Kitchens are full of hundreds of small and often fragile items. It may take you much more time to pack up your kitchen than your office or bedroom because you will want to make sure that nothing breaks. Follow these tips on how to pack the kitchen, and hopefully all of your items will make it to your new kitchen in one piece.
Dishes: Unpacking to find all of your dishes broken is definitely disappointing. You want to protect your dishes. If you want to do it the easy way, U-Haul has their Dish Saver Kit. Using this kit gives you every thing you need to pack your plates safely. If you have extra or oddly sized dishes there are cushion foam pouches and sheets that you can use, as well as bubble wrap. You can place those items in a small box and fill empty spaces with packing paper so that they do not shift inside the box. Be sure to mark the boxes as fragile. Do not place heavy boxes on top of them, and place them where they will not fall.
Glasses and Stemware: Glasses and stemware are probably some of the most fragile items you will move. U-Haul has a Glass Pack Kit that is designed to protect your glassware and stemware. If you are not using the glass pack kit, then you should use bubble wrap or packing paper and lots of it. Wrap everything individually and make sure it sits snugly inside of a small box. Once they are packed, take the same precautions loading them on the truck as you did for your dishes.
Pots and Pans: Pots and pans can be nested to save space. Simply place a sheet of packing paper in between each pot as you nest them to prevent scratching. For the lids you can wrap them in packing paper and place them in the same box. If your pots or their lids are either glass or ceramic you may want to take more care and wrap them individually in bubble wrap to help ensure that they do not break. Once it is time to unpack your pots and pans in your new kitchen, read this article for tips on how to make sure they are organized.
Utensils: Place your utensils in plastic bags, and then pack them in a small to medium size box. That way, they will remain sorted and will be more easily organized when you unpack.
Food: The best answer to your food is to try to eat it. That way you do not have to pack as much of it. For your perishable items you may want to donate them to a local food bank. If you are making a short move, then you can pack your refrigerated items in a cooler. For canned goods and non perishable items, use small to medium sized boxes, depending on the weight of the food.
Major Appliances: Not everyone brings their major appliances with them when they move. But, if you are, they may be easier to pack and move than you think. Simply cover them with a protective pad then wrap them with plastic wrap to ensure the doors don’t fly open during transit. Use an appliance dolly to get them onto the truck, then use rope or straps to securely tie them to the side of the truck.
Your kitchen is full of fragile items. Hopefully if you use some of these tips everything in your kitchen will arrive at your new home safely. For everything else, check out our “How to Pack” series where we address how to pack all the different rooms in your home. Take a look at our previous posts: “How to Pack: The Home Office” and “How to Pack: The Garage.”
Do you have any tips that made packing up your kitchen easier? How organized is your kitchen? Please share in the comments below!
