Moving is about getting your precious cargo from Point A to Point B, making certain everything arrives where it should in the easiest, quickest way possible. But it also presents an excellent opportunity to reorganize and evaluate just what needs to be unloaded at the end destination, and what needs to be kept to the side and stored for later use.

So what are some prime ways of storing those contents for a later time? For one, it’s important to minimize the number of boxes you have by being strategic in deciding what goes where. Think of it as a puzzle, adding the larger items first and then fitting the smaller ones within the remaining spaces to maximize the use of the box; make sure you group items in boxes with where they’ll go (i.e., avoid mixing items from the kitchen with items from the bathroom), it’ll save you from having to hunt later.

Labeling boxes with their contents is imperative in storing them, to help you find exactly what you need when you need it. This may be challenging with very full boxes, so this is where a “box key” comes in handy. Mark the box with a clearly-visible number, then on a large notepad write that number, followed by everything in that box for later reference. Do this for each box and you’ll find it much easier to find what you want at any time.

Also remember to keep boxes with a higher chance of being used closer to the front of your final storage pile for easier access, and keep boxes with the heaviest items (books, in particular) towards the bottom, to minimize damage of boxes with more fragile contents