I get asked often what is my favorite trick or tip to make PCSing (or moving) just a bit easier. My answer is always PCS color coded organization! What do I mean by that? It’s really so simple but makes a world of difference just by using colored duct tape! So how does this simple but effective system work? Let me explain…
First thing you need to do is buy several different colors of duct tape, I got the multipack on clearance at Target for $5, which is a steal and I found it right before packing out…double bonus! Get 1 color/design for each room such as Kitchen, Living room, each bedroom, garage, etc. I also love colored duct tape in general so I stock up when I find it on sale, then it comes in handy for times like these.
Next I get out our handy PCS notebook and put a section of each tape in it and label it with the designated room.
Then you let the packers come (or if your doing a DITY move, pack it yourself) and after the boxes are packed in each room stick the corresponding color of tape on each box. I always try to to a top or front side (or both) so that it can be easily seen when unpacking. Yes, the packers in AL did look at us like we were a bit crazy, but hey we’re used to it 😉 And if you look at the above picture you can see that the movers labeled the boxes wrong! They said girls room but if you look at the colored tape you’d know they go in Bub’s room (we put the tape on the boxes while still in the rooms to ensure the proper coding). So had we followed their ‘guidance’ Bea would have had several boxes of Bub’s stuff in her room.
Bea’s room, labeled correctly by color 🙂
We even put it on the bed parts after they break them down, on the inside where it won’t cause any damage of course!
So are you wondering WHY this is helpful? It’s so helpful because it makes unloading at your next house so easy! Here’s the key though, make sure you have some of each of the tape colors left and either carry it with you in your luggage, send in Unaccompanied Baggage if it will be there before your HHG’s, or mail with the stuff you plan on mailing. Then on the day the movers are to arrive take a piece of each tape and put it on the corresponding door frame for each room.
This makes a huge difference because now you do not have to stand at the front door for every minute of the long day because the mover’s can look at the tape color and put in the correct room! The mover’s here in Germany thought it was a great idea and liked that they didn’t have to keep asking where stuff went, they looked at the tape color and took it to the correct room! This was so helpful in speeding up the process AND making sure all the stuff got in the correct rooms!
This is ALSO helpful for when you are moving yourself or doing a DITY move, check out my past post here
Mr. B thinks I’m a bit crazy and overdo it with the PCS organization but I think even he was a believer after this last PCS!
I think that is a fantastic idea and I’m going to pin this! With our upcoming PCS I find this really helpful. Although we only have one little guy at the moment we still have a guest room that could easily be mixed up with the Master bedroom. And I know what you mean about mixing up your stuff!
It’s my sanity saver during the move! Once you try it you’ll never move without colored duct tape again! 😉 It’s so nice to have all the kitchen boxes actually be put in the kitchen to unpack…instead of spread out all over the house!
What a great idea!!
GEEZ Where were you around… oh January 17 when they were packing my house and I was 2 days post hip surgery! This would have saved my life! LOL
Wow, it’s already already a crazy process…I can’t imagine doing it post hip surgery! At least you know now to start stocking up on colored duct tape when they actually have it in stock 😉
This would have been a great deal of help when households merged at the new place. This will be an interesting experience and I`m sure a less stressful one. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
This is a great idea! Our movers always label our boxes in the weirdest ways. Once we had two boxes that said “boys room,” which would be fine if we had any boys! lol
That is hilarious! Gotta love how ‘helpful’ they are at times 😉
Great idea! I tried taping colored tags one move but this is so much simpler! I will use it on my move BACK from Germany since its sometimes difficult to read their labels because they speak Czech!
I didn’t use duct tape, but I did color code everything. We used sticker dots. You put a piece of tape over the label dot. The problem is watching the packers and not letting them pack boxes of items from more then one room. My husband has been retired for more than ten years and we are again preparing to move. LOL. We were buying tubs. Everyone picked their color! We are well trained. We have color coded life in an effort to stay on top of the chaos.
We always pack our own suitcase of electronic gear. We have a wireless router, a gaming/movie playing platform and a mini projector. We also have a few tools that always seem handy. I will definitely be using this trick on the next PCS!!
I’ve always used the garage sale dots! I like this idea, though, because there are more color choices for more rooms. It does make it easier for the movers. LOVE IT!!!
Our Korean movers loved this! They took my dots and started labeling the boxes themselves. ha!
Too funny! I could’ve seen our Japanese movers doing this as well, but that was back before I had figured it out 😉
Yes, I wanted colors for all rooms and using duct tape provided me more options! And I was able to make the piece large enough to easily see. I put it in the same spot on all the boxes and did the top and front side so that it would take less hunting for them to find.
I’ve done this in the past, but I used colored masking tape instead. This worked perfect for me because I didn’t have to worry about it ruining any furniture, and since I like to pack myself, it was also easy to label the box contents right on the tape. (The labeling is good because I like to save boxes and once I take the tape off, the box doesn’t have messy writing all over it for whatever I use it for next or if I give them to someone else to use. )
Also: if you don’t use a moving company/ military and you have others help you move, I like to print or draw a basic map of the house layout and put the colored tape on the coordinating rooms. I have put this map on the front door when moving in to make sure everything goes in the right room. Friends have commented to me that the color coding like this made it the easiest move they’ve ever helped with!
Being a military family we don’t save boxes, the moving company comes to pick them up after we’ve unpacked them so I don’t worry about preserving the boxes. I do include a printout on the door with the color coded rooms, and yes it does make the movers job much easier! I’ve done a DITY move (do it yourself) with friends helping and used the same system. I keeps me from having to babysit where each box is taken because they are able to easily figure out where things go. Glad the system works for you too! 🙂