big) thing left to do: unpack. Ahead of moving day, decide what rooms have the highest priority, so you can head to that zone and dive right in.

Moving forward with a home relocation? Reach out to Edina Realty or your REALTOR® today for more expert tips on moving and packing.