When you move to a new home, the initial feeling of excitement abounds. Starting a new life in your new apartment or house brings a great deal of excitement. But the idea of packing up a home does not.

Packing is an arduous and time-consuming process, one which drains all of your energy somehow. Because it is so dreaded, movers often delay the process until the last minute. However, the sooner you begin this process, the easier it will be. Naturally, the kitchen is one of the last rooms to be packed due to the fact that most people still use their kitchen for food up until the day of the move, or a few days before the move.

It is important to note that if you opt to postpone packing your kitchen, you should afford yourself a break by starting on the rest of your house earlier and leaving a final, full day to handle the kitchen. Why?

Because packing a kitchen is difficult. It brings with it the most challenges due primarily to the mixture of oddly sized components, fragile items, and heavier appliances. Each item in the kitchen requires extra care in the packing process to mitigate the risk of damage. With regard to moving boxes San Francisco residents should rent plastic moving boxes from ZippGo. ZippGo’s moving boxes come with attached lids which neatly interlock to provide security for your belongings while making the packing process much easier.

Packing Heavy Appliances

Most homeowners do not hold on to the original boxes and the original packing materials for their kitchen appliances, and who could blame them? Thankfully, moving supplies like boxes and packing paper are easily found. The durable plastic boxes from ZippGo make for an ideal solution to this issue. Remember that book boxes used for packing to pack small but heavy kitchen appliances can make moving a breeze. The thickness and durability of these boxes mean your electronic kitchen items can be supported the entire time they are packed.

Prior to placing any of your appliances into the book boxes, clean and dry them individually. Disassemble each item and pack the components in a layer of recycled packing paper once. For fragile components, use two layers of packing paper. You want to separate the components by heaviest on the bottom and lighter smaller pieces around the sides and on top (inside an appliance if possible, but use an extra layer to protect it). Use bubble wrap to make a cushion for your items. Try and fill any remaining space with the additional components, and then use the packing paper to wad up and place around any remaining area. If you have owner’s manuals for your appliances, toss them inside the box or tape them to the inside of the detachable lid so that you can re-assemble everything at your new home.

Dinnerware

With fragile items like dinnerware, your goal is to use the best methods for packing to avoid breakage. That said, you want to start by placing a layer of bubble wrap on the bottom of your plastic packing box. Then wrap each piece in a layer of packing paper and begin to stack them inside of the box. Plates and bowls stack neatly on top of one another in your cupboards and this should be the same order in which they are stacked inside of the plastic moving boxes. Start with large plates at the bottom, then stack smaller plates on top. Use the same method for bowls. Place an extra layer of bubble wrap or packing paper after every three plates or bowls.

With these items packed, you can add a layer of bubble wrap to the top. You can wrap glasses and cups and place them around the corners of a stack of plates, for example. Make sure that any extremely fragile items are wrapped up with multiple layers of packing paper and bubble wrap.

Set these boxes aside while you pack the other kitchen items after which you can fill in any existing space with things like wrapped utensils or kitchen odds and ends before closing the lid.

Glassware

Glasses and mugs should be wrapped individually with packing paper both on the inside and the outside. Fragile glasses like wine glasses can be filled with a crumpled piece of packing paper, with a second piece of packing paper affixed around the stem, and a piece of bubble wrap secured around the entire glass.

Pots and Pans

With your pots and pans, your goal should be to stack them in such a way that they consume the least amount of space within the ZippGo boxes. This means that the biggest of your pots go in first, after you have placed a layer of bubble wrap on the bottom of the plastic moving box. After that, the smaller pots can be placed inside of the bigger pots. You don’t need any packing paper for these, but if the pans or lids are made of glass, you should wrap them in bubble wrap prior to packing them.

Silverware

Take all of your loose silverware and sort it by type. Wrap each type together in a bouquet of sorts with a piece of string or a rubber band and then wrap that bouquet in packing paper. Place the silverware bundle in a box and secure it with bubble wrap. This will prevent the loose silverware from damaging other items in your boxes and will make it decidedly easier to sort and put away upon arrival.

Utensils

You can save on the number of boxes required by wrapping kitchen utensils and cutlery in a single layer of recyclable packing paper. Once these items are wrapped, they can be tucked into the odd spaces in your other kitchen boxes, filling up the corners around stacked pots or plates. If your utensils or kitchen odds and ends are on the heavy side, reserve a small book box just for them, as these are an ideal solution to small but heavy things.

Food

Finally, before you go, you want to review your pantry and get rid of anything which is expired. Goods that you cannot use between now and the time of your arrival at the new home should be donated. Canned goods or boxed, unwrapped goods which can be safely transported to your new home can be lined across the bottom of a medium sized plastic moving box, cans first, followed by a layer of bubble wrap, all of the boxed foods, and packing paper fitted into any remaining spaces. Should you have utensils or other odds and ends left unpacked, use them to fill these spaces too.

Remember too that you should fill out the labels on each box with the appropriate details so that unpacking is a breeze.